We’ve been using the “Approved Alternative Manufacturer” and “Approved Alternative OEM Part” fields as these are generally easier to populate and show the data on in the part view. The Alternate parts were the obvious implementation when initially setting up Cetec 4 years ago rather than cross parts.
The pros/cons of setting up alternate parts versus cross parts are not particularly obvious. If cross parts are the ‘right’ answer for PCBA components and OEMs (there might be a half-dozen acceptable OEMs and part numbers for a resistor, for example), it would make a lot more sense to have the cross part information displayed in the “part/view” part data screen.