We have created a custom material library in SOLIDWORKS, and we use our internal part numbers as the material name.

We are currently updating some of those part numbers, so I edited the material name in the custom material library to reflect the new part number.

The issue is that parts that already had the material assigned still show the old material name in the FeatureManager tree. When I right-click the material and go to Change Material, the old material name is no longer listed in the library and the new name is there. If I manually select and reassign the newly named material, the FeatureManager tree updates correctly.

Is there a way to have existing parts automatically update to the new material name after renaming the material in the custom material library?

I would like to avoid manually reassigning the material to every existing part if possible. Is there a way to force SOLIDWORKS to refresh or relink the assigned material to the updated name, or is the material name stored directly in the part file when it is originally assigned?