Forms and Form Builder

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Summary

Custom forms can be a very powerful tool in ensuring the quality and collecting data for your deliverables.  Manufacton provides you the ability to create your own custom forms to support virtually any type of workflow and quality data collection you require.

Please be aware that these standard forms are different from QA/QC forms.  QA/QC forms have a built-in workflow designed to capture quality at the source and include an integrated mitigation workflow as part of its implementation.  For more information, please refer to the KB Article on QA/QC Forms.

This article covers the following:

 

Building Forms

Forms are created by administrators in:

  1. App & Project Setup
  2. Manufacton Settings
  3. Templates
  4. Selecting the Forms options
  5. And selecting the Add New ("+") button

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  6. There are eleven (11) components to a form that can be added in any order and as many times as necessary:

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  7. Each form requires a unique name and ID
  8. form components are added to the form template by dragging and dropping the desired element onto the form template and configuring each element as needed.

Form Components

Common Elements

All of the Form Components have common control elements to them.  In the upper right of each box, the ability to Edit, Remove, or Clone the Component is made available

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When editing is complete, the Box can be closed to show a WYSIWYG view of the component as you build it.

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Checkbox

The checkbox enables multiple items in a list to be checked or unchecked

The configuration tools available to the checkbox are:

  1. Required  - places a red asterisk next to the component label.
    • NOTE:  This field will need to be completed for the form to be considered "Complete" and its data eligible to be exported as part of the form reports.
  2. Label - allows the checkbox area to be named
  3. Help Text - Places a black "?" next to the label and provides guidance to the user as to how to fill-out the checkbox when they hover over the question mark.
  4. Toggle - Changes the appearance of the checkbox
    • from a box mceclip7.png
    • to a toggle switch mceclip8.png.
  5. Enable "Other" - Lets user enter and check an unlisted option
  6. Options - Provides the list of predefined checklist options to be included in the section.
  7. Add Option + - As many options as needed can be added

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Date/Time Saved

The Date/Time Saved component can be added to a form to timestamp the most recent time an particular form has been updated.

This component is not configurable.

Dropdown List

Similar to a checkbox, the Dropdown List component allows for pre-configured options to be selected.

The configuration tools available to the Dropdown List are:

  1. Required  - places a red asterisk next to the component label.
    • NOTE:  This field will need to be completed for the form to be considered "Complete" and its data eligible to be exported as part of the form reports.
  2. Label - allows the dropdown area to be named
  3. Help Text - Places a black "?" next to the label and provides guidance to the user as to how to fill out the Dropdown when they hover over the question mark.
  4. Placeholder - Rather than having one of the options pre-selected or having blank space appear in the dropdown, placeholder text can be set up and even used to provide guidance as to how to fill in the form
  5. Allow Multiple Selections - If this option is selected, the user will be able to select multiple options by holding the <Ctrl> key and making multiple selections.
  6. Options - Provides the list of predefined checklist options to be included in the section.
  7. Add Option + - As many options as needed can be added

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File/Picture Upload

The File/Picture Upload component enables the user to fill out the form to upload a file to the form.

The configuration tools available to the File/Picture Upload component are:

  1. Required  - places a red asterisk next to the component label.
    • NOTE:  This field will need to be completed for the form to be considered "Complete" and its data eligible to be exported as part of the form reports.
  2. Label - allows the file/picture upload area to be named
  3. Help Text - Places a black "?" next to the label and provides guidance to the user as to how to upload a picture when they hover over the question mark.
  4. Multiple Files - Allows user to upload multiple files to the form

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Header

The Header component allows the overall form to be labeled and/or various sections to be labeled with stronger fonts.

The configuration tools available to the File/Picture Upload component are:

  1. Label - Provides the Header's text
  2. Type - Provides the headers font size

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Number

The Number component allows the user filling out the form to enter a number with the given limits

The configuration tools available to the Number component are:

  1. Required  - places a red asterisk next to the component label.
    • NOTE:  This field will need to be completed for the form to be considered "Complete" and its data eligible to be exported as part of the form reports.
  2. Label - allows the number area to be named
  3. Help Text - Places a black "?" next to the label and provides guidance to the user as to how to fill-out the Number when they hover over the question mark.
  4. Placeholder - Rather than having a blank space appear in the number field, placeholder text can be set-up and even used to provide guidance as to how to fill in the form.
  5. Min - The minimum allowable number to be entered
  6. Max - The maximum allowable number to be entered
  7. Step - The numerical gap between allowable entries and controls how the number will be incremented with the up/down controls provided in the component

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Radio Buttons

Similar to checkboxes and dropdowns, Radio Buttons allow a user to select from a list of predefined options.  In the case of Radio Buttons, however, only one option is allowed to be selected by the user filling out the form

The configuration tools available to the Number component are:

  1. Required  - places a red asterisk next to the component label.
    • NOTE:  This field will need to be completed for the form to be considered "Complete" and its data eligible to be exported as part of the form reports.
  2. Label - allows the Radio Button area to be named
  3. Help Text - Places a black "?" next to the label and provides guidance to the user as to how to fill out the Radio Button when they hover over the question mark.
  4. Enable "Other" - Lets user enter and check an unlisted option
  5. Options - Provides the list of predefined Radio Button options to be included in the section.
  6. Add Option + - As many options as needed can be added

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Signature

The Signature component allows an image of the user's signature to be placed on the form when it is being filled out.  The signature is managed as part of the user's "Account Settings".

The configuration tools available to the Number component are:

  1. Required  - places a red asterisk next to the component label.
    • NOTE:  This field will need to be completed for the form to be considered "Complete" and its data eligible to be exported as part of the form reports.
  2. Label - allows the Signature area to be named
  3. Help Text - Places a black "?" next to the label and provides guidance to the user as to how to fill-out the Signature when they hover over the question mark.

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Text Block

The text block is a simple control that allows for text to be included as part of the form; most likely in the form of instructions.

  1. Content - Add formatted or unformatted text as desired.
  2. Add Image - In-line images can be uploaded into the text block to add branding, images of items to be checked, etc.

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Note:  Although there are no formatting controls within the Text Box control,
text can be formatted in other applications (i.e. Word) and copy / paste into
the text box!

Single-Line Text

This control allows for a limited number of characters to be entered by the user to be able to provide short answers.

The configuration tools available to the Number component are:

  1. Required  - places a red asterisk next to the component label.
    • NOTE:  This field will need to be completed for the form to be considered "Complete" and its data eligible to be exported as part of the form reports.
  2. Label - allows the text area to be named
  3. Help Text - Places a black "?" next to the label and provides guidance to the user as to how to fill out the text when they hover over the question mark.
  4. Placeholder - Rather than having a blank space appear in the number field, placeholder text can be set up and even used to provide guidance as to how to fill in the form.
  5. Max Length - limits the number of characters that can be entered into the field

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Multi-Line Text

This control allows for expansive documentation to be entered by the user to be able to provide more complete answers.

The configuration tools available to the Multi-Line Text component are:

  1. Required  - places a red asterisk next to the component label.
    • NOTE:  This field will need to be completed for the form to be considered "Complete" and its data eligible to be exported as part of the form reports.
  2. Label - allows the text area to be named
  3. Help Text - Places a black "?" next to the label and provides guidance to the user as to how to fill out the text when they hover over the question mark.
  4. Placeholder - Rather than having a blank space appear in the number field, placeholder text can be set up and even used to provide guidance as to how to fill in the form.
  5. Max Length - limits the number of characters that can be entered into the field
  6. Rows - Sets the default height (in rows) for the field - more rows can be entered, but a scroll bar will be implemented rather than growing the height of the text field.

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Below is an example of all the elements described above being utilized in a very simple form template:

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Applying Forms to Templates

Once a form template has been created, it can be applied to a Production Order Template.

  1. Select App & Project Setup
  2. Manufacton Settings
  3. Templates
  4. Production Orders
  5. Select the Template to apply the form

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  6. The form is added to the template as any of the available documents.  Select Add File
  7. Select the desired Form
  8. Forms can be added to Run documents
  9. Item documents
  10. Task documents

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Notes:  
     o A Task with the form attached as a document will be created
       when the form is added to a Run, Item or Order in the template.
     o When all "required" items in the form are complete, the Task
       is marked complete.  
     o If there are no "required" items in the form, the Task is marked 
       complete when all of the items in the form are filled out.

 

Using Forms

Forms can be applied using two different methods in Manufacton, via Templates and directly within Production or Material Orders.

In Templates

Once the form is applied to a Production Template that template can be applied to a Production Order.  In each production order which uses the template, a copy of the form is included in the Details area of the order,

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Opening the form allows the form to be edited and saved back to the order:

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In Orders

Within any order, anyplace you can add a file, you can also add a form, including:

  • Order Documents
  • Item Documents
  • Checklist Documents pin
  • Run Documents (for Production Orders)

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Forms within orders can also be printed once they are placed.  Printing a form in an order can be accomplished via two (2) methods:

  1. Selecting the "Print" icon on a form link.

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  2. From within a form by selecting the "Print" button in the upper right.mceclip2.png

In either case, the form will be able to be printed via any print driver available to the system, including to physical printers or to PDF.

 

Managing Forms

Cloning Forms

Once a form is created, if other forms, similar to that form, need to be created, it is possible to clone the existing form to create new ones.

On the Forms page:

  1. Select the three-dot ellipse (“…”) next to the Form to be clones
  2. Select Clone
  3. Enter the name for the new template(s)
  4. Enter the number of copies (5 max)
  5. Select Clone

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Setting Default Form(s) for Shipping Orders

Capturing data during the shipping process can be key to measuring the effectiveness of your logistics.  When metrics outside the scope of the standard shipping data native to Manufacton is required, Forms are a great way to capture those data points.  Whether they are Quality, Safety, Accuracy or other metrics, forms can capture it.

Since Shipping Orders do not have “Templates” to which to apply Forms, Manufacton allows you to designate one or more forms to automatically get applied as a document to Shipping Orders.

To apply one or more forms to your shipping orders, on the Forms page:

  1. Select the in-line edit pencil to edit a form
  2. Check the Use in Shipping Orders checkbox
  3. Save the form

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Form Reports

As forms are added to orders and filled out, reports on each form type can be exported from the system.  "Completed" Forms are those which are associated with checklists that have been marked "Complete" (remember, every time a form is added to a template, a corresponding checklist is also added to track the completion of that form):

  1. Select Resources
  2. Select the Forms tab
  3. Filter on the desired project (only one project at a time can be selected)
  4. Select either the Export button in-line with the form - an excel file will be generated and emailed to you.
  5. Or select the Print button to print to any supported print driver on your computer.
    • Note: only Forms which have all of their instances completed can be printed.

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Form Video

 

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