Request and Requested Item sychronization

[Brian S5]

Hello Community,

Recently began trying to implement some paper replacement process' here within our Organization and just have a few questions maybe someone can help me understand. 

Request:

The workflow i built is around the requested item, and the OOB workflow is used for the actual request. This  i understand about how the cart/items in cart work.

Requested Item:

Custom workflow for the item, shared by a few other items in the catalog. How can i synchronize the custom item stages with the request stages? 

Here is how it is currently:

Request is entered and by default automatically approved. My thinking is that the request should be approved automatically, and then each item could have its own individual approval process, or share the same with others. This is expected and not confusing. 

The stage's are a little confusing to me, albeit because i haven't been able to become a WF pro just yet. 

If the request is auto approved, it should say so and it does, however when the workflow for the item kicks off, how can i set the stage/state of the request to match the item. For example, if my Item enters a "Waiting for Item Approval" stage, then the request should also show the "waiting for item approval" however it just shows as approved. Doesn't seem to be a spot in the SC request WF to set this, it just goes to end in the flow after approved. Do i need a wait in the SC WF or do i set that stage in a set values script on the item WF ? I think if i can nail this part down, i can get closer to WF Jedi status. 

I've seen posts in the community that say a BR would accomplish this, and then some say a WF activity should set this, but Im not too keen on the proper way to set it. Any help in understanding how this can be done would be appreciated. 

[Mark Stanger · Accepted solution]

You've got the right idea about how the Request should auto-approve.  From my experience, I think the Request should just stand on its own as a container for the individual items and their workflows.  Any other path (including synchronization) will bring you nothing but sorrow and despair :).

The point you're making about the stage labels on the Request being a bit confusing in regards to approvals is one I've heard before (and I think it's a valid one).  The real challenge is that you might have multiple items in multiple stages under any given request...so which item approval stage wins?  The 'Request' record is nothing more than a grouping of individual items that were placed into a cart and ordered at the same time.  I think this is why we've seen ServiceNow go away from Request stages altogether and why attempts to synchronize aren't going to solve anything.

My advice would be to eliminate the usage/view of the Request stages wherever you can and focus your users' attention on the Request Item stages.