Send/Propose &

General Releasing Tips

Version: IMDS Release 10.0

Copyright © 2019 DXC Technology August 16, 2019

About this Document

This document discusses the types of ways to “Release” or make productive your MDS or module.
It assumes there are no errors in the datasheet.
For information on correcting errors – please read on the IMDS Information pages > FAQ
category IMDS Errors and Warnings > What do the errors in IMDS mean and how can I fix
them?

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What is Meant by “Released” or “Made Productive”

If you are familiar with ISO certified processes where there is only true and controlled copy of a
document or process stored in a document library and other documents may list the URL of the
document, you may think of the MDS that is being created as linking to other certified MDSs stored
elsewhere. Instead of a URL, the link is an IMDS ID and version (or node ID).
In fact the “certified” example is a useful one. When you “release” an MDS, you are “certifying” that
all the information is true and final. You cannot go back and make changes without changing the
version number and releasing (or certifying). You cannot release (or certify) a top node while it links
to uncertified (unreleased) MDSs/Modules.
A “Released” or “Productive” MDS or Module has a whole number version.

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What to do With MDS/Module in Edit Mode

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Send/Receive vs. Publish

The process of sending or proposing and acceptance is supposed to be a quality check on the data.
During this interaction, the creator of the MDS is essentially certifying the information for their
customer and the customer either agrees or disagrees by accepting or rejecting the submission –
although there are some companies who accept everything and come back later with a rejection in
an email. While the IMDS Steering Committee has published Recommendations – each customer
may have special requirements that could require resubmission.
The process of publishing is one-sided – the creator certifies, but there is no agreement on the
quality of the data. Although it looks easier for suppliers – most customers have processes in place
that eliminate the incorporation of published data. Unless you produce a commodity item – e.g.
paint, wire, fastener – you should not be publishing.
Since there were too many suppliers who were publishing when they should not, publish is only an
option if you have taken the time to read the instructions. The Company Administrator should read
the Company Administrator tips in order to set the company and users up for publishing.

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Relieve Release Frustration…

Before you can let an MDS be viewed by someone else (Internal Release, Send, Propose, or
Publish) ALL the nodes of the tree must be released. That is why it is a good idea to work the BOM
from the bottom up.
Once you Internally Release, Publish, or Propose, the version is set and you cannot make
ANY changes.
Once an MDS is accepted by your customer – you cannot delete the datasheet or the
recipient.

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Internal, Publish, Send or Propose?

Decide:

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Send & Propose - Pros and Cons

Pro Con
Send If recipient rejects it, the MDS can be Can only send to one company. If you need to
edited to correct the problem. send to another, need a new copy (/copy not /new
version).
Propose Same MDS can go to multiple Once proposed, the information cannot be edited.
customers each with their own part If a recipient rejects it, a new copy or version must
number. be created.

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How Send/Receive Works

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How Propose/Receive Works

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Send

In the Create Tips, we added the customer information. In this case, I have made sure that I
released all the nodes of the tree and that all weights and tolerances are correct so I don’t get any
errors.
I can now click on Send.

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Complete the Send and Note the Status Change

If you’re sure you want to send, click on OK.

Notice how the status has changed to
“not yet browsed”.

Status changes to „Handshake“ and

„not yet browsed“

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Common Errors/Solutions
For a complete list of errors and how to fix
them, please read the How to Fix Errors Tips.

Error Message Solution

Non basic substances must be decomposed There must be a basic substance ( ) symbol at the bottom of every path
further. from the top of the tree.
The quantity must be one item at least. Make sure that the Quantity of each component MDS used is at least 1.
Weight needs to be higher than zero. Make sure the weight of all semi-components and materials is specified
.
The deviation between Measured Weight and Check the calculated weights of sub-nodes against the stated weight and
Calculated Weight per Item exceeds the tolerance one level up and adjust where needed.
entered tolerance.
The referenced module (or referenced Use the correct button to find the problem, then Search the Module (or
datasheet) is not internally released. MDS), Modify, and internally release.
Sum of fixed values and range values too Make sure the sum of all % at the same level = 100
small.
No classification specified. You have not given the Material a classification.

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From the Customer Side…

Under Administration > Personal Settings, everybody can subscribe to receiving e-mails in case
of certain events. In this case, an e-mail is sent to the recipient, if an MDS is received - notifying the
user that an MDS was received and is available in the Inbox.

Events for which a subscription can

be entered.

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Notification for You from Your Customer

Under Administration > Personal Settings, you can also subscribe for e-mail notification for the
case an MDS is accepted or rejected and is available in the Outbox. So, if your customer accepted
or rejected your MDS you will receive an e-mail.

Events for which a subscription can

be entered.

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Viewing the MDS – Customer’s View

In case of a received MDS, the system will generate an e-mail message to you (according to your
subscriptions under Personal Settings). From your Inbox you can directly access the MDS. In this
case the part number was incorrect and the customer decided to reject the MDS. Here is what he
sees after rejecting:

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Viewing the MDS - Status Change in your Outbox

In case of a rejected MDS, the system will generate an e-mail message to you (according to your
subscriptions under Personal Settings). From your Outbox you can directly access the MDS:

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Fixing the Problem in “Handshake”

Click on Recipient data to go directly to the message.

If you used the Send command as opposed to Propose, you can fix the problem without creating a
new version or copy. The MDS goes back to Edit mode after being rejected.
When rejecting, your customer should have entered
a message when they rejected the part – in this case,
the part number was incorrect.

NOTE: if your customer says you have the wrong part number or
description, fix it here and not on your ingredients page as this
is what they see on their ingredients page.

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Searching the Outbox / Proposed Filters

There is a MAXIMUM of 500 search result items displayed in the Outbox.

Possible ways to narrow the results to what you’re looking for is to search on –
• Date
• Status
• Ingredients
Info
• Org.-Unit sent
from
• Recipient

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Searching Sent/Proposed Filters > Date

transmitted – Date you sent/proposed to customer

last status changed – Date status of MDS changed – something was done to it by your customer
or if it has not been accepted, date someone deleted the recipient or deleted the datasheet.

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Searching Sent/Proposed Filters > Status

open MDSs – MDSs that have not been accepted or rejected

Individual Status:
not yet browsed – customer hasn’t looked at it
browsed – customer has looked at it but hasn’t accepted or rejected
accepted – customer has accepted
rejected – customer has rejected
modified – you have made a change to an MDS and need to resend or re-propose
cancelled by sender – the MDS was not yet accepted and you have either deleted the recipient or
deleted the datasheet
in process at recipient – customer has an offline system that handles acceptance and rejection and it
is currently in the offline system waiting action
forwarded only – MDSs that started as an MDS your company received and a Copy/Forward was made
and sent to your customer
obsolete – the search will include MDSs marked as obsolete in your company

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Searching Sent/Proposed Filters > General Info

Name – the article name from your Ingredients chapter NOT the name from the Recipient Info
Internal number – the information from your Ingredients chapter NOT the information from the
Recipient Info Screen
External number - the information from the Recipient Info Screen NOT your Ingredients chapter
ID - the IMDS ID number
Versions – either just the latest (current) or All versions
Preliminary MDS – MDSs that have had the Preliminary MDS box checked

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Searching Sent/Proposed Filters > Org.-Unit

Org.-Unit that is associated with the MDS. An MDS can be placed into an Org.-Unit by:
Selecting the Org.-Unit when creating on the Supplier Data Page
The Company Administrator using Administration > MDS Admin to move the MDS into the
respective Org.-Unit
YOU MUST HAVE THE ORG.-UNIT ASSIGNED TO YOUR ID TO USE THIS FILTER – your
Company Administrator can assign the Org.-Unit to your ID.

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Searching Sent/Proposed Filters > Recipient

If you do not check “Enable search by recipient”, you will get ALL recipients.
Include all Org Units – you will get all MDSs that you have sent to an Org.-Unit or the “roof” of your
recipient.
Add recipient to list – here you can add recipient
companies to your list of recipients, remove them or
save the recipient list – if it is saved, it will be available
as default next time you use this screen

Search – search for those results meeting your criteria

Export – create a .csv file of your results

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Finding Problems

In this case, I’ve searched on rejected MDSs because I want to find the rejected ones (Status
rejected).
Right-click on an MDS and choose “Show reject reason”.

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Finding Problems > Reject Reason

In the screen, all the available information on the user that rejected the MDS appears.
Since this MDS was SENT (version .01) changes can be made anywhere. If it was Proposed, only
changes on the recipient data screen could be made. If you right-click and choose View you can go
to the MDS.

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Finding the Problem > Edit

In order to edit the MDS, you need to choose Edit after right-clicking.
Since we used Send I can make changes anywhere. If this was Proposed, I could only make
changes on the Recipient Data Screen.

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Changes Made – Send Again

If it’s an incorrect part number, description,

supplier code, or anything else on the
company data page, you can make changes.
When done, Send again.

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If Part Number or Description Incorrect – FIX ON
RECIPIENT PAGE
Why is my customer not seeing my changes in either the Part Number or Description?
IMDS has been set up so that a supplier can propose the same MDS to many different customers without the
supplier having to make copies and yet each customer will receive their specific purchase part information.
How this works is that in the customer's view, IMDS places the Part number and Description you enter in the
Recipient-specific data onto the recipients Ingredients page. In version .01, when you add the recipient, the
information from the Ingredients page is copied to the Recipient information. However, when you modify the original
version or copy/new version, the information on the recipient page is not updated.
How you should correct a rejected MDS when the MDS was rejected for either a part number or description issue:
1. Modify the rejected MDS, then go to the Recipient Data screen, highlight the recipient that rejected, modify
the data as requested by the recipient.
2. Hit Save, the recipient status on the highlighted recipient will be "modified".
3. Either send or propose as originally.
If your customer has not accepted the MDS, ask them to reject. If your customer has already accepted, you will
have to make a copy/new version and go to the recipient screen and make the changes. No changes can be
made to an accepted MDS.

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Check Again and Send

Click the little disk icon to Save your changes. You can always initiate a check by either using the
menu item check or directly check by clicking the check icon. Otherwise, the check will be
automatically carried out once the Send button is clicked.

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Complete the Send

Since the check was successful, click the Send

button to send it.
Are you REALLY, REALLY SURE? – click Send
again.

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…and Back to Not Yet Browsed

The MDS is now in the hands of your customer - note the status change.
If there’s something else you need to fix, you can click on the Sent MDSs tab to go back to the
Outbox list.

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Send/Propose Status Changes

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Propose Conditions

Customer 1 Customer 2 Supplier actions

not yet browsed rejected Part can be modified and proposes to both, status goes to
not yet browsed for both
browsed rejected Theoretically part can be changed (or deleted) and status
becomes modified (or cancelled by sender) for Customer
2. If modified, Customer 2 can't accept or reject. Best
action is to wait to see what happens with other customer.
rejected cancelled by Part can be proposed again to both - and the cancelled by
sender / modified sender tag gets changed back to not yet browsed.
rejected accepted Modifications can only be made to recipient data information
on customer 1. Changes to tree: Search/Copy/new version.
You can delete customer 2 from send list in copy. New
version is 1.01.

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Other Topics

How can I?
• Prove that I submitted
• Have a record customer accepted
• Print a copy for my records
All of these can achieved by using the MDS Report function.

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Use of the MDS Report Function

Since PPAPs usually require IMDS submission, some customers require proof that the submission
was made and that it was accepted – use of the MDS Report function has helped with this.
Highlight the desired MDS and click on MDS Report.
My company is the top (IH Automotive) – my customer
is IMDS Service Team.

For this, you want your customer’s view so select your

customer from the list. The small screen changes to:
Click OK to continue.

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MDS Report > Section 1

Section 1 contains information about the Supplier Contact and the information from the Recipient
Page. It also gives the Recipient Status and the date of acceptance. This is usually sufficient for
PPAP.

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MDS Report > Section 2

Section 2 contains the complete structure of the tree.

To save space, each column will have a different
meaning depending on the node it is giving information on.
While this isn’t an exact print out of the tree, it will have
to suffice.
Although this is theoretically in your customer’s view – if
you have marked substances confidential – those
substances will show here – but your customer will not
see them. Additionally, if you have internally released or
supplier created MDSs/Modules on the tree, you will see
the ID in the printout, but your customer will not see them.
It should be noted that since this is essentially a
certificate – you cannot edit the .pdf file.

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Conclusion

Whether you Send or Propose is up to your internal processes and your customer’s requirements.
Unless you produce a commodity item, it is preferred you not use Publish. Remember anyone with
an ID in IMDS (and at last count that was over 250,000 people in just about every country in the
world) can see your structure.

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