Operation aliasing allows process engineers to group similar operations from one or more process flows for reporting purposes and dashboards. Global operation aliases are used to define global operations you can access from the Production client application.

Example

Several inspection operations such as AOI, manual inspection, and final inspection in different processes could all be assigned an alias of Inspect. Once assigned, you can generate reports against the Inspect alias that take all three operations into account (that is, instead of having to specify each operation manually in the report), saving you valuable time.

Important

If you don't use global operations, you don't need to define any operation aliases as global. If you do use global operations, you need to define these aliases as Global and also associate an appropriate Operator Interface template with them to make the global options available.

You can select and assign operation aliases and global operation aliases to operations in two areas of NPI:

The Aliases tab of the Global Operations area of NPI
The Update Operation dialog (Operation Properties, Basics tab) in the Process Definition window of NPI

Create and manage global operation aliases

This topic describes how to create and manage global operation aliases.

Log into the NPI client application.
Select Templates and Standards > Global Operations.
(Optional) To search for an existing operation alias, use the Search for Operation Aliasbutton (the binoculars), enter the alias name in the Search field, then select the Search for Operation Aliasbutton again.

Search results are displayed under the Search field as shown in the following illustration.
Select the Add Operation Alias button next to Aliases on the left side of the window to display more options for adding a new operation alias.
Enter a Name for the operation alias.
(Optional) Enter a Description for the operation alias.
Select the Is Global check box to make this operation alias global.
Use the Operator Interface drop-down to select the default Operator Interface template to use with this global operation alias. (For more information, see Operator Interface templates.)
Select the Save button to save the information for this global operation alias.

Now you're ready to assign operations to the global operation alias.
On the right side of the window under Operations, select the Add Operation to Alias button.

In the Operation Selector dialog, you can search for and select the assemblies containing the operations you want to assign to the alias. In the following example, we're selecting an Inspection operation that will be assigned to the Inspect global operation alias that we created previously.
When you locate the desired process containing the operation you want to add to the alias, double-click the process revision to display the individual operations for that process on the right side of the dialog under Select Operations from the Tree as shown in the following illustration.
Select the operation you want to add to the alias. (You can select normal operations or out-of-route operations such as Rework or Repair, for example.)
Continue to add operations from other assemblies and processes until you're finished, then select OK.

The operations you selected for the global operation alias are displayed on the right side of the window.
If you change your mind and want to remove an operation from the alias, select the operation in the table on the right side of the window, then select the Remove Operation from Aliasbutton.
After you select the desired operations, select OK.

Tip

If you have multiple, similar process definitions that can all make use of the same global operation alias, you can create a process flow template containing the global operation alias (that is, instead of selecting the same global operation alias for individual assemblies and operations. When the template is applied to a new process flow, the global operation alias is applied automatically.

When you're finished configuring the global operation alias, select the Save button in the lower-right corner of the window.

Now when you're in the NPI Process Definition window configuring operation properties, you can select the global operation alias you created and assign it to a selected operation in the Update Operation dialog, as shown in the following illustration. (The operator interface template you assigned to the global operation alias will be used automatically for this operation.)