Variants

(Available in all extension stages of IQ-Software)

Variants are a simple, powerful and tried-and-true way for analyzing the risk in process or product variants without introducing data redundancy.

For every system or process, an unlimited number of variants can be defined. These variants are based on a master structure, which is the set of all the data that are included in any variant. The variants are derived from the master by excluding master objects which are not part of the variant or by assigning variant specific attributes to the objects. Changes to an object which is included in one or more variants are automatically reflected in all the variants.

The following figure shows the master structure of a plug that is produced in two different variants: with soldering connection or with clamp connection.

Figure 1 - Connection master

If the soldering variant is activated the structure looks like this:

Figure 2 - Connection: Soldering variant

If the clamp connection variant is activated, the structure looks like this:

Figure 3 - Connection: Clamp variant

The next example shows that the attribute values of objects can also be variant specific. The production process of the example can be with or without rework depending on the variant. Changing the variant does not only change the contents of the structure but also the status of actions.

With rework:

Figure 4 - Process variant with reworking

Without rework:

Figure 5 - Process variant without reworking

The Object Inspector provides a concise overview of all variant specific values of an object:

Figure 6 - Object Inspector

The following is an overview of the most important variant specific attributes: