A product is defined by set of pieces from which the product is made.
Each product has a unique name and contains several pieces to be optimized (which have the same structure as pieces from PARTS) and several extra components (screws, hinges, latches etc).
The advantage of products is that you define them only once and the you may add them, to the pieces to be optimized, any number of times.
For instance you have a model of a desk which contains:
For defining a product please select the menu Products | Show All. First of all you have to create a new product by assigning a name to it. And then you have to add components to that product.
Once the product is defined it can be added to the PARTS by pressing the menu Products | Add to PARTS. One may specify how many copies of that product are required.
If a customer wants this product you don't have to add again (one by one) pieces to PARTS. You only have to press the menu Products | Add Simple Products to PARTS and the program will do the job for you.
The type of the material involved in that product may also be changed. It is a good idea to define products with some generic types and then, when they are added to the current Parts, one may change their type to some type of material which is currently in Stock.
At the end of optimization, the extra components are given in the Statistics Extra window.
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