What is Product-level vs Material-level Data?
For the data in the summary level rows of your product that contains linked materials, like the simple product example below, some of that data is related to the product, and some of that data is related to the material.
When you have a linked material in a product, some information about that material should be editable in the product (like the quantity data) - this is considered product-level data. For other information, the data should be editable once, but reflected everywhere the material is used (like unit weight data) - this is considered material-level data. Most information used in a Bill of Materials (or BOM) is material-level data. In the example below, the product-level data is highlighted in green and the material-level data is highlighted in blue.
In Summary:
Product-level data:
Changes from product to product for the same material
Is editable in the product, and therefore appears in white when in the product BOM
Examples: Quantity, Weight, Product % by Weight
Material-level data:
Every product using the material has the same material-level data
Is only editable in the material, and therefore appears in grey when in the product BOM
Examples: Part Name, Description, Unit Weight, Recycled Content %
Using Product-level vs Material-level Data
Within 3E Exchange, whether a particular 3E Exchange standard column is a product-level or a material-level attribute is pre-defined in the system. For a list of all the columns and whether they are product-level or material-level attributes for linked materials, read our Column Titles and Definitions Article.
When you add custom columns, you get to choose whether the column is product-level or material-level. In the "Data Templates" ->" BOM Column Template" area, you can add custom columns to your template. For example, I added exposure, and can edit it using the edit button, as below:
From there, I will see the edit column dialog and be able to select whether it should be a product-level or material-level field. Because the exposure potential depends on where the part is used, I will mark this as a product-level field.
Questions? Reach out to support using the chat box or support@3eco.com.