Bill of Materials

A Part may be an assembly of other Parts keeping them in a Bill of Materials (BOM). A BOM is a list of components, parts, materials, other assemblies, and the quantities of each that are needed to put together this Part. A BOM is sometimes called a parts list, product structure, or associated list. In process industries, it is also known as a formula, recipe, or ingredients list.

A Part with a BOM is a Parent that has Parts as Children. In technical terms, it is a Part that has PartBOM Relationships to other Parts. A Child can be a single Part or another assembly (Parent) creating a multi-level BOM structure.

A Part may have Alternates. Alternates are Parts that can replace this Part globally in the scope of a company. For more details on this topic, refer to section Alternates. A Part can have Substitutes, which are Parts that can replace this Part in a specific BOM only. For more details on this topic, refer to section Substitutes.

A Child Part can be used in a Parent multiple times. Each of the child instances may need to be identified individually to provide its specific X, Y and Z coordinates or Reference Designation information. Use the Instances tab of a BOM relationship to specify instance information.

The Goals of a Parent Part are automatically rolled up from all its Children. For more details on Goals, refer to section Design Goals.