Sub-submissions and Dependencies

Created by Victoria Crosby, Modified on Fri, 28 Apr, 2023 at 2:08 PM by Victoria Crosby

The product submission process can be incredibly complex. Each customer could have different workflows, business rules, required fields, and so on in the process of approving products. This means that a one-size-fits-all system is going to have some limitations across our entire customer base.

To create more flexibility, Brainbase users can now create sub-submissions to easily nest submissions within one another, as well as set fields as dependencies of others.

Sub-submissions

A long-requested feature, Sub-submissions allow you to add nested submissions for the different individual parts of a product.

For example, a merry-go-round might be a sub-submission for a large theme park. A sub-sub-submission would be the review process of the individual horses on that merry-go-round within the theme park.

Each of these sub-submissions needs to go through a similar workflow to the regular submissions - meaning the licensor will need to review and approve them. There are a few things to keep in mind with sub-submissions:

Some of these sub-submissions need to be approved by a certain stage in order for the main product approval process to move forward.
Some of these sub-submissions are not be required once the product approval begins but might become required after the product approval process has already begun.
There can be dozens of different sub-items involved with a product approval, and there can be a number of the same kind of sub-items that need to be approved as part of the product.
Each of these sub-items could have a distinct workflow with its own stages, required/optional fields, and statuses.

The licensor can force all started sub-workflows to be completed by the selected stage. For example, you can have a 'Merchandise Promotional' product with a 'Component' sub-workflow. Not all merch promo products have a component, while some products can have multiple components. However, if you want your licensees to complete all submitted components by the time the parent workflow reaches a production stage, you're able to toggle that setting on and off.

Creating a Sub-submission

To create a sub-submission (also referred to as a 'child' submission), go to the 'Submission Details' page for the parent submission and click on the 'Linked Items' tab. From there, click 'Add new item' and select 'Sub-submission.'

Please note that the ability to create a sub-submission is dependent on the workflow template that was used to create the parent submission. If you're missing this option, check with your licensor - chances are, the need or option to create a sub-submission isn't included in the workflow template (or isn't applicable for the current submission stage).

You'll be taken to the 'Add Submission' form. Select the applicable workflow template and click 'Next' to continue. Note that just like with a regular submission, the fields that populate on the form are dependent on what's been included in the selected workflow template by the licensor.

Once you've filled at least the required fields, click 'Add Submission.'

Next, you'll be routed to the drafted sub-submission, where you can then add images and additional information. Once you've met the requirements to proceed, click the 'Submit' button to send the submission to the licensor for review.

When clicking on the 'Linked Items' tab for this submission, you can now see the linked parent submission.

Linking Related Items

You can also link a preexisting lateral (non-parent/child) submission. From the 'Submission Details' page, click on the 'Linked Items' tab, and then 'Add New Item > Related Submissions.'

This will take you to the 'Edit Submission' page, where you can then select the related pre-existing submission as seen below.

Make sure to click the 'Update Submission' button at the bottom to proceed.

Once your related submission has been attached, you can see it in the 'Linked Items' tab on the 'Submission Details' page. Its type will be 'Related submission' rather than 'Sub-submission,' since this doesn't have a vertical (or parent/child) relationship.

Dependencies

Licensor admin users have the ability to set workflows as dependencies within other workflows. Dependencies can either be required, meaning that they need to be completed by a certain stage, or optional, which means they are not required, but the licensee has the option to start one.

Admins can set up their custom workflows on the 'Company Settings' > 'Workflow Templates' page.

Admins can create as many workflows as they want and can link workflows to each other via the 'Add dependency' function at any stage. This means that the parent workflow's progress is now dependent on the sub-workflows being completed by a stage pre-defined by the licensor.

To see what the Agent/Licensee see from their side on the submission, click here