Bulk Item Assembly Quantity Flexibility

[ckipp]

Hi,


We are trying to creat bulk items that will be used in many different assemblies. As to be expected, there will be different quantities used in different assemblies. For example one may use 2 feet of wire while another uses 4 feet. I've been able to tweak the assembly drawing to override quantity reports in the repeat region, however it would be much better if there were a way to creat a flexible bulk item and enter in a parameter for each assebmly that it is used in. Is there a way to do this or a better solution?


Thanks,


Chris
Edited by: ckipp

 

[sanjeevkar1]

i am not sure what "I" iam talking about. its just a thought.

can't you put the variables of bulk item in parameter and call them in drawing BOM?

 

[ckipp]

If I understand what you're talking about, that's what I am currently doing. If I try to set a parameter in the actual bulk item then it will change that parameter for all of the assemblies that the bulk item is used in. So currently I am setting a relation in the repeat region of the BOM, for example:


IF asm_mbr_name=="05269G"
QTY="4.55 ft"
ELSE
QTY=rpt_qty


This has to be done for each part number that I would like to change the quantity for and it leaves the other part numbers alone and reports their actual quantities.

 

[JamesM]

We're in the process of doing the same thing for bulk components like wire and cable.Each item has a UOM of feet and is being added as many times as needed to get the right quantity. It makes the BOM look right but is very slow (and won't handle quantities like 4.55). If there's a better way, I'd like to hear it also.

 

[gcook]

Hello Everyone, to answer your question(s)...there is a way (in fact there are 2 ways i can think of). I'll give you the basic way from the PTC help file or one of the ways at least...this may depend on your version of WF but i'm using WF3.0 so the following method will work for 3 and up...


When creating your bulk item template create all your standard company parameters in it but also add one more (just for bulk items) called BOM_REPORT_QUANTITY (its a 'real number' type of parameterso you can have numbers like 4.55 if you want. If you select User Input, (under the properties option in the bulk item parameters dialog this will make it so you can define different values to that parameter (or parameters if you pick more)for every occurrence of a bulk item in any assembly. The representation of the bulk quantity in the BOM is controlled by the BOM_REPORT_QUANTITY parameter. For example rpt_qty will be whatever the vale for BOM_REPORT_QUANTITY is exactly.


So when you add that bulk item, with the User Input parameter in it,to your assembly each time it will prompt you to enter the value for that BOM_REPORT_QUANTITY that applies to that assembly for that bulk item. No need for table realtions that are custom for each drawing, etc and no need to make it a flexible part file, and no need to assemble it a crap load of times to get the QTY column correct.


Good Luck!

 

[ckipp]

I was interested in using string values for the BOM qty such as "3 ft" and the above method would not let me do this. I have figured out a way incase anybody else was curious:


Create the bulk item with a parameter (ex BOM_QTY) and set it as a string and user input. When assembled anyvalue can be assigned. Then in the assembly drawing use the following relations:
IF ASM_MBR_TYPE=="BULK ITEM"
QUANTITY=ASM_MBR_CPARAM_BOM_QTY
ELSE
QUANTITY = rpt_qty
ENDIF


The appropriate paramaters must also be created and then the repeat region needs to be set to rpt.rel.User Defined > QUANTITY


Hope this helps


Chris

 

[ckipp]

I had modeled some components which were flexible, such as wire windings, in the model. These were mostly for a visual representation and were reported in the BOM in LBs. In order to make this possible the wire.prt was made flexible and had a parameter called BOM_QTY also assigned. The following relations allowed for the bulk item QTY, flexible item QTY as well as the regularly assembled parts to all show the correct quantity:
IF asm_mbr_type=="BULK ITEM"
QUANTITY=ASM_MBR_CPARAM_BOM_QTY
ELSE
IF asm_mbr_type=="PART" & EXISTS("ASM_MBR_BOM_QTY")
QUANTITY=asm_mbr_bom_qty
ELSE
QUANTITY=rpt_qty
ENDIF
ENDIF


<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />

 

[JamesM]

When creating your bulk item template create all your standard company parameters in it but also add one more (just for bulk items) called BOM_REPORT_QUANTITY (its a 'real number' type of parameterso you can have numbers like 4.55 if you want.

This works great for getting correct quantities in the drawing BOM, but I can't seem to get BOM_REPORT_QUANTITY to transfer into Intralink. I'm trying to assign its value to another parameter through a relation, but the other parameter becomes locked and won't let me designate it. Anyone know of a way to do this?