Introduction

This capability describes how to represent a product as a structure of components that are sub-assemblies or parts, or individual products.

A part is a type of product which represents a design. It defines the concepts required to build the relationships which provide the structure for assemblies.

A product_as_individual is an instance of a product, a real, manufactured, existing (or planned) product, often identified through a serial number. It is based on a design (at least when it was first manufactured), and defines the concepts required to build the relationships which provide the structure of an individual product, referred to as an assembly or disassembly structure, or sometimes a product breakdown.

The principle structuring mechanisms provided here can be applied to all parts of the life cycle, not just design. However another structuring mechanism exists in PLCS, the Product Breakdown (see C004: representing_breakdown_structure), which may be better suited for early design stages and life cycle stages after manufacturing (in-service), especially for more complex, interrelated structures (e.g. functional struture, system structure, physical structure, and design assemblies, all interrelated).