Entities are people and companies that are known to Framework. They are entered and managed through the Administration module of Framework ECM.

There are a vast number of areas of Framework where entities can be allocated, so careful management of this tool means that allocations can be accurate, consistent and reportable.

Benefits Of Managing Entities And Staff Allocations

To make it easy to manage the number of entities in the system, it is possible to assign multiple roles to a single person or company. Assigning roles in this way allows for people and suppliers to be reported on as they really are; that is, one person with multiple activities; allocated as required.

Entities can also be linked to specific Region/Divisions, or be used by all of them. This means that allocation lists are kept relevant to each job.

Example

A staff member who administers a job from Pre-Administration to Maintenance should be set up as the one person with roles associated for Pre-Administration Administrator, Permit Administrator, Construction Administrator and so on for the Region/Division for which they are responsible. This staff member has all their details, such as contact numbers, recorded once against this entity, but for each of the activities for which this person is responsible, a role is assigned. When reporting, only the particular role need be used as criteria, but when changing the person's details, it only needs to be done once within one central record.

Entities for trades and suppliers can be vital for allocations and orders within the construction process. Assigning trades and suppliers to activities in a construction programme means that they can be reported on to determine their allocated jobs and to record specific details and issues against them on a job-by-job basis.

What To Do

Requirements

The Entity Groups to be populated will depend on the areas of Framework being used. Decisions need to be made on which entities are to be used and maintained.

When gathering the information on entities to add them there are several things that need to be considered:

Correct spelling of names.
Accurate contact information.
Determine applicable roles (or entity groups) for each individual.
Determine to which region/divisions each entity belongs.
Limiting access to the entity area to selected personnel, to maintain data integrity.
Thorough training of the selected personnel.
Determining a process to ensure information is keep accurate and up-to-date.
Determine the entity type to be assigned.

Entity Dialog

The entity dialog contains eight separate tabs for information.

General
Profile
Address
Telephone
Roles
Contact
Image
Integration

All of these tabs are described below.

Tab		Types	Description
General	There are a number of different entity types that can be created. The difference between them is limited to the General tab.	Person Entity	Contains information about the individual, including how to address them, some personal details and notes.
		Corporation Entity	Contains information specific to business registration.
		Name Only	Contains only name details and is intended to be used to create a contact for a Corporation Entity Type.
		Distribution Group	In a similar way to the Name Only Type, this type is intended for use as contacts for a Corporation Entity Type.
Profile	Information and fields can be set for mail merge details, the notification methods applicable for the entity, and membership numbers.
Address	Items can be created to capture street or postal addresses
Telephone	Items can be created to record telephone contact details.	Email	Email addresses should always be created on the Telephone tab. Framework has some areas that link to these details to launch contact functions and require the emails to be telephone contacts to work.
Roles	Created roles are listed under this tab, showing for each the entity group name, the region/division, valid dates and whether the role is inactive. New roles can be created in this tab or if they are created using a different process, will be displayed and are editable.
Contact	This tab is used to create contacts where Framework has the ability to record an allocated company and the person to contact. This is particularly important for corporations. When creating contacts, it is possible to use the Name Only entity type, rather than record a full Person entity type. There is still the opportunity to record the telephone and address details, but the personal details are not required.
Image	A single image associated with the entity can be added in this tab. This image can be used to store an ID photo of a staff member, a company logo for a corporation or a signature image for a staff member which could be applied to a customised report.
Integration	Entity integration link items can be created and managed.

Planning

Selecting Entity Groups To Populate

Framework has a large number of different entity groups that can have entities created. If starting from a blank or standard database, it is recommended that priority be given to entity groups that will most likely be used immediately, rolling out the work in phases.

Phase 1: Essential Entities

Most of the essential entities will be identified and populated during the conversion and prior to going live. In most cases, this will consist of:

Administration Location	Entity Type	Entity Group	Area	Screen
Product	Data	Product	All	Job Overview/Context Bar
Product	Data	Class	All	Job Overview/Context Bar
Product	Data	Type	All	Job Overview/Context Bar
Product	Data	Façade	All	Job Overview/Context Bar
Product	Data	Series	All	Job Overview/Context Bar
Product	Data	Validity	All	Job Overview/Context Bar
Product	Data	Elevation	All	Job Overview/Context Bar
Product	Data	Package	All	Job Overview/Context Bar
Product	Data	Promotion	All	Job Overview/Context Bar
Product	Data	Specification	All	Job Overview/Context Bar
Organisation	Data	Enterprise	All	Job Overview
Organisation	Data	Region	All	Job Overview
Organisation	Data	Division	All	Job Overview
Organisation	Data	Department	All	CRM
Organisation	Data	Region Division	All	Job Overview
Organisation	Data	RD Sale Type	All	Job Overview
Organisation	Data	RD Team	All	Job Overview
Organisation	Data	Sale Type	All	Job Overview
Organisation	Data	Location	Pre-Admin	Pre-Admin Overview
Diary	Validity	Diary Description Location	Diary	All
Diary	Validity	Diary Description Staff	Diary	All
Diary	Data	Diary Entry Location	Diary	All
Entity	Staff	Administrator	Administration	Admin Overview
Entity	Staff	Colour Consultant	Administration	Colour Selection
Entity	Staff	Colour Estimator	Administration	Colour Selection
Entity	Staff	Construction Drawings Draftsperson	Administration	Drafting
Entity	Staff	Construction Drawings Supplier	Administration	Drafting
Entity	Staff	Contract Presenter	Administration	Building Contract
Entity	Supplier	Drawings Supplier	Administration	Drafting
Entity	Staff	Energy Staff	Administration	Energy
Entity	Supplier	Engineer Computations Supplier	Administration	Admin Overview
Entity	Staff	Estimator	Administration	Admin Overview
Entity	Staff	Final Drawings Draftsperson	Administration	Drafting
Entity	Supplier	Final Drawings Supplier	Administration	Drafting
Entity	Supplier	Foundation Design Supplier	Administration	Foundation
Entity	Supplier	Issuing Authority	Administration	Permit
Entity	Staff	Job Siting Draftsperson	Administration	Siting
Entity	Supplier	Job Siting Supplier	Administration	Siting
Entity	Staff	Ordering Estimator	Administration	Order
Entity	Staff	Permit Administrator	Administration	Permit
Entity	Staff	Tender Presenter	Administration	Tender
Entity	Staff	Staff Member	All	Document/CRM
Entity	Staff	Construction Administrator	Construction	Construction Overview
Entity	Staff	Construction Manager	Construction	Construction Overview
Entity	Staff	Construction Supervisor	Construction	Construction Overview
Entity	Supplier	Contour Survey Field Work Supplier	Land Mgt	Survey
Entity	Supplier	Contour Survey Site Plan Supplier	Land Mgt	Survey
Entity	Supplier	Re-Establishment Survey Supplier	Land Mgt	Survey
Entity	Supplier	Soil Report Supplier	Land Mgt	Soil
Entity	Supplier	Title Search Supplier	Land Mgt	Title
Entity	Staff	Maintenance Administrator	Maintenance	Maintenance Overview
Entity	Staff/Supplier	Maintenance Inspector	Maintenance	Maintenance Overview
Entity	Staff	Maintenance Manager	Maintenance	Maintenance Overview
Entity	Staff	Maintenance Supervisor	Maintenance	Maintenance Overview
Entity	Staff	Pre-Admin Administrator	Pre-Admin	Pre-Admin Overview
Entity	Staff	Salesperson	Pre-Admin	Pre-Admin Overview
Land	Data	Estate	Land Mgt	Land Overview
Land	Supplier	Estate Stage	Land Mgt	Land Overview
Land	Supplier	Land Developer	Land Mgt	Land Overview
Land	Supplier	Municipality	Land Mgt	Land Overview

Phase 2: Non-Essential Entities

The entities below are not necessarily required to achieve immediate progress and may not have been captured previously but are important for capturing more comprehensive work flow detail.

Administration Location	Entity Type	Entity Group	Area	Screen
Entity	Supplier	All construction call forward entities	Construction	Call Forward/Logistics
Entity	Staff	Finance Administrator	Client	Client Finance
Entity	Staff/Supplier	Finance Consultant	Client	Finance Application
Entity	Supplier	Finance Lending Body	Client	Finance Application
Entity	Supplier	Finance Lending Branch	Client	Finance Application
Entity	Supplier	Maintenance Contractor	Maintenance	Maintenance Request
Entity	Supplier	Maintenance Original Supplier	Maintenance	Maintenance Request
Entity	Supplier	Maintenance Supplier	Maintenance	Maintenance Request
Entity	Staff	Planning Administrator	Administration	Planning
Entity	Supplier	Planning Drawings Draftsperson	Administration	Planning
Entity	Supplier	Planning Drawings Supplier	Administration	Planning
Entity	Supplier	Preliminary Requirements Supplier	Administration	Preliminaries
Entity	Supplier	Sewer Plan Supplier	Administration	Preliminaries
Entity	Supplier	Truss Computations Supplier	Administration	Permit
Entity	Supplier	Warranty Supplier	Administration	Admin Overview
Organisation	Data	RD Team	All	Job Overview

Phase 3: Optional & Ad Hoc

Not all entities available will be relevant for every business. However, it is worth considering what is available so that as business needs change, there is the opportunity to capture further information that may not have been relevant previously.

Administration Location	Entity Type	Entity Group	Area	Screen
Entity	Staff/Supplier	Accountant	Administration	Contact
Entity	Data	Accounts Company Entity	All	Job Overview
Entity	Supplier	Bank	Administration	Contact
Entity	Staff	Construction Program Allocator	Construction
Entity	Supplier	Contract Valuer	Administration
Entity	Supplier	Contract Vendor	Administration
Entity	Supplier	Home Builder	Client	Finance Application
Entity	Supplier	Landlord (or Agent)	Client	Savings Program
Entity	Supplier	Lending Body	Client	Client Finance
Entity	Supplier	Lending Branch	Client	Client Finance
Entity	Supplier	Planning Supplier	Administration	Planning
Entity	Staff	Preliminary Requirements Site Inspector	Administration	Preliminaries
Entity	Data	Referral Source	Client	Finance Application
Entity	Staff	Sales Lead Operator	Client	Marketing
Entity	Staff	Savings Program Administrator	Client	Savings Program
Entity	Supplier	Savings Program Body	Client	Savings Program
Entity	Supplier	Savings Program Branch	Client	Savings Program
Entity	Supplier	Solicitor	Client	Contact
Land	Supplier	Land Agent	Land Mgt	Land Control

Implementation

Creating Entities

Once the Entity Groups to be populated have been determined, there are two distinct ways of achieving this. The first is to add a new entity, the second is to add a new role to an existing entity.

Creating a new entity can be done from within an entity group, automatically creating that role for the new entity, then further roles can be added from within each of the entity groups, or on the Roles tab of the Entity dialog.

To avoid creating duplicates, always search for an entity first before creating it. This is done by selecting No on the Create/Select Entity prompt.

For step-by-step information on how to create entities, please refer to the Entity topic in the User Guide.

Setting Region/Division

Selecting the Region/Division is part of the entity creation process. If there are multiple Region/Divisions, a decision needs to be made for each entity or entity group how these will be assigned.

It is possible to have an entity appear for all Region/Divisions simply by assigning [All region/Divisions] to it. This means that the entity will be available for allocation in every Region/Division. However, if an entity should not be available to all, then roles are created for each relevant Region/Division.

If a bricklayer is available to be allocated to the East division and the Display division, but not the West division, then the one entity would be set up to have a role of Bricklayer for East Region/Division and another role of Bricklayer for Display Region/Division.

Determining Entity Type

The entity type to be assigned to the entity will depend on whether it is more important to have business registration numbers or personal details.

A Person entity type has detailed name and salutation fields, which assist in mail merge and reporting, and relevant personal details, whereas the Corporation type has fields for business registration information.

If the entity is a business with multiple contacts, it is best to create the entity as a Corporation and apply Person entities under the Contacts tab, so that all the detail is collected and kept together.

However, if an entity is a small business, such as a trade or subcontractor where there is only one contact, the decision on which entity type to assign depends on which set of information is most useful.

Ongoing Management

Removing Entities

Certain entities will not always be required. There may be staff members who leave, or suppliers that are no longer used.

The procedure for removing these entities is covered in the Entity topic. However, it is important to note that removing the entity only makes it inactive. This means that it will not be available to select to assign to a job, but it is still displayed where it had been previously allocated, and in most cases is still available for reporting.

Maintaining Entities

The process to maintain entity information and ensure data integrity depends on assigning the responsibility and the information flow from personnel or departments who hold the information.

Personnel selected for maintaining the records must be thoroughly trained and there should be a central person or department that has the responsibility to periodically review the entities and determine that they are still relevant and accurate.

The process for maintaining entity information may rely on other departments, for example, Accounts or Estimating, who could have all the accurate information on suppliers and will be the first to know when a new supplier has been approved for use or is to be removed. It may also be important that an HR department advises when staff entities need to be edited or removed.

It is recommended that a process be determined to ensure this information is passed to personnel trained in managing Framework entities.

Frequently Asked Questions

I've Realised I've Created A Duplicate Entity. How To I Get Rid Of It?

The solution depends on exactly what has been created:

If a duplicate role has been created, i.e., Construction Supervisor has been applied twice to the one entity, the additional role can be highlighted on the role tab of the Entity dialog and the Delete toolbar icon clicked to remove the duplicate role.
However, if the entity itself has been created as a duplicate and not allocated within Framework, the entity can simply be made Inactive, which means it is still visible in the entity list, but not available to allocated to a job; or
If the entities have both been allocated to jobs, run the Resolve function. The Resolve function allows selection of the entity that is to remain, and then removes a selected duplicate. Any allocations for the selected duplicate are re-allocated to the remaining entity.

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