Creating and managing Engineering Change Orders
An Engineering Change Order (ECO) is the formal record that documents, approves, and releases a set of engineering changes. An ECO collects all affected parts, the signoff approvals required, and the BOM changes associated with a change. When all signoffs are approved and the ECO is released, an Engineering Change Notice (ECN) can be generated as a printable document.
The ECO list is accessible from the SavantPLM sidebar. Viewers can browse ECOs and view their detail. Editors can create and edit ECOs. Signoffs are performed by the user whose name appears on the signoff list.
The ECO list displays all ECOs in your workspace in a table. Click View on any row to open the ECO Detail view. Editors can also click the pencil icon (✎) to edit key fields inline without opening the full detail view.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| View | Opens the ECO Detail view for this record. |
| Edit | Opens an inline edit row for quick field edits. Editors only. |
| ECO # | The auto-assigned ECO number. Click the column header to sort. |
| Title | A short description of the change order. |
| Model(s) | The product model(s) affected. |
| Status | Released, Approved, Rejected, or Voided. |
| Date Released | The date the ECO was formally released. |
| Assigned To | The workspace user responsible for this ECO. |
The ECO Detail view has four tabs: General, Signoffs, Parts, and BOM. The top bar shows the ECO number, title, a status pill (Unreleased, Approved, Released, or Voided), and action buttons that appear when the ECO is ready to release or already released.
Contains the core fields for the ECO organized into sections. Editors can click ✎ Edit to switch to edit mode, then ✓ Save Changes to save or Cancel to discard changes. Viewers see the fields in read-only mode only.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| ECO # | The ECO number. Read-only after creation. |
| Title | A short description of the change order. |
| Model(s) | The product model(s) this ECO applies to. |
| Affects | Checkboxes indicating which departments are affected: Purchasing, Fabrication, Assembly, Manual, QC, Sales, Tech Service. |
| Requested By | The person who initiated the change request (free text). |
| Assigned To | The workspace user responsible for this ECO. |
| Linked ECRs | The ECRs this ECO addresses. Read-only here — one ECO can address several ECRs. To link an ECR, open the ECR and set its Linked ECO # to this ECO's number. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Date Effective | The date the change is to take effect. |
| Date Released | Set automatically when the ECO is released. |
| Date Created | When the ECO record was created. |
| Last Updated | When the ECO record was last modified. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Description | A detailed description of the change. This prints on the ECN. |
| Reason | The reason or justification for the change. This prints on the ECN. |
| Notes | Internal notes about this ECO. These do not print on the ECN. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Linked ECRs | Every ECR whose Linked ECO # is this ECO. Shown as a read-only card, like Linked EPRs, with a link to each ECR's detail view. |
| Linked EPRs (Prototypes) | Prototype requests whose ECO # field references this ECO. |
Signoffs track who must approve the ECO before it can be released. Each signoff entry has a user, a role (e.g. Engineer, Manager), a status (Unsigned, Approved, Rejected), and the date signed.
The ECO can only be released once all signoff entries are in the Approved state. If any are Unsigned or Rejected, the Release button will not appear.
The Parts tab lists all part numbers associated with this ECO. Each row tracks the part's revision transition and what action is being taken on it.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| PN | The part number affected by this ECO. |
| Title | The part name. |
| From Rev | The revision the part is changing from. |
| New Rev | The revision the part is changing to. |
| Disposition | What to do with existing inventory: USE, SCRAP, or REWORK. |
| Action | The type of change: NEW, REVISED, or OBSOLETE. |
| Has BOM | Whether this part has a BOM on the current revision. |
| BOM Change | Whether the BOM is being changed by this ECO. |
| BOM Behavior | How the BOM is handled on the new revision (e.g. carried forward or modified). |
Editors can add parts by clicking lock LOCKED to unlock the tab, then entering a part number, disposition, and action.
The BOM tab shows a combined view of all BOM changes captured by this ECO across all affected parts. It provides a summary of what BOM lines are being added, removed, or modified as part of this change order.
When all signoffs are Approved, a ✓ Release ECO button appears in the top bar. Clicking it (and confirming) releases the ECO. Once released:
Releasing an ECO is not easily reversible. Verify all signoffs and part entries are correct before releasing.
The 📄 View ECN button (or View ECN (Draft) for unreleased ECOs) in the top bar opens the Engineering Change Notice view for this ECO. The ECN is a formatted, printable document summarizing all fields, signoffs, and parts. See the ECN Help page for details.
To void an ECO, edit the General tab and set the Voided field to Yes. Voided ECOs are hidden from the list by default but can be revealed with visibility Show Voided.
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For other SavantPLM topics, see the SavantPLM Help index.