Adding Supply Chain Information to a Vault-Based Component

Parent article: Vault-Based Components

As a board designer, you capture the idea for that next great product using a collection of logically wired components across a number of schematic sheets. The components you use will have defined symbols (and other domain models) and some key parametric data, but at the end of the day they are just 'symbols of design intent' – having meaning in the context of the project Design Area, but holding no physical meaning outside of that area. Each of these design entities needs to be 'embodied in the real world' either by purchasing an off-the-shelf (OTS) pre-manufactured item, or by having it made to spec (MTS).

In the Supply Chain Area, a procurement specialist often does not know (or even need or wish to know!) what a particular component in the design represents. What is required, is an indication of what needs to be procured – which physically-manufactured components can be used to implement that design component. The best person to indicate which real-world components can be validly used to implement the design-level components would be none other than... the designer.

Wouldn't it be great if, as part of releasing and managing company-ratified design components, information pertaining to the 'allowed' manufactured parts – to implement those components on the manufactured and assembled boards – could also be specified? Well, as part of the Unified Component modeling paradigm, Altium caters for exactly that through the provision of a Part Catalog and the concept of making Part Choices.

The Part Catalog

There are two types of part catalog – Global and Local. The type of catalog employed depends on your design environment. The following sections summarize these two catalog types.

Global Part Catalog

This is Altium's managed, cloud-based part catalog database. The Global Part Catalog stores items representative of actual Manufacturer Parts, along with one or more items representative of Supplier Parts – the incarnations of those Manufacturer Parts, as sold by the Suppliers/Vendors. Each Supplier Part is a reference to an item in a Supplier database – an external database (Supplier web-based service). It is this link to the Supplier database that yields real-time pricing and availability data.

Mapping a vault-based Item to real-world manufacturer parts, using Part Choices and the Global Part Catalog.

This catalog is used when:

• A vault is not being used.
• A legacy Altium Personal Vault is being used (and an Altium Vault (or a legacy Altium Vault Server) is not currently connected also).
• A legacy Altium Satellite Vault is being used.
• The Altium Content Vault is being used.

Local Part Catalog

This is a managed local part catalog database, dedicated to the management and tracking of manufacturer parts and their associated supplier parts. The catalog is installed as a service (Part Catalog Service), provided through the Altium Vault platform, and works only with the Altium Vault.

The Local Part Catalog stores items representative of actual Manufacturer Parts, along with one or more items representative of Supplier Parts – the incarnations of those Manufacturer Parts, as sold by the Suppliers/Vendors. Each Supplier Part is a reference to an item in a Supplier database. This can be an external database (Supplier web-based service), or an internal company database (ODBC-based). It is this link to the Supplier database that yields real-time pricing and availability data.

Mapping a vault-based Item to real-world manufacturer parts, using Part Choices and the Local Part Catalog. The
Catalog can interface to online Supplier databases, and/or your own internal company parts database to source
supply chain intelligence.

The Part Choice List Item

Mapping itself – from a Component Item in an Altium Vault, to nominated Manufacturer Parts in the applicable Part Catalog – is performed using a dedicated Part Choice List Item, which itself is stored in the vault. Each Component Item references its own Part Choice List Item. The revisions of that Component Item will utilize that same Part Choice List Item. The Part Choice List Item itself is revisable and enjoys simplistic lifecycle management. And by keeping this as a separate entity, it can be updated independently of the Component Item that references it.

Mapping a vault-based component to real-world manufactured parts through the concept of Part Choices.

The designer can feel truly empowered by being able to specify Manufacturer Parts that are truly interchangeable at manufacturing time in the context of any usage of that component in their design – the very essence of true part equivalency. And it is this intelligent mapping of a component, that turns the humble vault-based component into a truly Unified Component. The unified nature of a vault-based component, through the chosen part choices made for it, ultimately creates a link from that component, all the way through chosen Manufacturer Part(s), and on to the Vendor (Supplier) Parts that each itself references. From the designer's perspective, the component is hooked directly into the supply chain.

Real-time data is made available – fed back from the relevant supplier's database – to let the designer know the current costing and availability of the chosen parts, and from all Vendors that sell those chosen parts (as defined in the applicable Part Catalog). And not just the designer gets to see this information. The procurement specialist can also keep abreast of supply-chain information, as it is made available in the vault for each Component Item therein.

Part Choices map that design component to the real-world manufactured parts that have to be sourced by the procurement team. This gives the procurement team a beneficial and timely 'heads-up' on
what those parts should be.

A part is no longer available or has suddenly become cost-ineffective? No matter, provision is made for real-time updates to be sent back to the Design Area as soon as a change occurs. With this vital 'heads-up', the designer can take that choice of part out of the associated Part Choice List Item for that component and essentially 'off the radar'. And at any time new, truly equivalent parts can be added to the list, should something more appropriate, available and cost-effective come along.

Accessing Supply Chain Information

When browsing a Component Item in a vault using the Vaults panel, supply chain data for that Item is presented in its Supply Chain view. Access to this view can be made in one of two ways:

• Clicking the part choices link on the Summary view for the Item.

• Clicking the view-related control located at the top-right of the current view and choosing Supply Chain from the drop-down. This drop-down lists all of the different views for the currently selected Item – the different aspect views of that Item if you will.

Accessing the Supply Chain view for a Component Item.

This view presents the following regions of information:

• Solutions – this region lists one or more Manufacturer-Supplier Part pairings. When a Manufacturer Part is chosen and added to the associated Part Choice List Item, the software looks up that part in the applicable Part Catalog, and the Vendor links associated to it. These are then presented in this region. So if you have added a Manufacturer Part that has two associated Vendor links in the catalog, there will be two Manufacturer-Supplier Part pairings listed. Each part pairing consists of the Manufacturer name and Manufacturer-specific part number, along with the Supplier name and Supplier-specific part number.

• Pricing – this region presents pricing information for the currently selected solution, in terms of cost per part. This information comes direct from the applicable Supplier's database. Where available, the pricing for different quantity bands is also presented. Currency is that of the Supplier.

• Availability – this region presents availability information for the currently selected solution, in terms of how many parts the associated Supplier currently has in stock. This information comes direct from the applicable Supplier's database.

Making Part Choices

Interaction with the Part Choice List Item associated to a Component Item is performed within the Part Choices dialog. This dialog is accessed using the applicable command on the drop-down menu associated with the icon, at the top-right of the Solutions region of the view. If the Component Item has never had any part choices made for it, the command to Create Part Choice List reflects this. If the Component Item already has an associated Part Choice List Item, then the command will simply be Edit Part Choice List.

The Part Choices dialog - your direct interface to the Part Choice List Item for a vault-based component.

The dialog is essentially divided into two. On the left-hand side – Part Search – you simply browse the supported (and enabled) Supplier's databases for the part(s) you require. Layout and behavior is similar to the Supplier Search panel. Type keywords by which to search in the field at the top, apply any filtering using the options accessible by clicking the button, then click the Search button (or press Enter) to proceed with the search.

Click the button to access the Data Management – Suppliers page of the Preferences dialog. From here, you can enable/disable Suppliers and related Supplier-specific options as required. Note however, that this is only possible when not using an Altium Vault. Remember that for this type of vault, the list of suppliers is controlled centrally through the Suppliers page of the vault's browser-based interface.

Search results based on keywords entered will be displayed below. The information can be sorted by any column as required. Flick through multiple pages of results using the arrow buttons at the bottom-left of the region.

Different suppliers may use different units of currency. To quickly display all pricing information within the results list in a single currency, simply choose the required currency from the drop-down field available at the bottom-right of the list. The following table lists the currencies supported, in terms of their alphabetic code and their standard naming.

Use the Order Quantity field to see the affect on pricing based on number of parts potentially ordered.

Selecting an entry in the list of results will display detailed information for that part in the region below, including parametric data, any documentation (e.g. datasheets), pricing and stock information. Documentation can be opened and perused for more detailed information regarding a part.

Browse the engineering parameters of a selected Manufacturer Part to ensure it can meet your design requirements, or access the manufacturer's datasheet for more detailed information.

Once you find a part that meets your engineering criteria for the design component, simply click the button to the immediate right of the search results. The selected part will be added to the Manufacturer Part Choices region of the dialog – this is the Part Choice List that will be stored in the next revision of the Part Choice List Item when you click OK.

The list simply presents added parts in terms of Manufacturer and Manufacturer Part Number. You can add as many parts as you like to the list, but remember that they must be equivalent in regards that any part in the list can represent the design component on the manufactured and assembled board and perform the same function as per designed requirements.

To remove a part from the list, simply select its entry and click the Remove button at the bottom of the list.

When you click OK, the part choices made will be saved. If this is the first time you are adding part choices for a Component Item, the list will be saved in an initial revision of a new Part Choice List Item. If you are amending an existing list for a Component Item, the list will be saved into a new (the next) revision of the existing Part Choice List Item.

Storage of Part Choice List Items

Each new Part Choice List Item that is created – for a Component Item – is stored under a top-level folder in the vault, with default name Part Choice Lists and folder type altium-part-choice-list.

Although you can access properties and full Item details for a particular list, you never really need to interact with these Items in this folder directly. All interaction with the Part Choice List for a Component Item should be performed from within that component's Supply Chain view.

Part Choice List Items are stored in a dedicated folder in a vault. Direct interaction with these Items is not required.

Accessing Properties for a Part Choice List Item

To view the properties of a Part Choice List Item, simply click on the icon, at the top-right of the Solutions region of the Supply Chain view, and choose the Properties command from the associated drop-down menu.

Accessing the properties for the Part Choice List Item associated to the currently selected Component Item.

Detailed View of the Part Choice List Item

Related article: Managing the Item's Revision and Lifecycle State - the Item View

To view full details for a Part Choice List Item, simply click on the icon, at the top-right of the Solutions region of the Supply Chain view, and choose the Full Item Details command from the associated drop-down menu. The detailed view for that particular Part Choice List Item will open and/or be made the active view within Altium Designer. From here, you can browse the various revisions of the Item, both graphically and through a timeline.

Lifecycle management can also be performed for a revision within this view, depending on the lifecycle definition scheme inherited from the associated Component Item. For example, for the Component Lifecycle definition, changing state from New From Design to In Prototype and subsequently In Production. This enables quick insight as to whether the Part Choices in a particular revision are approved for a certain use.

You can also perform lifecycle management for a revision within this view, changing state for example from New From Design to In Prototype and subsequently In Production. This enables you to see quickly if the Part Choices in a particular revision are approved for a certain use.

Access full details for the associated Part Choice List Item, including the ability to browse all its revisions and manage the lifecycle state of those revisions.

Accessing Supply Chain Information as You Design

Main article: Supply Chain Insight

To retain the advantage that design-time part choices provide, Altium Designer delivers real-time display of cost and availability for chosen parts directly within the Schematic Editor as you design. This is facilitated by extending the software's Design Insight feature to include Supply Chain Insight.

With this feature enabled, simply hover the mouse over a vault-based component on a schematic sheet, to access its supply chain information.

Example supply chain information accessed by hovering over a vault-based component on the schematic sheet.

Including Supply Chain Information in a BOM

Once supply chain data has been defined for your vault-based components, you can then include that information in your Bill of Materials. This can be done for a Static BOM, generated for the project, by enabling the Include Parameters From Vault option, at the bottom of the Bill of Materials dialog.

Including supply chain data for vault-based components in a Static Bill of Materials, generated for the project.

Alternatively, you are perfectly positioned to use ActiveBOM - Altium Designer's solution for facilitating real-time cost estimation and tracking for a board design. ActiveBOM offers a live presentation of the design from the outset, providing early and ongoing cost estimation. It allows you to define target pricing at the individual item level. You can then track how actual costing fares against these estimates, and so give a timely flag if any cost blow-outs are on the near horizon! In addition, you can quickly assess item availability, complete with notification if there is a risk in the supply of a chosen part.

Supply chain solutions, sourced using an Item's associated vault-based Part Choice List Item (PCL), are an integral part of Altium Designer's ActiveBOM feature.