About Auto Synchronization

As you design a product, visualizing the product in another app is often useful as you build and maintain the EBOM in Engineering BOM Management. This auto synchronization ensures that product model is continually updated as you change the EBOM.

Note: Auto synchronization updates the product structure when you update the EBOM. It does not update the EBOM when you update the product structure in the app.

This page discusses:

Environment: On premises only

The BOM and product model will be synchronized if:

  • You have either the Author or Leader role.
  • Design collaboration for the part is set to True (to establish the auto synchronization).
  • Design Controlled for the part is set to False so that changes you make in Engineering BOM Management appear in the product.

If these criteria are met, the product structure will be created when you create the part in Engineering BOM Management.

When Auto Synchronization Occurs

For unconfigured parts the product is updated (or created) whenever you create, revise, duplicate, or modify the EBOM. For configured parts, the product is updated (or created) when you create, modify, or add/remove configuration criteria. Products of configured parts are automatically updated whenever you add or replace a child part or modify the usage or the current effectivity. The configured part can be in either the development or production release phase. For any part that you create, you must select Design Collaboration in the Create Part form to enable auto synchronization for the part.

When Auto Synchronization Does Not Occur

Be aware of these limitations for auto synchronization between the EBOM and product structure:

  • There is no auto synchronization when you import a BOM. No product is created during import.
  • There is no auto synchronization when control is transferred from EBOM to the design.
  • If you edit the properties of a part such that you set the design collaboration to FALSE, the product model is deleted. If the product cannot be deleted, the design collaboration will remain as TRUE.
  • Auto synchronization is not available in the cloud environment.
  • For migrated data created with Design collaboration set as TRUE and not collaborated, auto synchronization will not occur after migration.

Auto Synchronization in Instance Mode

In Instance mode, each row in the EBOM represents one instance of a child part and each instance is represented in the product structure. Instances of the same child part will all have the same F/N, but can have unique titles and descriptions to help identify them in the EBOM and product structure.

Auto Synchronization in Quantity Mode

In Quantity mode, each row in the EBOM represents all instances of a child part (at the specific EBOM level). The Qty column shows the number of instances. Each instance appears in the product structure.

Part Revisions

If the part is already associated with a product and Design Controlled is FALSE, then the product will be auto synchronized with the latest revision of the part.

Part Duplicates

If you include the EBOM as related data when you duplicate a part, the product structure will be created for the duplicate. This only applies to unconfigured parts (since configured parts cannot be duplicated).

Child Parts

If design collaboration is set to TRUE on the parent part and its child(ren), the children will display in the product structure. Conversely, if the design collaboration is set to FALSE, the child part will not appear (removed if required). This applies to configured parts in development mode and all unconfigured parts.

When you add a child part to the EBOM, it will appear in the product structure if the EBOM meets these criteria:

  • The parent part and child part both have design collaboration set as True and are both collaborated.
  • The parent part has design controlled = False.
  • You add the child part to the BOM using either the Insert as Child > New Part or Insert as Child > Existing Part command.

When you remove a child part from the EBOM, it is removed from the product structure. When you remove n instances of the child part from the EBOM, the same number of instances, n, of the child part are removed from the product structure.

If the child part has design collaboration set to True and is not collaborated, the child part is collaborated first and then the child part is added to the EBOM and collaborated.

If auto synchronization is on, you cannot set the design collaboration value to True for the parent part if its child parts are not collaborated. An error will occur. Perform collaboration on the child parts first.

If the parent part has design collaboration set to True and is collaborated, the parent part is collaborated first and then the child part is added to the EBOM and collaborated.

Notes:
  • For configured parts, the complete effectivity is synchronized. For configured parts that are in production, proposed and current effectivity will be synchronized. Otherwise, the criteria that apply to unconfigured parts also apply to configured parts.
  • For configured parts, the complete effectivity is synchronized. For configured parts that are in production, proposed and current effectivity will be synchronized. Otherwise, the criteria that apply to unconfigured parts also apply to configured parts.

BOM Attributes and Quantity

EBOM attributes include the Find Number, Reference Designator, Unit Of Measure (and other) listed in the EBOM. When you modify an attribute, the new information is updated in the product structure. For configured parts, this also includes changes to the current effectivity.

When you change the quantity of a part listed in the EBOM, how the product structure is updated depends on the unit of measure for the updated part. For parts with unit of measure EA (each), instances of the part shown in the product structure are added or removed as required to reflect the new value. For parts with some other unit of measure, only one instance of the part appears in the product structure, regardless of the quantity that you enter.

Auto Synchronization for an Unconfigured BOM

When auto synchronization is enabled and you add a child part in Quantity mode with design collaboration specified, the quantity of the child part that you add cannot exceed 100.

Replacing Parts

Auto synchronization updates the product structure whenever you replace a part in the EBOM using any of these commands:

  • Replace By New Part
  • Replace By Existing Part
    • Replace by Latest Revision.
    • Replace by Latest Released Revision.
    • Replace By Selected Revision.
    • Manage Latest Revisions.

Auto synchronization is supported for replacing parts in configured and unconfigured EBOMs that are in either development or production release phases.

Item and BOM Markup

Auto synchronization is supported for item and BOM markup. The product structure is updated when the markup is applied to the EBOM.

Configured BOM

Changes you make to a configured BOM can include adding, removing, deleting, and replacing parts. Unit, date, and feature effectivity types are all supported.

You can make changes to a configured BOM with or without Work Under Change. Without Work Under, changes are made without a change object. This means that there are no proposed changes and no proposed effectivity can be shown in the product structure. Proposed effectivity will appear blank.

Using Work Under change, proposed changes are defined using change objects. This means that auto synchronization ensures that the EBOM is updated in the product structure for both current and pending effectivity. Changes you make to the effectivity on the CA will appear in the EBOM and the product structure. When the CA is released, the pending changes that are defined in the CA are converted to current changes in the EBOM and in the product structure.

Change-Based Collaboration

Change-based collaboration typically occurs between Engineering BOM Management and ENOVIA Product Finder. When change-required is assigned to a part, all changes are managed through the associated CA and collaboration ensures that the part and product both have the latest changes. You can continue making changes through the CA from either the EBOM or product structure side, ensuring both sides are synchronized and change-required. Markup-based changes are not affected.

With no change-required applied to the part, you can directly edit the part or product structure and collaboration will ensure that the part and structure have the latest changes.

With change-required applied, both sides (the EBOM and the product structure) must be change-enabled. Use the change process to revise or release either the EBOM or the product structure.

Note: For configured parts, assign the configuration criteria after applying change-required to the part.