Regenerate object find number values

Use the Regenerate Find Numbers command to reorder find numbers using a specific place value schema in both process trees and PERT sequences—for example, 5, 10, 15, 20—to save time and avoid errors.

Find numbers in Teamcenter Easy Plan are sequential identifiers assigned to each line in the process structure to keep elements in a specific order.

Note

• The Regenerate Find Numbers command is based on the value of the preference EP_AllowAutoRegenerateFindNumbers (default value = true).

• Typically, you assign widely spaced place find number values to process or operation objects in a standard process structure, or to area, line, station, and operation objects in a plant process structure. Compound operations and execution steps are also supported. Example When you add a new object, you might give it a find number value of 25 so that it lies between other similar object types with the broadly spaced default find numbers of 20 and 30.

• When you cut an object and then paste it before or after another object in the Process Planning page, the sequence is maintained in:

Both the Process and the Editor tabs in ETO.

The process and PERT views in the Process panel in BTO.

For example, if you paste an object between objects of the same type with find number values of 15 and 20, the pasted object will have a value of 17.5.

Procedure

1. If you have not done so already, search for and open an existing work package that contains processes and parts and navigate to the Process Planning or Work Instructions Authoring page.

2. In the Process tab or panel, select the object for which you want to generate new find numbers and click Regenerate Find Numbers .

   Tip You can regenerate line numbers at a specific level in the tree by clicking an object at the top level (for example, an area at the top of a plant process tree to regenerate find numbers for that area and all areas below it at the same level). You can also select an object containing child objects and regenerate find numbers for that object and all of its descendants (for example, an area at the top of the tree to regenerate find numbers for that area and all areas below it, as well as all their station and operation descendants).

3. In the Regenerate Find Numbers dialog box, in the Start Number text box, type the number that you want to assign to the first selected object type.

4. In the Increment text box, type the numeric value that you want to add to each subsequent object.

Example If start number = 5 and increment = 10, find numbers for objects from the selected line down are 5, 15, 25, 35, and so on.

5. To consider process PERT flows between processess and operations in BTO, select the Consider flows check box.This option synchronizes find numbers and flows to support data transfers to downstream applications. When you create and manage process PERT flows in BTO, you can use the Consider flows option to update find numbers in the process tree based on that flow's changes. You can also update find numbers using flows in a PERT sequence view.

   In the example below, a plant process tree contains a station with three operations (OP1, OP2, and OP3). No existing flows are created between them, and their find numbers, by default, start with a value of 5, and then increment by values of 10 (OP1 = 5, OP2 = 15, and OP3 = 25).

   With STATION1 selected and Sequence View enabled, you can use the PERT view to define a flow between the operations. In the example below, this is OP3 → OP2 → OP1.

   When you click Tree View to return to standard process tree view, and regenerate the find numbers with Start Number = 10, Increment = 10, and the Consider flows check box selected, the operations are regenerated in the PERT flow order (OP3 = 10, OP2 = 20, OP3 = 30).

6. To regenerate find numbers for all descendants of a selected object, select the Include descendants check box.

In the example below, the AREA1 object in a plant bill of process (BOP) in BTO is regenerated to include descendants using a Start Number value of 5 and Increment value of 10. The first child object of AREA1 (LINE1) is regenerated with a start value of 5, and the second (LINE2) is incremented by 10 for a value of 15. Similarly, the first child of LINE1 (STATION1) is regenerated with a start value of 5, and the second and third (STATION2 and STATION3) are incremented by 10 for values of 15 and 25, respectively. Finally, the child objects of each station (for example, OP1, OP2, and OP3 for STATION1) are regenerated so that the first child object has a start value of 5 (OP1 = 5) and the remaining child objects are incremented by 10 (OP2 = 15, OP2 = 25).

Before regeneration

After regeneration

7. Click Confirm.

The find numbers for the selected objects and if applicable, PERT views and descendants, are regenerated. They can be viewed in the Find No. column of the Process tab or panel. If multiple objects originally had identical or parallel find numbers, those objects now share the same regenerated find number, as in the standard process example below.