We are considering setting up a part standardization system where you pick what category the part goes in and you select the attributes that define the part. Pick a category then certain variables are available based on the category. Two examples:

Capacitor

•      Mounting (SMD, AXIAL, RADIAL, LUG, SCREW, FORMED, ASSY)
•      Type (CERAMIC, ALUMINUM, TANTALUM, FILM)
•      Voltage
•      Tolerance
•      Capacitance

Terminal

•      Mounting (PCB)
•      Connection Method (CPIN/M, CPIN/F, FASTON, RING, SPADE)
•      Wire Gauge

There are about 400 of these categories each with their own variables, this could mean around 1000-2000 variable fields on a card. The question is do I need to be concerned about performance or reaching some limit in the system? I don't care for doing this as separate cards for each part type......would be a lot of cards to manage and sort through....not to mention a change that affects all of them would be a lot of work. The other way is to try setting up one card with all 400 categories with all these variable controls and dropdown boxes that change depend on the selection. I'm a bit concerned that I may reach some sort of limit in the system or create a card that takes 20 minutes to load and save or risk corruption or something.

Now I could create this in a test system but that's a lot of work for something that may not work. Either direction I take would take weeks of setup and ideally I need to setup both to see how they compare.

Anyone else doing something similar?