Bill of materials (parts list)

[nanan00]

So here is what I need to have done today...

Using the parts list I need to have the following outputs.

Item No., Qty, Description, Reference, Mass.

Item Numbering, must be able to take main assembly item number and back save it to each individual file as I will need to provide a burnout detail drawing with item number for 300+ parts. This must update on the fly if items are added or subtracted. Help?

Quantity, this field actually works if you have everything in the assembly and not in sub assemblies without having some odd sub assembly items in the list.

Description, This thus far has been the major hangup. I must be able to output the thickness, width, and length of plates if the item is plate, else item name if it isn't plate. How do I differentiate? The only way I have seen that works is to make all the plate material in .psm files (which is a headache) and then flatten them and use the exposed thing to make the variables output as such, PL, %{Material Thickness/@2|G} THK. X %{Flat_Pattern_Model_CutSizeY/@2|G} W. X %{Flat_Pattern_Model_CutSizeX/@2|G} LG.   How do I suppres the units? (/@2/NU/CP|G)  How do I make this auto generate? I can't go back and modify 300+ individual items.

Reference, calls item material, works just fine.

Mass, calls out item mass, works just fine.

[nanan00]

I take it absolutely no one uses this program to actually manufacture stuff? These seem like very simple things but as far as I can tell are impossible to do.

[SeanCresswell]

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@nanan00 wrote:

I take it absolutely no one uses this program to actually manufacture stuff? These seem like very simple things but as far as I can tell are impossible to do.

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Haha...narp, only Solid Edge gaming happening here!  

Well, it seems you have most of what you need in your descriptions, but you just don't like the answer.

A bit unfair to ask the software to simple things, when the simple inputs are missed at their creation.....an old saying comes to mind, "Garbage In - Garbage Out". If you have 300+ parts with no property information loaded, there is no other way to achieve what you want, without going back over them.

It's a bitter pill to swallow, but I'm sure you'll learn from it....I have ours PC's set to ask for the properties at every new model creation, and filling these out is a requirement I encourage, as is material choice & correctly oriented flat patterns for PSM's.

[hawcad]

HI,


maybe my SE macro "Hauptmaße" (Main Dimensions) will help.

It generates mostly everything You like to have.

In connection with sheet metal parts also the flatten size etc. can be defined and generated.

Have a look on it and giuve it a try.

You either will find it on my homepage:

http://www.cadcam-consult.com and then go to Solid Edge and Free Downloads

There is the Hauptmaße Macro

Or, since it is not realy big, I put it here directly:

This one is the most current version I have.

Have a look into the INI file.

Everything is defined there and i added English text too, so You should find what Your preferences will be..

And of course this macro is for free and runs as it is in the moment!

regards

Wolfgang

[beachcomber]

The big problem is if you want to show parameters such as "length x width x thickness" for plates, you will get " x x " in the parts list for parts that do not have those parameters, because you have to use the same format for all cells in a parts list column.

[hawcad]

Hi,


but do they have other properties or dimensions to show in the bom?

[beachcomber]

Maybe not, but I was just pointing out that its an 'all-or-nothing' situation and one that the OP should be aware of.
Although parts lists have improved a lot in the last few releases, much more control is required without the need to manually over-write cells.

[nanan00]

Oh I am well aware that this program requires you to do every baby step along the way. Often things burried in sub menues that are only visible on every 5th sunday of the 13th month of a year.

Honestly I have done much better than I had even expected seeing as I had not even touched solid edge before Febuary. I came from an autocad, inventor, and solidworks background. My companies moving to solid edge was completely against my recomendation, they wanted to use SE because some of our sister companies use it and it would give us the ability to share data, hahahahaha.

Sean, the problems I have seen are manifold. The flatten sizes from a psm are often questionable at best, a 20.000 x 20.000 square comes out as 19.91 x 20.14 or so with no reason I can tell. Why this is I don't know but it seems to happen to about 90% of the items I have tried.

I have not had any issue with materials other than the default materials database being basically worthless.

hawcad

Thank you, will give that a look.

I guess my frustration is that this program is supported like a sourceforge linux program and has just about as useful documentation. In autocad or solidworks if I had a problem a quick google search would give me 50+ results for viable solutions, in solid edge a google search often results in a paywall site or nothing remotely like what I wanted.

[MattJohnsonPAC]

have you considered Property Manager?

With Property Manager you can edit all the properties of all the parts from the top level assy (or a folder location)  

this might assist you in fixing the files nativly and that way when they are reused in the future you dont fight the same battle again.

I dont use property text9s) too much in tables so i cant helpmuch there...  but i would caution and suggest a healthy pratice of always creating file properties....  always!!! 

We use a macro to force users to update our manditory properties and we also heavily use property manager to update projects and sharing properties across many file (copy & paste)

[nanan00]

Mat. The properties I need to be generated are things the program would have to be able to understand and generate itself from the assembly. Backwards compatability isn't something I am worried about right now but I would like to learn best practices for the future. If the best practice for SE is to have to make special properties for every item to number it and then manually input that value, I give up.

Honestly from the few months of use I have with solid edge thus far it feels like a cute cludged together sourceforge program that may one day grow up to be a real program but for now is just some kids hobby on the weekends.