I am still investigating OpenERP and cannot find information on how to handle product BOMs with sub-assemblies and options that negate other parts.

For example on our appliances: - A stainless steel front panel vs standard powder-coated mild steel - Propane vs standard NG gas valves - Electronic vs standard analog control

A standard BOM would include sub-assemblies 1.0 Appliance Type1 1.1 Case 1.1.1 Front panel (steel) 1.1.1 L Side panel (steel) 1.1.1 R Side panel (steel) 1.1.1 Back panel (steel) 1.2 Gas Train 1.3 Mechanical Components 1.4 Electrical Controls

Ideally this would be accomplished by including a negative value for parts that would remove the standard part from the BOM and include the optional part in a subassembly. This would make the part quantities correct and allow for simple costing and pricing.

Example 1 would have an optional sub-assembly with parts something to the effect of: +1 Front panel (stainless) -1 Front panel (steel)

From what I have read, openerp does not handle BOMs this way. Does anyone have any experience with this? How does openerp handle configurable BOMs or variables within a product?

Thank you in advance.