Templates

Part Templates

There are various purposes for using Part Templates, among them:

• Template parts can hold information that can be re-used across "Variants", a template part could be useful for creating a base variant of an assembly which can be derived from, with BoM changes for instance.
• Variants can be used as "manufacturing variants" where the variant dictates a particular configuration which a customer can order: a variant might determine the particular options that come with a part, like harnesses, enclosure, color, specs, etc.

"Variants" parts will reference the "Template" part therefore explicitly creating and showing direct relationship. They also allow you to do special things like:

• Serial Numbers Parts that are linked in a template / variant relationship must have unique serial numbers (e.g. if you have a template part Widget, and two variants Widget-01 and Widget-02 then any assigned serial numbers must be unique across all these variants).
• Stock Reporting The "stock" for a template part includes stock for all variants under that part.
• Logical Grouping The template / variant relationship is subtly different to the category / part relationship.

Enable Template Part

Any part can be set as "Template" part. To do so:

1. navigate to a specific part detail page
2. click on the "Details" tab
3. locate the part options on the right-hand side
4. toggle the Template option so it shows green / slider to the right:

Create Variant

When a part's Template option is turned-on, "Variants" of this part can be created.

To create a variant, navigate to a specific part detail page, click on the "Variants" tab then click on the "New Variant" button. The Duplicate Part form will be displayed. Fill it out then click on Submit to create the variant.