A product structure identifies the material that makes up a parent part and that is used to assemble or repair that parent part. Product structure is a generic definition. Production or repair orders might involve order-specific changes to this list of needed components, but the list of components for the order is initially created in accordance with the product structure definition of the ordered part.
Product structures are used by IFS/Master Scheduling (MS) to determine which components are in demand. Discrete and repetitive manufacturing uses these structures to determine the components required to build a part or the additional material needed to repair one. Product structures are also used in calculating costs and production lead times. Much of planning and manufacturing depends on product structure definitions.
Product structures are divided into three elements: a structure header, a structure alternate, and structure line items.
A structure header is where the part, site, revision, and type of product structure are identified. Possible product structures are Manufacturing, Purchasing, Repair and Prototype:
| Type | Description |
| Manufacturing | Represents the structure used when the part is planned or manufactured. |
| Purchasing | Represents the typical makeup of a part purchased from a supplier. |
| Repair | Represents the structure used when repairing a part. |
| Assembly | Represents the structure used when the part is assembled. |
| Dissasembly | Represents the structure used when the part is dissasembled. |
| Disposition | Represents the structure used when dispositioning a part. |
| Prototype | Represents the structure used when prototyping a part. |
A part revision may have several structure headers associated with it, one for each of the structure types. A structure header is automatically created when a new part revision is created for an inventory part of part types Manufactured or Purchased. If the part is a manufactured part, the structure header is created with a manufacturing structure type. If the part is a purchased part, the structure header is created with a purchasing structure type.
Note: A structure with the type Prototype creates a unique part revision with the Prototype Part Revision Prefix defined in the Site/Manufacturing tab.
The Assembly, Dissasembly, and Disposition structure types are used for the IFS/MRO solution. Assembly and Dissasembly headers are automatically created as the result of template structure transfer functionality.
A structure alternate defines the state of a product structure and represents a slightly different way of making the same part. The differences might be based on the quantity of parent parts being built, the use of acceptable alternate materials, or some other non-standard condition that indicates a different structure. All structure headers have at least one defined structure alternate, known as the default alternate, which is indicated with an asterisk (*) in the Alternate No field.
The state of the structure alternate indicates how the structure information can be used. The ability to change the component records depends upon the state of the alternate structure, defined in the Product Structure tab of Product Structure, and the site's Structure Update attribute, defined in Site/Manufacturing. Possible states are:
| State | Description |
| Tentative | A structure alternate is created in Tentative state and, normally, this is the default value. This state indicates that the structure alternate is not yet usable, and the structure data will not be used by Planning or Manufacturing. Components may be changed in this state. |
| Plannable | A structure alternate promoted to Plannable state can be used to calculate cost and planning information, but is still not used for Manufacturing. Components may be changed in this state. |
| Buildable | Structure alternates promoted to Buildable
state are completely visible in the system, and can now be seen and used by
Manufacturing, as well as for planning and costing purposes and for generating order
components. The Structure Update attribute, defined in Site/Manufacturing, determines your ability to modify a component's attributes in this state. If Simplified, most changes are allowed. If Enhanced, only some changes are allowed. If Restricted, most changes are not allowed. |
| Canceled | The structure alternate has been canceled and will not be available for use in Manufacturing or Planning nor used to generate costing information. You can change to this state at any time; however, once in this state, only the state may be changed. |
| Obsolete | The structure alternate has been obsolete and will not be available for use in Manufacturing or Planning nor used to generate costing information. You can change to this state at any time; however, once in this state, only the state may be changed. |
Note: If the structure type is prototype the structure alternate can only have Tentative and Obsolete states. The structure alternate is created in Tentative state and can be used by Manufacturing. Structure alternates in the Obsolete state will not be available for use in Manufacturing and cannot be changed to a different state.
Structure line items are the components of the product structure. Each line item identifies a component and quantity per assembly, which is the number of components needed to make one parent part (as identified in the structure header). In a repair type structure, the quantity per assembly reflects the number of components needed to service or repair one parent part.
A structure line item can be identified as a Non-Consumed item, which means that although the part appears in the product structure, the demand for that component will not be generated when an order is created for the parent part. A structure line item may also be associated with an operation number from the routing for the parent part, indicating that the component will be issued or used during the indicated operation. Functions within Shop Order Operation Reporting will automatically issue material linked to specific operations, and a pick list report can be generated for an operation, showing only material linked to that operation.