The Product Approval module is used to review and ultimately approve or reject design ideas created by licensees. Product approval is an iterative process meaning that it produces a result by successively repeating a series of operations, each of which better approximates the desired final result. This is the dialog between licensor and licensee. Designs can be accessed by submission date, by current status within the approval cycle, and by various other criteria. Once a design has been approved, it can be added to the product tree which reflects your complete product offering.
The Product Approval module automates the processing of product design from initial concept to final approval. It provides licensors with a way to group and track proposals and it gives licensees the ability to track their submissions through each phase in the approval cycle.
The Product Approval module lets licensee design and production groups submit concepts directly to an archival database so that licensors can review, comment, and approve or reject the designs. Custom-designed templates organize and standardize submitted information according to licensor style requirements. These completed forms are then submitted in real-time to be reviewed by the licensor. Licensors can respond with comments, questions, and suggestions.
Licensees retrieve the submission with comments and markups, and use them as the basis for design modifications. This iterative exchange of text and sample graphics occurs electronically, in real-time. The review and approval of concept artwork, product prototypes, or product samples can happen without shipping and packaging, without a paper trail, and in a fraction of the time it used to take. The Product Approval module removes the guesswork from the product development process. It logs all revisions, and tracks all changes and sign-offs. You track the development process at every step, monitor any changes, and share your decisions real-time. Automatic e-mail notifications help facilitate timely processing of submissions and the licensor product database is automatically updated when a product is approved.
Licensees use custom product approval templates to package and submit information and graphics required by licensors. Licensees can also submit standalone graphic, separate from the template. In either case, the data and images are stored electronically, always available for download and review. This automated archiving of proposals helps maintain data integrity throughout the development cycle. If necessary, you can always go back and review a previous submission.
Portable Document Format is a proprietary imaging technology developed by Adobe Systems. PDF forms are a basic component in the approval process. A PDF file is created from a PostScript file and retains all the formatting characteristics of the original document. It is independent of the application in which it was created and can be displayed in a browser or a standalone Adobe Acrobat Reader. PDF files are widely used in the graphics industry because of their small size and easy portability. The Acrobat Reader is freely distributed by Adobe Systems.
For licensors, the complete Adobe Acrobat application software is recommended because it has annotation capabilities. For licensees, the Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe. The Acrobat Reader makes it possible for the licensee to display and use templates, to submit graphics, and to display and review licensor annotations.
For a licensee, the product review and approval process starts with the Submit task. If the submission includes a template, you first go to the templates page to create and save the template. If your submission is a standalone image file, you go directly to the Submit task. The Submit page comprises three distinct parts. The upload area (top left) provides controls for browsing and uploading standalone image files and completed templates, and also includes a thumbnail image of any uploaded graphic. The tracking data area (top right) shows the detailed submission data you enter for the submission. The submission status/comment area (middle bottom) shows current stage and optional comments made with each step in the submission. For licensors only, it shows the current stage, the state, and the next stage in the process.
All submissions fall into one or more categories: pending, review, or approval.
