Engineering Changes
Engineering Change Orders (ECOs) — raise and manage controlled changes to products and BOMs. Covers the ECO list and review filter chip, raising a new ECO (title, product, change type, apply-on, target version, effective date, priority, reason, description), the full ECO record with 7-col details grid and version change, the Change Impact panel (where used, open sales/works/purchase orders), the approval sign-off and Apply (release) flow, all six change types (Correction, Improvement, Cost reduction, Customer request, Supplier change, Other), and the four-stage lifecycle (Draft → In review → Approved → Applied).
Section 01
What is an Engineering Change Order?
2 minutes
An Engineering Change Order (ECO) in Brytebuild is the formal mechanism for making a controlled change to a product record — its specification, drawing reference, materials, or Bill of Materials. Every ECO is traceable: it records what is changing, why, who approved it, and applies the change by incrementing the product version number.
- Each ECO targets a specific product and specifies a Target Version — the version the product will reach when the ECO is applied
- Changes can apply to the Product only (the product record) or Product + BOM (the product record and its bill of materials)
- The ECO lifecycle is Draft → In review → Approved → Applied
- An ECO must be submitted for review, then approved by a sign-off — it cannot be applied (versioned) without approval
- Applying an approved ECO increments the product version and locks the ECO record
- The Change Impact panel shows everything affected — assemblies the product rolls up into, open sales orders, works orders and purchase orders
Every ECO starts as a Draft. Use the draft phase to define the change clearly before submitting for approval. Once submitted it moves to In review and the reviewer signs off before you can apply it.
Section 02
The ECO list
1 minute
Navigate to Quality → Engineering Changes to view all ECOs. The 🏷 N in review chip shows how many ECOs are currently awaiting sign-off. Each row shows the ECO number, title, affected product, change type, current status and a View action.
| Number | Title | Product | Type | Status | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECO-2026-0003 | Add corrosion-resistant coating to bracket surface finish | MTB-0062 | Improvement | In review | View |
| ECO-2026-0002 | Correct M8 bolt hole tolerance on Frame A mounting plate | MTB-0062 | Correction | In review | View |
| ECO-2026-0001 | Substitute SB-0404 bracket component — Steelco supply risk | SB-0404 | Supplier change | Applied | View |
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Number | Auto-assigned ECO reference — e.g. ECO-2026-0003. Immutable once raised. |
| Title | Short description of the change — e.g. Correct M8 bolt hole tolerance on Frame A mounting plate. |
| Product | The product being changed — e.g. MTB-0062 (M8 Mounting Bracket — Frame A). |
| Type | The change classification — Correction, Improvement, Cost reduction, Customer request, Supplier change, or Other. |
| Status | Draft (grey), In review (amber), Approved (blue), or Applied (green). Applied ECOs are locked. |
Section 03
Raising a new ECO
2 minutes
Click + New ECO (top-right) to open the raise form. Fill in the title, select the product being changed, choose the change type, apply-on scope, target version, effective date and priority. Add a reason and description, then click Raise ECO — the ECO is created at Draft status.
New Engineering Change
Raise a draft ECO — submit for approval after reviewing
The new version this change releases
| Field | Required | What to enter |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Required | A short, specific description — e.g. Correct M8 bolt hole tolerance on Frame A mounting plate. |
| Product | Required | Select the product being changed — e.g. MTB-0062 M8 Mounting Bracket — Frame A. |
| Change Type | Optional | Correction, Improvement, Cost reduction, Customer request, Supplier change, or Other. Defaults to Correction. |
| Apply On | Optional | Product only — updates the product record. Product + BOM — updates the product and its bill of materials. |
| Target Version | Required | The version number the product will reach when the ECO is applied — e.g. 2.0. Must be greater than the current version. |
| Effective | Optional | As soon as applied — the change takes effect immediately on applying. On a set date — the change is scheduled for a specific future date. |
| Priority | Optional | Low, Normal, High, or Urgent. Defaults to Normal. Used to prioritise the approval queue. |
| Reason | Optional | Why this change is needed — the root cause, NCR reference, customer request, or business rationale. |
| Description | Optional | What is changing — the specific product fields, BOM lines, tolerances, materials or documents being updated. |
Section 04
The ECO record
2 minutes
Click View on any ECO to open its record. The record shows three sections: ECO Details (full change specification), Change Impact (everything affected), and Approval (sign-off and apply controls). The header shows the current lifecycle position.
ECO Details
Engineering Change Order — controlled change to a product (and optionally) its BOM
# Number
ECO-2026-0002
✏ Title
Correct M8 bolt hole tolerance on Frame A mounting plate
⬡ Product
MTB-0062
⊙ Type
Correction
⊙ Apply On
Product + BOM
⊙ Priority
High
⊙ Current Version
1.00
→ Version Change
1.00 → 2.00
📅 Effective
As soon as applied
⊙ Status
In review
Description
Update M8 Mounting Bracket — Frame A (#MTB-0062) product specification: revise bolt hole dimensional tolerance from ±0.15mm to ±0.08mm across all 4 mounting positions. Update BOM to add mandatory CMM-01 verification step at goods-in. Target version 2.00.
Reason
Goods-in inspection audit (AUD-2026-0001) identified dimensional tolerance failures for M8 Hex Bolts — Grade 8.8 batch PO-2026-0033 from Steelco Fasteners Ltd. NCR-2026-0008 raised. Root cause: incorrect tolerance specification on product drawing — ±0.15mm should be ±0.08mm.
| Field | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Number | Auto-assigned — e.g. ECO-2026-0002. Immutable. |
| Title | Short description of the change as entered when raising. |
| Product | The product being changed — e.g. MTB-0062. |
| Type | The change classification — see Section 07 for definitions. |
| Apply On | Product only (product record only) or Product + BOM (product record + bill of materials). |
| Priority | Low / Normal / High / Urgent — for approval queue prioritisation. |
| Current Version | The product's version before this ECO is applied. |
| Version Change | The before → after version — e.g. 1.00 → 2.00. |
| Effective | As soon as applied, or On a set date. |
| Status | Current lifecycle position — Draft, In review, Approved, or Applied. |
| Description | What is changing — the specific product fields, BOM lines or tolerances. |
| Reason | Why the change is needed — root cause, NCR reference, or business rationale. |
Section 05
Change impact
2 minutes
The Change Impact panel shows everything in Brytebuild that will be affected by this ECO. This gives approvers full visibility before sign-off — they can see which assemblies the product rolls up into and which open orders are currently using the product.
Change Impact
Everything affected by changing MTB-0062 — assemblies it rolls up into, open orders that use it
Where Used (1)
Assemblies
Open Orders Affected
Sales orders (2)
Works orders (3)
Purchase orders (2)
| Impact area | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Where Used | Assemblies and higher-level products that include this product as a component — i.e. the BOM roll-up. Blank if the product is not used in any assembly. |
| Sales orders | Open sales orders that include this product — changing the product specification may affect pending deliveries. |
| Works orders | Open production works orders for this product — in-progress orders may need to be halted or reworked before applying the ECO. |
| Purchase orders | Open purchase orders for this product or its BOM components from affected suppliers (e.g. Steelco Fasteners Ltd, PO-2026-0033). |
If in-progress works orders exist when an ECO is applied, those orders may produce parts to the old specification. Co-ordinate with production before applying high-priority ECOs to decide whether to pause open works orders.
Section 06
Approval & applying an ECO
2 minutes
The Approval section at the bottom of the ECO record controls the sign-off and release flow. An ECO must move through review and approval before it can be applied (released). Applying the ECO versions the product up to the target version and locks the record.
Approval
Awaiting sign-off — once approved this ECO can be applied to version the product up
Once the approver signs off, the Apply button becomes available:
Approval
Approved — ready to apply and version the product up
| Control | Available when | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Go Back | Always | Returns to the ECO list without changes. |
| Delete | Draft only | Permanently removes the ECO. Not available once submitted. |
| Edit ECO | Draft only | Opens the edit form — same as Raise ECO but pre-filled. Not available once submitted for review. |
| Submit for review | Draft only | Moves the ECO to In review status and triggers the approval workflow. |
| Awaiting approval | In review | Read-only indicator — shows the ECO is pending sign-off from the approver. |
| Apply (release) | Approved only | Versions the product up to the target version, locks the ECO record, and marks it Applied. |
Once Apply (release) is clicked the product version is incremented, the ECO is locked and cannot be edited or deleted. If an ECO was applied in error, raise a new ECO to revert or correct the product.
Section 07
Change types
1 minute
Every ECO is classified by change type. The type is for reporting and filtering — it does not affect the workflow. Choose the type that best describes the motivation for the change:
Correction
Fixes an error in the product specification or BOM — e.g. correcting a tolerance, drawing reference, or incorrect material. Typically linked to an NCR or audit finding.
Improvement
Enhances the product beyond its current specification — e.g. adding a corrosion-resistant coating, improving a manufacturing step, or upgrading a material grade.
Cost reduction
Changes that reduce manufacturing or material cost without compromising performance — e.g. substituting an equivalent lower-cost component or simplifying a BOM line.
Customer request
A change requested by a customer — e.g. a revised finish, modified dimension, or new packaging requirement specified in a sales order or customer contract.
Supplier change
A change driven by a supplier substitution or supply chain event — e.g. replacing Steelco Fasteners Ltd SB-0404 with an alternative supplier due to single-source risk or discontinuation.
Other
Any change that doesn't fit the above categories — e.g. regulatory compliance updates, label changes, or documentation-only corrections.
Section 08
ECO lifecycle
1 minute
Every ECO moves through a fixed four-stage lifecycle:
| Status | What's happening | How to advance |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | ECO raised and being defined. Fully editable. Not yet visible to approvers. | Click Submit for review once the change is fully defined. |
| In review | ECO submitted to the approver. Change Impact visible. Not editable. | Approver signs off — moves to Approved. |
| Approved | ECO approved. Ready to be applied. Awaiting release. | Click Apply (release) to version the product and lock the record. |
| Applied | Product versioned up. ECO locked and read-only. Change is live. | No further action. Record retained as evidence. |