Change types
Version, Revision, and New Part — the per-affected-item choice that decides what you can edit and what release creates.
Change type is set per affected item (default Version) and is the most load-bearing field on the whole change order. It decides two things at once: what you're allowed to edit on the draft, and what release creates from it.
The three types
| Change type | You edit | Release creates | Auto-supersession |
|---|---|---|---|
| Version | BoM and BoP on the same item | A new method version; the prior Active version is archived | None |
| Revision | Attributes, documents, BoM and BoP | A new item revision (same Part ID, next revision letter) | Old revision → new revision |
| New Part | Attributes, BoM and BoP | A brand-new part number derived from the affected part | Affected part → new part |
A Version bumps the method, not the item.
Don't conflate the two. A Version produces a new recipe version on the same item row, so existing stock and item history are untouched and nothing is superseded. A Revision and a New Part each mint a new item row and leave the old one intact — which is why they auto-write a so planning knows to phase over. See Supersession & cutover.
When to use which
- Version — the design is the same part, made a little differently. A tweaked operation, a swapped component, a corrected quantity. There's no drawing-revision story and no reason to phase over stock.
- Revision — the part is formally revising (new drawing revision, new dimension) and you want old and new to coexist while stock phases over. This is the everyday engineering-change case.
- New Part — the change is significant enough to warrant a new part number, derived from the old one, with the old part superseded by it.
What each type gates
Change type also controls the editable surface on the affected item:
- Version exposes the Bill of Material and Bill of Process editors on the draft method.
- Revision and New Part add Part Properties (attributes) and documents on top of BoM and BoP, because they're producing a genuinely new item, not just a new recipe.
Purchased items and New Part have limits.
A purchased (Buy) item has no bill of materials or process, so a Version is meaningless for it — adding a Buy item coerces its change type to Revision (attributes and documents only). New Part is restricted to Parts and Tools.
Supplier parts on a purchased line
A Revision or New Part whose draft item is purchased (Buy or Buy and Make) gets a Supplier Parts grid on its line, right alongside the properties editor. You use it to set up how the new part or revision is bought: Supplier, Supplier ID (the supplier's own part number), Unit Price, Unit of Measure, Minimum Order Quantity, and Conversion Factor. Add, edit, and delete rows here the same way you would on a live part.
Set suppliers up before you release, or the released part can't be bought.
A draft item starts with no supplier parts — the source item's suppliers aren't copied onto the draft. If a purchased Revision or New Part releases with an empty grid, the new part is stocked but has no way to buy it, so a purchase order can't reference it. Fill the grid on the line first. The suppliers you add show up in the change order's changes as additions.