Specification elements are the basic components of a specification. They can be any data type, but typically, they are numeric.

You create specification elements by first defining them as collection elements in the Collection elements window, and then adding the collection elements to your specifications. Adding the collection elements to your specification causes them to become specification elements. You also can create specification elements by copying them from an existing specification into a new specification. This is useful when similar items, suppliers, or customers require the same specification elements.

As you create specification elements, any limits that have been assigned to them are defaulted from the source. Limits to specifications can include an acceptable target value as well as user–defined, reasonable, and range limits. The specification limits for a specification element can be updated as required.

Examples of specification elements and their associated limits are presented in the following table.