Exchange Process Timeline

An Exchange Process Timeline is that period of time commencing with the release of the first draft of a specification and ending with acceptance of the specification. A timeline can be visualized as the sequence of ReqIFs which have been exchanged between the customer and supplier. The first ReqIF is always the customer's initial draft and this forms the reference point for all subsequent ReqIFs. The final ReqIF would be the one where the supplier has evaluated all requirements and responded in such as way as to set each requirement to a terminal state - normally 'Accepted'.

 

Exchange Process Role

An Exchange Process Timeline is associated with the role of a participant. When you create a timeline, REQIFtoolkit allows you to specify this role and this value should be set according to the role you play in the Exchange Process.

• Customer/OEM role - choose this of you are the owner of the specification. As the customer, you will be exporting customer ReqIFs and importing supplier ReqIFs.
• Supplier Role - choose this if you are the contributor to the specification. As the supplier, you will be importing customer ReqIFs and exporting supplier ReqIFs.

 

Visualization of the Timeline

REQIFtoolkit enables you to record each ReqIF in an Exchange Process Timeline and visualize this in a number of different ways.

 

Diagram View

You can view the timeline diagrammatically as a single row of individual ReqIFs.

 

 

Table View

You can also view the ReqIFs in the timeline as a table.

 

 

History View

There is also the history view that shows every requirement along the the historical values for the required Exchange Process attributes in consecutive columns.

In the details view, when a customer ReqIF is added to the timeline, the values of the Customer Status and Customer Comment attributes are shown for each requirement. Similarly, when a supplier ReqIF is added to the timeline, the values of the Supplier Status and Supplier Comment attributes are shown. This make it easy to see

• when the supplier has evaluated a requirement and made a response, and
• when the customer has responded to a request from the supplier

 

 

One Specification per Timeline

REQIFtoolkit supports the visualization of a timeline for a single specification. If your exchange contains multiple specifications, you can create separate timelines for each specification.