Once a CAD document structure has been created, a product structure can be created in Windchill. First, you create and associate a Windchill part to each CAD document in the CAD document structure, and then check all the objects into Windchill. Upon checkin, the Windchill build rule uses the relationships among the CAD documents to build a product structure relating all the enterprise parts.

The term “owner association” (or owner link) indicates that the association is a primary type that is recognized by the Windchill build rule in creating a product structure, passing attributes, and defining a representation. The term “content association” (or content link) refers to a secondary association, for example, that of a drawing to a part. The drawing helps describe the part, but does not need to be included in the product structure. In between these two association types are several other types of association that help you define the relationships between the CAD and part structures as determined by the business requirements of your company. For more information, see Managing Part-CAD Document Relationships.