Just as you designate model parameters as Windchill attributes of CAD Documents, you can designate the model objects of parts and assemblies such as features, surfaces, and annotations to access the feature-level information that is embedded in the models. You can then use this information for the search, retrieval, and reuse of CAD data in Windchill. You can also use this information to establish Bill of Materials (BOMs) or contribute to BOMs in Windchill and associate the model data with additional information stored on the server. The feature-level information can include manufacturing and GD&T (Geometric Dimension and Tolerance) details, drawing and surface finish notes, annotations, weld symbols, and so on.

The designation of model objects map to appropriate data types and attributes in Windchill that expose the information of features such as planes, protrusions, datums, shells, surfaces, edges, and various annotation elements in Windchill. You can directly access this additional information in Windchill without opening the models in the Creo application. While the designated model parameters allow you to search and locate CAD data only by attributes such as model name, number, description, and other parameters, the designated model objects allow you to search and retrieve CAD data based on the information embedded in the annotation elements and model features.

For example, when you designate annotation elements containing manufacturing information and check in the models with the designated annotations to the server, the annotation elements and all associated parameters automatically map to appropriate attributes in Windchill. You can then access these attributes to view the manufacturing information that is embedded in the models in Windchill. You can search for the Creo NC assemblies and Creo models by this information. You can also associate this information with a manufacturing requirement and design intent. A manufacturing process operation can also search for the manufacturing information and reference this information to communicate the instructions to downstream processes or associate the information with a machining requirement. Direct access to information such as tolerances, surface finish, and drawing notes is especially useful in the planning of downstream manufacturing processes and the search and reuse of existing data.

Additionally, the designation of model objects also exposes the BOM information that is embedded in the models, especially CADDS 5 or ECAD models. You can use the BOM information to generate WTPart structure. The WTPart may be a library part or may be specific to the CAD file. You can also designate Creo features as BOM components to build WTParts.