Distinct Components

This deserves its own topic because there are polarizing views on how to manage your components.

We present here not a universal way of using component numbers, but a way of doing it which works for automation.

The rules are easy to follow:

Rule	Description
If the form changes (the geometry changes)	New component, new number
If the fit changes (the geometry doesn't seamlessly swap out for previous iterations)	New component, new number
If the function changes (it is now used for a different purpose)	New component, new number
If the material changes (it used to be rubber, it's now steel)	New component, new number
If the revision changes	Same component, same number
If metadata changes (e.g. you update the description)	Same component, same number
If the part is mirrored, and the mirror is the same geometrical shape as the original	Same component, same number