Patent ID: 8301419

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: information for a plurality of parts in which the information is stored in a repository and comprises a plurality of features for each of the plurality of parts, a number of levels of detail, and a history associated with the plurality of features for the each of the plurality of parts, wherein each feature in the plurality of features is associated with the number of levels of detail, each further level of detail defining an greater amount of information; and a computer system configured to identify a desired level of detail for a model of a part; select a number of features from the plurality of features corresponding to the desired level of detail for the model of the part in which each of the number of features selected has a level of detail in the number of levels of detail corresponding to the desired level of detail for the model of the part; and generate the model of the part with the desired level of detail using the information for the part, the desired level of detail for the model of the part, and the number of features selected from the plurality of features.