Product Engineering Introduction

Product engineering refers to the process of designing and developing a device, assembly, or system such that it be produced as an item for sale through some production manufacturing process.

In product engineering, you define the following:

  • The Generic item has the following characteristics:

    • The item type is specified as generic
    • The default supply source for the item is assembly
    • The order system is Final Assembly Schedule (FAS)
    • The item is a configurable end item or subassembly.

  • Engineering module

    For an item to be marked as an Engineering module, the item type must be specified as Engineering module and for which the default supply source is assembly and it is a virtual item. Engineering module in Assembly Planning, is a system, or, in other words, a logical unit of assembly parts, that is typically not manufactured as a separate physical unit. For example, the electrical system of a car is the logical unit of all parts required for the electrical system. The electrical system is not manufactured as a separate physical unit, but integrated into the dashboard, doors, and so on. An engineering module has no routings, assembly lines, options, and so on, and is for design and planning purposes only. In the bill of materials (BOM), the engineering module is the top layer of the non-configurable section of the BOM.

  • Assembly part

    For an item to be marked as Assembly part, the item type must be specified as manufactured/purchased and for which the default supply source is job shop (Manufacturing) or purchase (Purchase).

A general product engineering structure is displayed in the figure below.

[...]
Flattened BOM

Flattening is the process of stripping the engineering product structure to an operational, single-level BOM structure, containing only the parts that are required for assembly operations. Modules that are useful for product engineering to group components that are mounted together are not relevant on the operational level. For performance reasons, the operational product structure should be as lean as possible. Operational BOM (single level) for engineering module is the output of the flattening process.

In LN there are three ways to obtain the flattened parts:

  • Import: To import the flattened parts and operations, you must select the External Assembly Parts and Operations check box in the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0500m000) session.
  • Define manually.
  • Obtain through EDM, which involves a flattening procedure.

All the relevant information of lower-level engineering items is stored on the engineering module level. This module saves time because LN does not need to process all the Engineering BOM relations multiple levels deep. See multilevel bill of material.

The BOM flattening is displayed in the figure below.

[...]