Efficient PLM: New Search Features in Aras Innovator Version 12

Efficient PLM: New Search Features in Aras Innovator Version 12

Few features in modern software applications make users more productive than Search. Aras Innovator Version 12 has been making many updates to its Search functionality, from the Table of Contents all the way through to the way you search for items to create new relationships across the platform. 

Check them all out in this new video:

If you missed our previous blog in this series, on Personalization in the Aras Innovator Version 12 user experience, get caught up here

Search in the Table of Contents

Starting in the Table of Contents, users can right-click on any ItemType to quickly run a search.

Search from the New Quick Access Panel

The new Quick Access Panel offers several new Search features: a Search button to quickly run an ItemType search; the new Quick Search feature with predictive text, to find what you’re looking for as you type in a known item number; and the new Saved Search feature, which lets users save and quickly access searches they use often.

Saving a Search

You can save simple or advanced searches. To save a search, simply adjust the search settings and filters to get the results you want. Then, select the Save icon, and choose a name for this search. Elect to have it appear in the Quick Access Panel, and hit save. Now, every time you run the search, the latest results in your database will appear.

New Search Grid Functionality

New functionality to quickly mass-select items from a search grid and run one command against all of them, like claim / unclaim, promote, and mass-promote, is now possible right in the Search Grid. And, the new Create New feature in the search grid lets you create new items in context with your work in the grid.

Save the Search Grid Layout

How do you prefer to view and consume the results of a search? That is now in your control in Aras Innovator Version 12. Adjust column order, freeze columns to improve scrolling, and hide or show columns to set up the Search Grid results exactly how you prefer to see them. Choose Save Layout, and any time you return to this search, the Search Grid will appear in the new layout.

The new layout will be preserved anywhere it appears: not just in the Main Search Grid but also when searching among items of that type elsewhere in the tool—say, when creating a relationship to another item. And, the new layout is only saved for that ItemType, meaning that you can have different saved search layouts for different ItemTypes: Search layouts for parts vs. documents can be set up differently, for example.

Incidentally: the same “Save Layout” functionality can be applied to Relationship Grids: but they don’t need to match your preferred Search Grid layouts if you don’t want them to. Likewise, layouts for Relationship Grids only appear for the item of the same type as the one you saved them for: allowing for different Relationship Grid layouts for different Item Types, the same way Saved Search Grid Layouts work.

Enterprise Search Updates

Finally, Enterprise Search—the popular search tool in Aras Innovator that performs a search across every ItemType in your database using the keyword and tags you define—has received several updates: a refreshed data model to enhance speed and performance; new functionality when choosing facets for your search; and the ability to open multiple Enterprise Search results in many different tabs at the same time.

Efficient PLM for Enhanced Productivity

While few things make users more efficient than Search, Personalization and Multitasking sure come close. Check out how Aras Innovator Version 12 has been making enhancements in these two areas, as well, by visiting additional blogs in this series, including "Personalized PLM in Aras Innovator Version 12".