Change Request Tracker

A Change Request Tracker transforms engineering change management from chaotic email-driven processes into disciplined, auditable workflows with complete visibility and enforced compliance. The system provides end-to-end engineering change order (ECO) and engineering change notice (ECN) management with approval routing, effectivity management, impact analysis, and inventory tracking.

When an engineer identifies a need for change, they initiate an ECO with complete context: description of change, technical justification, reason for change (design flaw, cost reduction, regulatory requirement, customer request), proposed effective date, and initial impact assessment. The system automatically analyzes the impact: which drawing revisions are affected, which bills of materials, which suppliers, which active production orders, which customers. This impact analysis is not a summary opinion—it's data-driven, pulling exact numbers from the manufacturing system: "This change affects: 3 active drawings (rev A, B, C), 2 active BOMs (product X, Y), 4 suppliers, 47 active work orders, 12 customers with installed products."

The system generates a structured approval workflow based on change type and impact. A simple design refinement might require engineering and quality sign-off. A component substitution requires engineering, quality, procurement, and manufacturing sign-off. A change affecting customer-supplied products requires customer approval. Each stakeholder receives a notification with specific context about their role: manufacturing sees production impact and changeover timing; procurement sees which suppliers need notification; quality sees specification changes; customers see whether the change affects them. Each approver can flag concerns or request additional analysis before approving, creating an audit trail of decision-making.

Effectivity management becomes transparent. The approver specifies the effective date: "Change effective for all new production orders starting 2024-12-01." The system enforces this: production orders created before the effective date use old specifications and drawings; orders created after the effective date use new specifications. For orders currently in production, the system shows whether they are affected: "This work order (PO-2024-1156) will be impacted by this change. Change effective 2024-12-01, order due 2024-11-25. Recommendation: complete using old specification or expedite to incorporate new specification."

Inventory management becomes automatic. When a change makes current inventory obsolete (e.g., specifying a new component that replaces an old one), the system calculates the impact: "Current inventory of old component (5,420 units) becomes obsolete on effective date. Estimated value: $127,000. Recommendation: consume old inventory in production orders 1-47, purchase new component starting with order 48." The system can manage buy-out strategies: ordering the last batch of an old component at favorable pricing before the supplier stops making it, or negotiating supplier adjustments if the change was supplier-initiated.

Supplier notification becomes auditable. For each affected supplier, the system generates a change notice with technical details, effective date, and required acknowledgment. The notification is transmitted electronically, tracked for receipt, and requires formal supplier acknowledgment of understanding. If a supplier is expected to supply the new component (e.g., a new alternative supplier), the system tracks qualification status: "New supplier XYZ approved as alternative to current supplier ABC for component type-D. Qualification status: samples received, in testing. Expected approval date: 2024-12-15. Note: cannot use new supplier until qualification complete."

Quality and production procedures are automatically marked for update. When a change affects inspection criteria, the system flags the quality procedure: "QPS-2024-001 (Component Type-D inspection procedure) marked for revision due to change in dimensional requirements. Revision due: 2024-11-25, change effective: 2024-12-01." The system can require that updated procedures are in place before the effective date, preventing scenarios where production starts using new specs but quality is still checking to old specs.

Customer impact tracking is comprehensive. If the change affects customer-supplied products (e.g., a replacement for a component embedded in a customer's product), the system generates customer notifications with technical impact details. The system tracks which customers received which notifications and when, creating liability protection if regulatory issues arise later.

Revision control becomes automatic. Every document affected by the change (drawing, BOM, procedure) is automatically versioned. The system can generate a "rollback" scenario showing which documents need to revert if the change is cancelled. The system maintains a complete change history: "Component Type-D revision history: Rev A (current in production, effective to 2024-11-30), Rev B (effective from 2024-12-01 per ECO-2024-147, approved 2024-11-08)."

For regulated industries, the system generates all required regulatory documentation. For aerospace (AS9100 compliance), the system can generate change notices pre-formatted for regulatory documentation. For pharma (21 CFR Part 11 compliance), the system maintains immutable audit trails of all change decisions with electronic signatures at each approval stage. For medical devices (ISO 13485 compliance), the system links changes to design controls and risk management documentation.