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Parts
Parts in Windchill
A part in Windchill is a logical database representation of a physical item, or embedded software, used to build a product. A part has a name, a unique number, a version, and many other descriptive attributes such as default unit of measure, lifecycle state, working status, or source. Parts are also visually identified by geometric images on information pages.
Parts are used to organize product information through database relationships to all forms of product definition data including design, manufacturing, and quality documentation. Related data is seen in tables and expandable data structures throughout Windchill.
The part usage relationship connects parts to each other in multilevel part structures. Part structures capture the composition of a product as it changes over time and may be filtered to show the configuration of products produced in the past, currently in production, and planned for the future. Part structures can also contain optional modules that can be configured according to functional and marketing driven rules, and filtered to show allowable option combinations. Part structure reports such as multilevel bills of material and parts lists can be programmatically created and output as reports. Finally, part structure information is transferred electronically to manufacturing systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP).
Locating Part Information
While some part information is displayed in various tables throughout Windchill, the part information page provides a central location for viewing all information and performing actions on the part. Locate a part in Windchill using the following methods:
Use the search capabilities in the upper right corner of the Windchill header. Search results appear in the Search tab in the Navigator window.
Use the Browse tab in the Navigator window to look through folders in a product, library, or project context where parts are stored.
Use the product Structure tab on the information page of an assembly part to locate a part in a part structure.
When the part is located, click the information icon in the table row containing the part, or select View Information from the right-click menu to display the part information page. Part attributes, structure, and visualization image are contained in the header and tabs of the part information page.
For more information on the part information page, see Part Information Page.