Maintaining different product variants in one 3D file, and keep it traceable

[Daan_M]

Hi,

I have multiple products with the same physical appearance, lets name them A1, A2, ... , An.

Since these are physically identical i think it's best to keep only one 3D file in Vault simply called 'A', it will be representative for all variants.

However 'A' is not a real product or product name. When i'm looking for a specific 3D file of a product in vault, i search for 'A2' for example, i want to type 'A2' in the searchbar and the file 'A' needs to pop up in Vault.

I'm guessing somewhere in file 'A' i need to put in the information that it's representative for variant 'A2', as well as the other variants. Also the specifications of all variants need to be filled in.

I was thinking of using iParts for this, since i can give different member names to the variants, and also put in the specification accordingly. I tried doing this, inside the part itself this works fine, however file 'A' does not pop up when i search for 'A2' in the Vault client searchbar. ('A2' is the name of the member in the iPart 'A').

What is a best practice for my situation? I imagine im not the first to run into this problem

[Gabriel_Watson]

"The same physical appearance" as in the same (= IDENTICAL) geometrical or physical shape, or do they have most features equal but slight variations of geometry? I don't understand what varies in those if it is any material, treatment, or color/coating.
Anyways, you obviously need different files for Vault to index them separately, but if these are some products you catalog under a common prefix/base name "A", I would be smart about this and create a single IPT for that, plus a PDF drawing of each variant you can check into Vault under the same folder. No need for other models since the only output needed is the drawing/PDF you want for procurement or catalog. This way Vault will find the variants by name, but in PDF or DWG/IDW format (if you keep separate drawings for each variant).

[Daan_M]

Hi @Gabriel_Watson ,

The products are physically identical, only non-phsyical specifications vary, such as electronic specifications for example (voltage, amperage, cos-phi). Furthermore I do use the same prefix for ranges, example;

JI500230

JI500400

These are identical in appearance, only one operates at 230V, and the other 400V. Because of this i want a file 'Jxxxxxx', which is both representative for the 230v as for the 400v version. In Vault i want to look for 'JI500230' and i want file 'JIxxxxxx' to pop up. When i open the file i want to be able to select the specific product which was 'JI500230', and see the specification of this specific variant accordingly.

When it comes to 2D drawings, same can be said. Ideally i would have a specification table in the 2D drawing of 'JIxxxxxx', when selecting a specific variant, the table values change accordingly.

[Gabriel_Watson]

Okay, that gives me a better overview, thank you.
I would use Model States for cases like these where not many variants exist (although some people stand by model states over iParts even if you had dozens of variants). For each model state you can make either a different sheet in the same part drawing, or different drawing files. Then save/export those as PDF. If you have a different drawing (DWG/IDW and/or PDF) for each of the variants you should be covered, and this way the IPT is a single source of truth where any impending revisions can be applied to all variants (using Model State "Factory Scope" edits). Is that good enough?

Also, keep that center of gravity closer to the rock when bouldering! =D