Bulk Report Workflow Change

The Bulk Report Workflow Change feature located within the Collector tab allows the user to assign, review, or approve multiple reports at once. Due to the vast number of assets that a user is responsible for monitoring, it can be very difficult and time consuming to maintain all of the inspection reports. This tool greatly reduces the time and effort needed to change the status of multiple reports.

Note: A bulk report workflow change can only be performed for inspection reports that have the same configurations and are in the same workflow stage. Examples of this stipulation and its necessity can be found throughout this section.

Performing a Bulk Report Workflow Change

The purpose of filling out the bulk report workflow change form is to locate the reports that will be changed. The form is condition-based and each step’s selection defines what options will be available in the following steps. As selections are made, aspects of the form will change, appear, or hide to conform to the current selections.

Bulk Report Workflow Change Controls

Report Type

The first step to performing a bulk report workflow change is selecting the report type of the reports that will be updated. Select the Report Types you want to include using the dropdown field and then use the Select Report Types button to confirm your selection.

Example: 20 inspection reports are in the In Progress stage and have been submitted to be assigned, 10 with a "Routine" report type and 10 with a "Fracture Critical" report type. Even though all of the reports are at the same workflow stage, a bulk report workflow change of all 20 inspection reports cannot be performed because they have different report types. In order to ensure the entire inspection process is completed accurately, only one report type at a time can undergo a bulk report workflow change.

Current Workflow Stage

The workflow stages available for selection are dependent on the workflows created within the Manage Workflows feature of the Administration tab and to which report types those created workflows have been tied. The user should select the stage that all of the inspection reports intended to be bulk assigned are currently in.

Example: If the user wants to perform a bulk report workflow change to send multiple inspection reports within the routine report type to the "In Review" workflow stage using Workflow #1, the current workflow stage selected should be "In Progress."

Workflow Action

This is the action the user will assign to all of the inspection reports within the bulk report workflow change. Most users will have created Pass, Fail, and Change Assignment workflow actions within the Manage Workflows feature, but workflow actions are completely configurable to meet a user’s needs and current workflow system. The selection made will, based on the workflow associated with the report type, determine what options are available for the Next Workflow Stage dropdown.

Example: If a bulk report workflow change is being done for inspection reports that are in the In Progress stage of Workflow #2, the available workflow action will in most cases only be Pass, because Change Assignment and Fail would not make sense as part of the first step in the process. Change Assignment and Fail could be chosen in later stages of the workflow.

Next Workflow Stage

This is the stage within a workflow where all of the inspection reports in the bulk report workflow change will be sent. As with the workflow action, the next workflow stage is condition-based and dependent on the prior selections made on the bulk report workflow change form. Often there will only be one available option, but some users' workflows will contain more.

Example: If the user has several reports in the Under Review stage of Workflow #3, the next workflow stage will be dependent on the workflow action that is selected. If the reports pass, the next workflow stage will be "Approve Final Report." If the reports fail, the next workflow stage will be "ER Review."

Assign To

The bulk report workflow change form allows the user to assign the selected reports to a specific person. This is an optional selection and is not necessary to perform a bulk report workflow change, but it can be a useful management aid depending on the user’s internal process.

Note: Even if the workflow action is Change Assignment, it is not necessary to select a specific person. If left blank, the inspection reports will revert back to being unassigned.

Comments

The comment box is available for the user to include any additional information or notes with the bulk report workflow change. The comments entered into the box can be found in the report history for each individual report of the bulk report workflow change.

Report Created By

Once criteria is selected to make a bulk report workflow change the results will populate in a grid at the bottom of the screen. The Report Created By dropdown will populate with a list of users who have created a report, and if selected, will narrow down the results in the grid to display only reports created by the user selected.

Report Approved By

Once criteria is selected to make a bulk report workflow change the results will populate in a grid at the bottom of the screen. The Report Approved By dropdown will populate with a list of users who have approved a report, and if selected, will narrow down the results in the grid to display only reports approved by the user selected.

Creation Date

Once criteria are selected to make a bulk report workflow change the results will populate in a grid at the bottom of the screen. The Creation Date fields allow the user to select a start and end date which will narrow down the results in the grid to display only reports created during the period selected.

Inspection Date

Once criteria is selected to make a bulk report workflow change the results will populate in a grid at the bottom of the screen. The Inspection Date fields allow the user to select a start and end date which will narrow down the results in the grid to display only reports with an inspection date during the time period selected.

Approval Date

Once criteria are selected to make a bulk report workflow change the results will populate in a grid at the bottom of the screen. The Approval Date fields allow the user to select a start and end date which will narrow down the results in the grid to display only reports approved during the time period selected.

Parent Asset Hierarchy

Once criteria is selected to make a bulk report workflow change the results will populate in a grid at the bottom of the screen. The Parent Asset Hierarchy selection allows the user to narrow down the results in the grid to display only reports for the selected parent asset(s).

Inspection Report Table

The Report Type and Current Workflow Stage selections will determine what inspection reports appear in the Inspection Report table. Once the bulk report workflow change form is completed, the user can check the boxes of the inspection reports that will be included.

Note: If an expected report does not appear in the Inspection Report table after all of the form selections have been made, consider the following:

Report Type – Is the missing report found within the report type that has been selected on the bulk report workflow change form?

Current Workflow Stage – Does the missing report’s workflow stage match the current workflow stage selected on the bulk report workflow change form?

Both the report type and current workflow stage of the missing report must match the selections made on the bulk report workflow change form in order for the report to appear in the Inspection Report table.

Assign Reports

When the bulk report workflow change form is finished and all of the inspection reports to be included have been checked, the bulk report workflow change can be completed by clicking Assign Reports in the top right corner of the screen.

Once Assign Reports has been clicked, a confirmation box will pop up on the screen to ensure that the user is aware of the action and has the correct information before completing the assignment.