Perform initial alignments between engineering BOM and design structure

You can import the existing design structure and engineering BOM, that is, Usage BOM or Assembly BOM from an external system and perform initial alignments between them. Its is a two step process where design-part alignments also known as revision alignments are performed first, followed by design occurrence-part occurrence alignments also known as occurrence alignments.

Prerequisites

The set of properties to be used for alignment are already mapped by your administrator.

Procedure

1. Open your engineering BOM and design structure side by side in the alignment view.

2. (Optional) Select the Show Alignment Status option to see alignments as they are done.

3. Select the top nodes of both structures and click Align.

4. Select one of the aligned top nodes, for example, the top node of the design structure.

   You can also select both top nodes, but ensure that they are design-part aligned with each other so that the context is correct. For example, align the suspension design assembly with the suspension Part assembly.

5. Align > Guided Update

   The Guided Update panel opens in Design Part Alignment mode. The panel shows the context of alignment along with the direction of the alignments. The direction is shown using an arrow in the alignment context that goes from the design structure to the engineering BOM, or from the engineering BOM to the design structure.

6. Clear the BOM Updates option to perform only the alignments first, ignoring any BOM modifications.

   By default, the BOM Updates option is selected and allows for structure modifications along with initial alignments.

7. Select the All Levels option if you want to do design-part alignments on all the structure levels for the selected context.

   Only design-part alignments can be done at all levels at the same time. No matter the status of the All Levels option, design occurrence-part occurrence alignments are always performed level by level.

   The panel displays various filters, for example, Matches, Multiple Matches, and No Matches. Each filter shows the count of the parts or designs that it matches. The filter selections do not impact the alignment operation. By default, the panel selects the filters on which your action is requested.

8. (Optional) Select one or more filters to see the respective parts or designs and their possible alignments.

9. Select the required alignment action.

   The panel shows the possible alignments, along with the different actions you can take and the information about each action. You can select each part or design from the panel to highlight it within the structure.

   You can take the following actions:

   Action	Description
   Align	Align the part and design. Select a part or design from the existing list. Preferred parts or designs appear at the top, separated from the rest of the structure.
   Defer	Take action at a later stage. It is recommended to perform maximum possible alignments without deferring them.

10. Click Align Design Part.

    Your parts and designs are aligned. If you have deferred any alignments during the design-part alignment stage, those are shown in the panel as one more chance to align them else the panel goes into BOM Alignment mode for design occurrence-part occurrence alignment with the initial context node in focus. The panel again shows the context, direction, and filter tiles for the design occurrence-part occurrence alignment with possible matches, based on your design-part alignment.

11. Verify the alignments and click Align.

    If you have deferred any alignments during the design-part alignment stage, now in occurrence alignment you get one more chance to perform those alignments. It is recommended to perform maximum possible alignments without deferring them. At this stage if you decide to perform alignments, both design-part and occurrence alignments are done simultaneously.

    Design occurrence-part occurrence alignment is done for the selected level.

12. Click Next to initiate design occurrence-part occurrence alignment for the next level.

13. Continue to verify alignments until all the levels are design occurrence-part occurrence aligned.

Your design structure and engineering BOM are aligned.