Adding Alternates

About Alternates

Within any engineering or manufacturing facility, there is a need to have alternate parts available for specific high volume items.  The ability to meet demand is sometimes greater than the supply capability of any one supplier.  Therefore, alternate parts are identified early in the design cycle in an effort to meet the constant demand of these high volume items.  Within the Alternates tab, you can define parts that are interchangeable within your designs, and make them visible to the organization. Having alternates defined for your designs makes supplying the right amount of parts for your product easy, and assists the supply chain and forecasting activities within your organization.

When Adding Alternates

  • The Header information of an item is fixed upon creation, and cannot be modified.
  • All property editable fields that are displayed in the Edit Item window are not displayed in the Properties window once modified.  Since the editable fields are a combination of both properties and internal specifications, the changes may not appear in the Detailed Specifications tab of the Properties window.
  • The Edit Item functionality can only be performed by users that have Enovia Administrative privileges.

Accessing the Edit Item: Alternates Window

Within CES, there are many methods of accessing the Edit Item: Alternates window. To complete the scenario below, select one of the following methods:

 
If You Are Using the... Then...

Search Results Window

  1. In the Main Access Area, click the Advanced Access link

  2. In the Advanced Access window, click the Standard Search or Simple Search tab to access the search window.

  3. Complete the search criteria, and click the Search button to execute the search.

  4. In the Search Results window, select the item for which you want to edit the properties, right-click, and select Edit Item from the shortcut menu.

  5. Click the Alternates tab.

Properties Window
  1. In the Properties window, click the Edit Item button to open the Edit Items window.

  2. Click the Alternates tab.

How To Add/Remove/Edit Alternates

For the following scenario, the Accessing the Edit Item Window: Search Results Window method is used to access the Search Results window.  This task explains how to edit item information in the Edit Items: Alternates window:
  1. From the Search Results window, select the item for which you want to add an alternate.  Right-click, and select Edit Items from the shortcut menu.  The Edit Items window appears.

     

  2. Click the Alternates tab to view the Edit Items: Alternates window.  The Edit Items: Alternates window appears.

  3. To add an alternate item, click the Add button.  The Add Details window appears.

  4. Select the alternate part that you want from the list of items displayed.  To further filter your results in order to make this selection easier, click the Filter button located next to any of the column headings.  This button will open a dialog box and allows you to define a filter in order to narrow your selection. Once you have entered the information, click the Check button to filter the results list.  To remove the filter and return to your earlier list, click the X button.  The Add Details window is refreshed and only displays the items that meet the filter criteria.

     

  5. Select the alternate item as shown above and click the OK button to return to the Edit Items: Alternates window.  The item is added to the Alternates window.

  6. To edit an existing alternate item, select the item from the list and click the Edit button.  The EditTabRecord window appears.

  7. Within the EditTabRecord window, you can change the Alternate Type of your selected item.  To change the alternate type, make a selection from the drop-down menu.  The Alternate Types available are as follows:

    • All Alternates: Any alternate available for the selected item found in the database.

    • Functional Equivalent: Items that are functionally equivalent to the item for which you are trying to find alternates.

    • Functional Upgrade: Items that are functionally equivalent to the item for which you are trying to find alternates, plus have additional functions based on your specifications.

    • Functional Downgrade: Items that have less functionally from the item for which you are trying to find alternates, based on your specifications.

    • Pin-To-Pin Equivalent: The pin configurations that match the item and other alternate items

    • Pin-To-Pin Upgrade:  The pin configurations that match the item for which you are trying to find alternates, plus has additional functions based on your specifications.

  8. To save your changes, click the Apply button.  Your Alternate Type will be changed for the selected item and you will return to the Alternates window.

The Edit Items: Alternates Window

This table describes the fields displayed in the Edit Items: Alternates window.

Fields Description
Manufacturer Item Number A unique identifier number for the manufacturer of the item.
Manufacturer Item Description A unique description of the manufacturer item.
Alternate Type The type of alternate part that is added to your item.

 

This table describes the fields displayed in the Edit Items: Alternate Type drop-down menu:

Menu Name Description
All Alternates Displays any alternate available for the selected item found in the database.
Functional Equivalent Displays items that are functionally equivalent to the item for which you are trying to find alternates.
Functional Upgrade Displays items that are functionally equivalent to the item for which you are trying to find alternates, plus have additional functions based on your specifications.
Functional Downgrade Displays items that have less functionally from the item for which you are trying to find alternates, based on your specifications.
Pin-to-pin Equivalent Displays the pin configurations that match the item and other alternate items
Pin-to-pin Upgrade Displays the pin configurations that match the item for which you are trying to find alternates, plus has additional functions based on your specifications.


This table describes the buttons displayed in the Edit Items: Alternates window:

Button Menu Name Select this option to:
Open in New Window Open the selected item in the Properties window.
Add to Navigator Add the selected item to the Relationship Navigator window.
Find Similar Open the Find Similar window, and allows you to select attributes for a search of similar items.
Manufacturer Item Properties Displays the Manufacturer Item Properties window.
Supplier Item Properties Displays the Supplier Item Properties window.
View CAD Information Views the CAD information stored within the Enovia database of the selected item.
View Engineering Part Information Views the Engineering Part Information stored within the Enovia database of the selected item.
Manufacturer Properties Displays the Manufacturer Properties window.
Consumer Properties Displays the Consumer Properties window.
Check Prices Opens the Check Prices window so that you can query against the prices associated with the selected item.
Bookmark Adds the item as a link in the Favorites Pane.
Add Opens the Add Details window and allows you to select an alternate part for the item.
Remove Deletes the selected item from the Alternates tab of the part.  However, it does not delete the item from the database.
Edit Opens the EditTabRecord window of the item and allows you to edit the Alternate Type of the item.