Reusing an item

The same assembly can sit inside as many parents and products as you like. It stays one record.

This is how Partix handles common hardware: the power supply used in four products, the fastener kit used in thirty assemblies.

How to reuse something

There is no special action for reuse. You add the existing item instead of creating a new one.

1. Hover the parent row and select its add action.
2. Switch to Assemblies & products.
3. Search for the item and select it.
4. Choose the version and revision, set the quantity, and add.

The item now has two parents.

What reuse gives you

• One place to change it. Edit the description, the lead time or the drawing set once, and every parent sees it.
• Demand that adds up. The Summarized view counts it once and adds up the quantity from every position it holds, so you order the right number.
• Complete where-used. Ask where an item is used and you get every path back, across every product.
• Visible sharing. Anything with more than one parent is marked Shared everywhere it appears.

What to watch for

There is a second consequence at release time. Releasing a shared item means every product using it now has an older revision recorded against it.

• Those products stay on the revision they were committed against, so nothing changes underneath them.
• Their teams will want to know. Commit review flags this and names the other products before you release.

When not to reuse

If two products need the item to differ in any way, whether that is a tolerance, a supplier or a firmware build, do not reuse it. Create a separate assembly. Reuse is only for items that really are the same item.