SIS (Service Information System) Web

Included in this lesson:

Basic Navigation Utilities Highlights Product Identification Summary

Future lessons planned will cover Access Methods Product ID Required and Access Methods - Product ID Not Required.

Basic Navigation
This is the SIS Main Menu page. It is the entry point to access tens of thousands of service information documents on thousands of Caterpillar products. Both a CWS
(Corporate Web Security) and a SIS (Service Information System) user id and

password are required for access.

Basic Navigation
The links below the Additional Service Information banner open web sites outside of SIS Web to access specific reference material. These references will not be covered in this series of presentations.

Basic Navigation
All text in orange are links that display additional selections or informational documents. The orange links are used to get to information and drop-down Go To menus (see next page) are generally used to return from viewing documents.
Not all links are apparent to all users as Administrators set user profiles to restrict the viewing of certain links.

Basic Navigation
Except for the Main Menu page, all SIS pages have a Go To drop-down menu in the title bar. The Go To options vary with the page being viewed. Using this menu is the most reliable method to return to previously viewed pages in SIS Web.
The web browsers Back button is unreliable for going back to SIS web pages.

Basic Navigation
Many SIS Web pages display a Bookmark this page icon which adds that pages URL location to Favorites of Internet Explorer. Bookmarks are accessed from IEs Favorites to recall a page for viewing at a another time.
Using the Add to Favorites command directly from Internet Explorers menu does not work for all SIS Web pages.

Basic Navigation
In the title bar, the orange text to the right of Model is a Return to Main Menu link; it also indicates the equipment model of a selected serial number prefix. With many models, SIS requires the selection of a configuration option; options can be viewed and reselected with the EQUIPMENT link.
More details later in this presentation.

Basic Navigation
Many SIS screens display twistees to the left of topics. Click on a twistee pointing right to expand a topic for more detail. A twistee pointing down indicates that it can not be further expanded.
Some information types are only found at certain levels of detail i.e., parts identification is only at the lowest level of detail. See Navigation topic in Help for more details.

End of this section: Return to Table of Contents

SIS Web Utilities

Four utilities that help make the best use of SIS are grouped together at the bottom of the Main Menu page: Help Feedback Release Notes Preferences

Help
Help is a self-help resource to learn the tools within SIS. Selecting a Help topic displays basic information; often, a short scenario is included as a practice lesson to be followed. Help contains further details regarding many topics within this presentation.
Return to Utilities

Feedback
Feedback is the primary method for anyone to inform Caterpillar of errors or omissions in SIS documents. Suggestions for improvements and other comments are welcomed.
Using the Go To dropdown menu to open a Feedback form captures the identity (URL) of the page being viewed; this makes it easier to resolve issues.
Return to Utilities

Release Notes
Release Notes provide a brief description of new SIS Web functions and other software changes.

Return to Utilities

Preferences
Preferences allow some customizing to the display or functions of SIS. Preferences Help topics are available by scrolling or paging down to the lower part of this screen.

Preferences
Setting User Interface to Advanced allows more options for seeking Caterpillar service information. Advanced is the default setting. Simplified can be useful for newer users of SIS Web or those who need fewer options for accessing SIS Web information.

Preferences
A Part Manual Orientation of Side by side displays a parts graphic to the side of a parts list; Top to bottom displays the graphic above the parts list. One Frame places the graphic and parts list within the same frame; Separate Frames allows individual scrolling of the graphic or list.

Preferences
Setting Microfiche to Have the ability to search for Microfiche information allows the return of the fiche number and grid location for microfiche media containing legacy information.
Microfiche is an Information Type that only appears in Basic Search and Advanced Full Text Search; it is available for older equipment only.

Preferences
The Date Format has a drop-down box that allows selecting the preferred format of viewing dates.
Some dates in SIS will still remain in their original published format.

Preferences
Part List options: Select to delete or retain the parts list file after it has been downloaded or e-mailed. Have the ability to select all the parts in a consist will display a one-click button to select all items listed. Automatically select parts for CCR automatically highlights and populates the default quantities of CCR parts.

Preferences
The Language preference may be selected from a drop-down box. Not

all documents will be available for display in the chosen language.

The preferred display for Unit of measure is also selectable.

Preferences
If the InterCAP plugin has been installed on the PC, select InterCAP/Micrografx as the default TIFF Graphics Viewer for many SIS Web graphics. The link Graphics Information and InterCAP/Micrografx Plug-ins provides a full set of directions to down-load and install the plug-in.
An explanation is provided later in this presentation under the Highlights topic.

Preferences
Changes to the User Preferences are activated by clicking the Change button. The Preferences can be returned to their original default settings by clicking Reset.

Return to Utilities

End of this section: Return to Table of Contents

Highlights
Highlights are links to SIS Web software related topics: New Information Frequently Asked Questions Graphics Information

New Information
New Information lists the products and documents that have been added to SIS Web in the last 7 days. Click on an orange Serial Number Prefix link to select a new model or an orange Media Number link to open a recently added document.

Return to Highlights

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions address issues that often arise concerning the use of SIS Web. Scroll down the list of topics or click an orange Jump To topic.

Return to Highlights

Graphics Information
Graphics Information contains links to helpful, no cost plug-ins. The Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in is used to view some file types used in SIS Web (i.e. schematics). This link begins the download process to install Reader.
Acrobat Reader version 5.0 or greater should be used.

Graphics Information
The ActiveCGM plug-in is helpful for viewing and printing parts graphics, some schematics and photos. Follow the install directions provided. The ActiveCGM Browser User Guide link provides help for using the plug-ins right-click graphic menu.
Installing plug-ins may require Administrative privileges on the PC.
Return to Highlights

Product Identification
The links under Access Methods Product ID Required need a serial number or prefix to begin a search. These methods utilize specific sets of documents associated with an identified model. Access Methods Product ID Not Required links do not need a serial number or prefix to begin a search.

Product Identification
The Product Identification text box allows direct entry of the full Caterpillar serial number or a serial number prefix. The Select Equipment Model link displays a list of serial number prefixes organized by model.

Product Identification
The Select Equipment Model link opens a list of Product Families. Enter a Sales Model (i.e. D7, 3196, 815) into the Search text box; or, click a link within the list of Product Families to open the related list of Models and Prefixes.

Product Identification
Clicking a Model or Prefix link enters the selected serial number prefix into the Product Identification text box on the Main Menu.

Product Identification
In the title bar, the orange text to the right of Model indicates the equipment model of the designated serial number or serial number prefix. It is also a link to Return to Main Menu.
When a serial number is directly entered into the text box, the model field is not updated until an Access Method is selected.

Product Identification
Upon selecting an Access Method, SIS often displays various equipment configurations or serial number ranges for the specified prefix. Select the configuration that is best match for the desired information; this is an important choice that determines the parts manual that SIS will reference.

Product Identification
The EQUIPMENT link allows viewing the selected configuration and allows re-selecting from the Configurations Available.
Some models will not require the selection of a configuration option.

Product Identification
Entering the prefix only (results shown above right) returns more documents than entering the entire serial number (results shown lower right). Entering full serial numbers narrows searches to data associated with the serial number; this can be the quicker method to locate information on a specific piece of equipment.

Product Identification
Enter a full engine serial number (no
need to zero fill after alpha characters),

then select any of the Access Methods Product ID Required links. Upon returning to the Main Menu, the Arrangement is automatically displayed for the supplied engine serial number (not for machine S/Ns).

End of this section: Return to Table of Contents

Summary
9 Get the graphic plug-ins 9 Set Preferences 9 Use Go To 9 Open the twistees 9 Add Bookmarks 9 Use Help 9 Send Feedback 9 Is a serial number needed?

End of this lesson: Return to Table of Contents