PTC FlexPLM Fundamentals > Bill of Materials > About the Bill of Materials > Variations and Overrides
  
Variations and Overrides
It is possible to create a BOM that is applicable to all sources that produce the product, or to all markets for which the product is produced, such as the US or Asia. In this case, a BOM can exist on a product, and can be used for all production possibilities.
More frequently, producing a product in different places, for different markets, in different sizes or size categories, or in different colorways causes there to be differences in the way the product is produced. All of these differences are represented by variations in the PTC FlexPLM BOM.
Variation
Destination
Source
Describes the organizations responsible for producing the garment. A source can include any or all of the following groups: agents, vendors, factories, and suppliers.
Multiple sources can be worked with during the development stage. Generally, the product is mass-produced with one or two of the most qualified sources, as determined during the Sample stage.
The source variation often has variations in terms of material used, and/or where the material is sourced from.
Colorway
Refers to the different colors that a product is produced in. A single colorway may be composed of materials using several different colors. Examples of colorways that feature many colors are skiwear and active wear.
Often the colorway variation lists common materials with the different colors for each colorway, along with each material used in a colorway.
Destination
Used to represent where a product is marketed. Differences such as sizing as well as labeling and packaging in different languages are common for a destination variation.
Size Category
Defines which collection of garments the product belongs or refers to. A product can have multiple size categories, so it might be produced in more than one group of sizes, such as Misses, Petite, and Woman, or Regular and Tall.
Size
Typically used to represent different quantities for different sizes. Common examples are cut lengths or zipper lengths, or different amounts of fabric for each size.
Every product automatically has variations. Manually entering differences in the material data for these variations is an override. Any changes to the primary material used in a product such as color, quantity, material used, and so on, are considered an override.