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4-Participant
September 10, 2025
Solved

Different Reference Designators for Same Child Part Reused Under Different Parents

I am working on a Windchill product structure and need help with Reference Designators in a reuse scenario.

Here’s my structure:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Product Structure 1 (Top Level)
    |--Parent 1
         |--Sub Assembly 1
               |--Child 1 with Reference Designator (e.g., R1)
    |--Parent 2
         |--Sub Assembly 1
               |--Child 1 with different Reference Designator (e.g., R2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub Assembly 1 is reused under both Parent 1 and Parent 2.
Child 1 is part of Sub Assembly 1.
Sub Assembly 1, Parent 1 and Parent 2 are Configurable Modules whereas Child 1 is a WT Part.


I want to assign different Reference Designators to Child 1 depending on which parent it is under (R1 for Parent 1 path, R2 for Parent 2 path).


However, when I try to edit the Reference Designator in the Occurrences tab, the value remains the same across both instances of Child 1.

 

Question:
Is it possible to assign different Reference Designators to the same child part reused under different parent paths in Windchill using OOTB solution?

avillanueva
23-Emerald II
September 11, 2025

You could make the case for a Windchill idea but I do not see this as succeeding since it might violate standards on reference designators. More research here:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_designator While mainly used in schematic designs, if its truly the same sub-assembly, I am not sure how the reference designator can be different? Perhaps your team is mis-using the functionality.

4 replies

avillanueva
23-Emerald II
September 10, 2025

I do not think this is possible since Occurrences are tied to the usage link which is tied to Sub Assembly 1. Is it possible of restructuring the BOM where child 1 is directly part of the parent?  Asking field, I do not think a gathering part has any impact here right?

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4-Participant
September 11, 2025

That's right. Gathering part has no impact here.

In our case, the ideal solution would be if I am able to assign different values to the Reference Designator field.

Restructuring is also an option which we plan to implement as a workaround if it doesn't work out.

However, it will complicate things for our end users, and we will have to put additional efforts into Product Structure maintenance.

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avillanueva
23-Emerald II
September 11, 2025

You could make the case for a Windchill idea but I do not see this as succeeding since it might violate standards on reference designators. More research here:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_designator While mainly used in schematic designs, if its truly the same sub-assembly, I am not sure how the reference designator can be different? Perhaps your team is mis-using the functionality.

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