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Is it possible to define interchangeable part numbers in a BOM?

EvanShultz

In our products we would like to be able to select interchangeable parts. Let me discuss quickly why this is useful and our motivation. We may want to allow purchasing of two parts for lead time (availability) or cost reasons. Or we may manufacture a product in different locations with one part number preferred at one location and vice versa, but both part numbers are acceptable. The reason to have two unique part numbers is that the parts may not be interchangeable in all designs, so on a design-by-design basis the interchangeability must be determined. Therefore, one part number cannot have multiple manufacturer part numbers.

Here is a concrete example of how this could work. At location Q45 there may be two different transistors that can be used. Each transistor has a unique part number and the BOM should show that either part number can be placed at location Q45. Some method of allowing multiple part numbers for one location must be provided.

Is there an existing way to do this within the DEHDL - Allegro flow?

I have used the word "interchangeable" above instead of "alternate" to avoid any confusion with the Alternates feature of Variant Editor. I know how to use Alternates in Variant Editor and that is not what I want.

  • EvanShultz
    in reply to jcteyssier

    The interchangeability is design-specific, not necessarily region-specific.So it seems to me one variable would always work.

    Variant Editor does not work very well for two major reasons:

    1. Using the Alternates tab, one can only define an alternate part one-by-one for a given location. This is time consuming, but also has no way to differentiate between an interchangeable PN which should appear on the BOM and can be used freely in production and an alternate that should only be used on a specific variant BOM. I went into a bit of detail above how I could get around this, but it seems unpleasant. My method above of defining an interchangeable PN is abusing the purpose of the Alternates feature in VE.

    2. It is part-by-part and does not allow globally applying an alternate PN to all instances of a PN placed on the schematic. While interchangeability will sometimes be only a single location, it may sometimes be done for every instance of a base PN. It would be helpful to allow this so the burden on the user is less.

    Let me know if I seem to misunderstood what you're saying. You have a good idea but I don't think it quite meets the goal I have.

  • EvanShultz
    in reply to excellon1

    Hi again Paul!

    I was talking about discrete parts, not a module.

    Certainly interchangeable PNs would need to be form and fit compatible, meaning they must utilize the same footprint and fit into the assembly/chassis. For example, a radial capacitor could use the same footprint (diameter) but be too tall. Or a chip capacitor of 0.1uF might be very thin but a 47uF in the package is very thick. I was using the term "form- and fit-compatible" to describe that. Perhaps it was a bad or confusing choice of words?

    Function-compatibility could be in a MOSFET. If one is 60V and one is 150V, they certainly aren't function-compatible even if form and fit are identical. But in a 20V application, perhaps both could be used interchangeably? A similar example would be with capacitor voltage; there may be 16V and 25V parts available which are otherwise identical and both could be used in a 10V application. But those parts can't be on the same PN/AVL/spec because they are most certainly not interchangeable in a general sense. But in a specific application (a specific product) it may be fine to use either PN.

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