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Using EasyPDM
The day-to-day browser workflow — projects, item kinds, statuses, locking, BOM, and search.
Every project has a tree: Folders (plain containers), Parts and Assemblies (have a number/status/revision), and Other files (any document with no structure of its own underneath). An Assembly can contain Parts and other Assemblies (BOM) — the same component can be used in several assemblies and projects at once, so a change in one place is visible everywhere it's used.
An item can be detached from the structure (stays in the database, only disappears from that spot in the tree) or deleted completely (administrator only). Deleting an Assembly removes just that Assembly — its components stay, losing only that one BOM entry, because an Assembly merely uses its parts while a Folder owns its contents. Deleting a Folder therefore does take its contents with it, minus anything that also sits somewhere outside it. A Part/Assembly can also be duplicated, landing right next to the original with its properties copied over.
A finished project can be closed with one button in the toolbar: it drops out of the project selector and the "add item" picker, but nothing else changes — its items stay fully searchable through "Whole database", and the same button opens it again.
A project itself can also be deleted (administrator only) — this does not delete its Parts/Assemblies: they become project-less and stay fully intact, reachable afterward through "Whole database".
Next to the project's own properties sit the documents that come with the job: a quote and an order confirmation each have their own slot, plus an open category for everything else (correspondence, the client's specifications, meeting notes). The two named slots take several files rather than replacing the previous one — a quote gets revised and re-sent, and the earlier version is worth keeping — and every file shows when it was uploaded and by whom.
A project can also name the person leading it on the client's side, picked from that client's contacts (either the client's own, or one belonging to the specific Name 2 the project is linked to), with a button that shows their phone, e-mail and position without leaving the project.
A Part has one of four kinds, each with a different set of fields:
| Kind | Additional fields |
|---|---|
| Manufactured | Material, Price, Additional notes |
| Purchased | Manufacturer, Series/Type, Subtype, Order number 1/2, Mass, Price, Additional notes |
| Standard | Material, Norm, Additional notes |
| Client-supplied | Client, Name 2, Additional notes |
An Assembly has one of three kinds: Manufactured, Purchased (Manufacturer, Series/Type, Subtype), or Client-supplied (Client). Whatever the kind, it can also carry an optional Mass and any custom properties.
Parts/Assemblies move through four statuses: in progress → under review → released, plus → cancelled from released (for an item that turns out not to be needed). In "in progress" everything can be edited; outside of it, the name and properties are locked and the item has no owner. Going back from "released" or "cancelled" to "in progress" bumps the revision by one letter (A → B → C…) with a comment on what changed. An assembly with a cancelled item anywhere in its BOM can't itself become "released". An item's detail panel shows the full history: creation, every status change, every revision with its comment, every attachment added/removed, every lock/release.
An Assembly can't get ahead of its own bill of materials: it goes "under review" only once every component one level below it is at least under review, and "released" only once every one of them is released. Only the direct children are checked — what sits deeper is guarded by the same rule applied to the sub-assembly when its turn comes. If a component is behind, the change is offered rather than refused: a window lists which ones and asks whether to move them along with the assembly (declining changes nothing; accepting moves the components first and the assembly second, in one go). A sub-assembly that is behind is named and left for you to handle separately, since it has a bill of materials of its own, and a component that is cancelled, locked by someone else, or in a project you can't access is named with the reason and left untouched.
Once a Part/Assembly is released, a "Client verification" button in the toolbar opens the running record of what the client said about it. Each entry carries a result — Verified, Needs work, or no result at all, which simply means it went out and you are waiting — an optional comment, and its own attachments, for example the confirming e-mail. Entries accumulate, so a round of remarks followed by an acceptance stays readable as history.
The project panel shows the whole thing split into three tables (needs work, in progress, verified), each row with a button that jumps straight to that item in the structure. When a verdict arrives, the person who created the item gets a notification.
Verification belongs to the item in that project, not to the item alone: the same Part used for two customers is accepted by two different people, so each project keeps its own record, and none of it shows up in "Whole database", where there is no project context. Each entry also remembers which revision it covered, so after a new revision is released the old acceptance stays visible but is clearly marked as no longer covering what the item is now.
The creator of a Part/Assembly immediately becomes its owner, and the item is locked — only the owner can edit its properties while the lock lasts (not even an administrator bypasses this, though an administrator can take over or release someone else's lock and change status, e.g. when a coworker is away). Lock icon colors in the tree: green — locked by you, yellow — by someone else, open — released.
An Assembly lists its components: position, name, quantity, material, norm, manufacturer, order numbers — including nested assemblies' components. Position order can be changed by dragging or typing a number directly. CSV export comes in two variants: full (every occurrence listed separately) or aggregated (combined quantity per component). The reverse view, Used in, shows every assembly (any depth, any project) that contains a given item.
Company-wide catalogs (main menu tabs) you pick from instead of typing by hand: a Material has a name and group/subgroup; a Manufacturer has contacts and a Series/Type + Subtype list of what it supplies; a Client has a name, any number of second names/trade variants, its own contacts, and its own document tree (e.g. norms) — separate from project files. A Project can optionally be linked to a Client — and, when that client has several, to one specific Name 2, after which the project selector shows "Project (Client, Name 2)".
The Whole database tab searches all items regardless of project — by name, number, tags, kind. Filters can be saved for reuse.
From a Project, Assembly, or Part you can download the complete set of attached files as a ZIP (choosing which file extensions to include).
A bell icon shows events needing your attention: items awaiting review, revisions, a client verification result on something you created, project assignment changes, low disk space (administrators), and more — each type can be turned off individually in Settings → Notifications.
Two roles: administrator (full access, all projects, account/server settings) and user (only assigned projects). Everyone manages their own interface language (Polish/English/German) and light/dark theme in Settings.
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