Data Management Capabilities > Managing Configurable Products > Managing Product Family > Product Family Management > Product Family Overview
  
Product Family Overview
A Product Familyis defined as a grouping of products that are similar but slightly different in order to meet certain market needs. A product is an item that a company sells. A product may have different versions called a variant specifications, such as differing sizes or differing colors.
A product and variant specification can be defined in many ways in Windchill, such as Product container, End Item, Variant Specification. The problem with this is that there is not a single solution that allows a company to use this data to define a Product Family.
A Product Family can be defined as a structure consisting of 4 types objects:
Product Family is the main object that defines a product family and the root level of the product family structure.
Product Model Grouping is used to define an organizational breakdown to categorize product models within the product family.
Product Model the actual product defined within a product family, which can represent a product sold such as an SKU or customer-specific order, or a representative configuration used for planning and validation.
Variant Specification is a different version of a product, such as a different set of options. For more information, see Managing Variant Specifications in a Product Family.
Product Family Relationships
A Product Family can be related to a product model and product model grouping.
A product Model Grouping can be related to a product model and product model grouping.
A Product Model can be related to a Variant Specification.
Visibility
Product Families can be created and accessed using the Product Families menu from the Navigator in a Product or Library context.
Product Family Members exist in the context of either a Product or Library, and are created in that context’s default domain (and default folder) for access control purposes.
Product Families can be found in the Product Family Table on a Product or Library information page.
All Product Family objects can appear as search results using advanced search.
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