IMS Platform (General) Release 4.9

January 2026

Release 4.9

Note: These Release Notes cover enhancements applicable to the IMS Platform. All product specific enhancements are described in the dedicated product Release Notes.

Enhanced User Approval Conditions

User approvals have been extended with additional, configurable conditions beyond location-based rights. This gives greater control over who can approve Schedules and Condition Histories (ECHs) and under which circumstances. Under More conditions, administrators can now define extra approval parameters per user, including:

• Approval button behavior:  Choose whether approval advances to the Next level or directly to the Max level in a single click. If not defined, the system falls back to the default setting.

• Object type:  Specify whether the conditions apply to Schedules or ECHs.

• Additional approval parameters:

  • Last Approver – Restrict approvals based on who last approved the item (e.g. prevent users from approving their own work using Is not equal to @currentuser).

  • Current Approval Status – Limit approvals to items in a specific state (e.g. only items that are Writer Approved).

  • Inspection Reason – Allow approvals based on the inspection reason of the related FLOC or Equipment.

  • Schedule Type (Schedules only) – Restrict approvals to specific schedule types (e.g. CAIR schedules only).

Note: Approval conditions can only be configured by users with administrative roles that allow user creation.

User Instructions

To learn how to use the new approval conditions see Security Settings.

Configurable ABC Indicator (Criticality Indicator)

We’ve introduced the Configurable ABC Indicator, a more flexible and configurable way to define the criticality level of your assets. Previously, criticality was managed using a fixed set of values (A: HSSE Critical, B: Production Critical, C: Non-Critical, D: Regulatory/Legal, and legacy values like E (Legacy), F (Legacy)…etc). To better support diverse customer requirements and criticality models, the ABC Indicator now allows users to define custom values or have them created and assigned by CMMS systems.

Existing logic and behaviour have been retained (thus existing IMS items using these indicators are not impacted), while adding flexibility through fully configurable values and support for legacy values that remain visible on existing records but are excluded from new selections once marked as expired.

The ABC Indicator is available in PEI, RCM, SIS, PLSS, and TAT on FLOCs, Equipment, and Deferrals, including Main Screens (Grid Views), Detail Pages, Import Templates, Reports, Queries, and Dynamic Forms.

ABC (Criticality) Indicator and HEMP Parallel Use Enabled

Previously, the legacy "Enable new ABC Indicator criticality" application setting served as a switch between two methodologies that handled the criticality information. When the ABC Indicator methodology was being used, the HEMP methodology was hidden, and vice versa. Now, you can use both the ABC Indicator and HEMP methodologies simultaneously, with each option being controlled by its own application settings.

ABC Indicator feature visibility and editability are controlled through Settings \ Maintenance \ Configuration \ Application Settings \ Enable Criticality Indicator, with the following values:

• 0 - Criticality Indicator hidden

• 1 - Criticality Indicator visible, but not editable (read only)

• 2 - Criticality Indicator editable (If other security and entity rights allow editing)

HEMP feature visibility and editability are controlled through Settings \ Maintenance \ Application Settings \ Enable HEMP, with the following values:

• 0 - HEMP hidden

• 1 - HEMP visible  (read-only)

• 2 - HEMP editable
  
  

  

The logic for HEMP remains unchanged.

Criticality Indicator Setting Added

Settings \ Maintenance \ Common Data \  Criticality codes were renamed to Settings \ Maintenance \ Common Data \  Criticality Indicator, which now allows you to create and manage Criticality Indicator values. The configuration grid includes Name and Description columns, which appear on relevant grids and forms once defined. By setting the Expired date in the past, the value becomes a legacy value and will no longer be available in the dropdown when creating a new FLOC, Equipment, or Deferral.

Values automatically generated by a CMMS system are added to the list with a Sequence number of 100, and the CreatedBy field is automatically set to “SAP”.

New Legacy Values Logic on Existing Objects

When creating a new FLOC, Equipment, or Deferral, only active (unexpired) Criticality Indicator values can be selected. If an existing object already has a legacy (expired) value assigned, that value remains visible during editing and can be replaced with any active option. Once the change is saved, the legacy value will no longer appear in the dropdown for future selections.

Criticality Indicator Replaces ABC Indicator in Auto Approval Selection

When configuring Auto approval selection in Settings \ Maintenance \ Common Data \ Deferral \ Auto Approval selection, the Criticality Indicator now replaces the legacy ABC Indicator. Selecting “All” applies the auto-approval rules to deferrals with any Criticality Indicator value, while you can also target specific Criticality Indicator values individually. When the configured criteria are met (including approver/implementer settings and criticality conditions), the deferral is automatically approved on creation.

Criticality Indicator Displayed on Schedule Details Page

The Criticality Indicator is now displaying Equipment values as a read-only field in the Details section of the Schedule Details page. If the value is not set, the field is hidden.

Criticality Indicator added to FLOC, Equipment and Deferral Main Screens

On the FLOC, Equipment and Deferral Main Screens (Grid List), the Criticality indicator is visible by default. The value consists of concatenated Name and Description values. If the Description is not defined, only the Name will be shown. These grids now offer Criticality Indicator filtering.

Criticality Indicator replaces ABC Indicator in Import Templates

Criticality Indicator Replaces the ABC Indicator across the following Import templates:

• FLOC (PEI, RCM, PLSS)

• Equipment (PEI, RCM, PLSS Pipeline Equipment, PLSS Equipment)

During import, you may encounter validation messages such as "Criticality Indicator column is present in import file. Criticality Indicator field can be imported only if ApplicationSetting 'Enable Criticality Indicator' is set to WRITE (2)", which requires the application setting to be enabled for editing. Additional messages include "Criticality Indicator cannot be set to a legacy value if entity is created through import" to prevent assigning expired values to new records, and "Criticality Indicator field can only be changed to non-legacy options" to ensure updates use active values only.

The Criticality Indicator value is auto-populated when using the Export for Import feature on FLOCs and Equipment. Legacy values are excluded unless already assigned to the exported entity.

ABC Indicator still available in Specs

Previously, the ABC Indicator was implemented as a spec on both FLOC and Equipment. Whenever the ABC Indicator value was updated on the details screen, a background rule automatically updated the spec so the two stayed in sync. Now that the ABC Indicator has been replaced by the Criticality Indicator, this synchronization is no longer needed, and the business logic has been removed. The ABC INDICATOR Spec itself remains available.

Criticality Indicator replaces ABC Indicator in Custom Reports

ABC Indicator has been replaced with the Criticality Indicator on Custom Report SQL views and sections related to FLOC and Equipment general information templates.

Criticality Indicator replaces ABC Indicator in User-Defined Queries

User-defined query views that previously used the ABC Indicator column now use the Criticality Indicator instead. The Criticality Indicator value can also be obtained from:

• Various Floc and Equipment main grid views that can be joined to the base view in the Query editor.

• Criticality Indicator table.

Criticality Indicator replaces ABC Indicator in Dynamic Forms

The Conditions that previously included the ABC Indicator as an option in Dynamic forms are now remapped to the Criticality Indicator values and can be used in the same manner.

Criticality Indicator replaces ABC Indicator in Dashboards

Dashboards that previously used the ABC Indicator were located, assessed and edited by Professional Services to now use the Criticality Indicator instead.

User Instructions

To learn more about HEMP and Criticality Indicator, see: HEMP / Criticality Indicator Status.

Dynamic Forms Improvements

Drawing Integration with Dynamic Forms

Dynamic Forms now supports interaction with Drawings when CMLs have been mapped to a Drawing. Using this approach, you can simply click on a CML on a Drawing to pre-fill the inspection Location on your Dynamic Form.

User Instructions

To learn more about connecting Drawings and Tables in Dynamic Forms, see: Adding Tables to Dynamic Forms.

New Dynamic Forms Chart Template

This Release includes the new Time Series with User Defined Limits Chart Template. With this template, you are now able to establish user-defined limits based on the values in a field of a Dynamic Form.

User Instructions

To learn more about using Charts in your Dynamic Forms, see: Reviewing collected Checklist Data.

Drawings and Documents Improvements

Snapshot Improvements

This release continues to improve the Snapshot functionality in Drawings by adding the ability to preview all Snapshots taken of a Drawing. With this change, you can now see a list of all Snapshots taken of from an open Drawing, preview the Snapshots, and view the metadata of those Snapshots.

To make use of this feature, click the Snapshot Preview Tool button and easily view and open any associated Snapshots and view the associated Metadata by clicking the three dots menu.

User Instructions

To learn more about creating Snapshots in our Document Viewer, see: 2D Viewer and Tools.

Main Grid Drawing Preview Improvements

The Drawing preview that is shown in the Info Pane IMS Main Grid for FLOCs, Equipment, and Schedules can now display any connected Drawings. To see a list of any connected Drawings, click on the List Connected Drawings button. From there, you can click on any of the links to open the connected Drawings.

User Instructions

To learn more about the Info Pane on the IMS Main Grid, see: IMS Main Screen (Grid List).

To learn more about using the 2D Viewer, see: 2D Viewer and Tools.