Handling Product Structure — Extended Exercises

Basic Data Setup

Import External Structure From CAD Tool -—Configure Import Layout

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to set up the basic data required for running this particular functionality.

Windows:
Engineering Part Revision/Consists Of/RMB Import External Structure/Sub option Configure Import Layout

  1. Create a comma-delimited .txt file and save it on your desktop:

    'Sort no 10','Part no 100-10','Descr of 100-10','Posno 1','Qty 2'
    'Sort no 20','Part no 200-20','Descr of 200-20','Posno 2','Qty 4'
    'Sort no 30','Part no 300-30','Descr of 300-30','Posno 3','Qty 1'
  2. Configure your Import Layout like this:
1 Column
Delimiter ,
Sort No 1
Part No 2
Part Descr 3
Pos 4
Qty 5

Note: You can select one character from the list below as the delimiter.

Delimiter , ! @ % ^ & * : ; ~ / $

Best Fit Search — Create characteristics

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to set up the basic data required for running this particular functionality.

Windows:
Characteristics/Technical Class Template

  1. Create a characteristic template.

General exercise for Characteristics

Main Exercise

Import External Structure from CAD Tool

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to create a product structure using the bill of material (BOM) from a CAD-drawing.

Windows:
Engineering Part Revision/Consists Of/RMB Import External Structure/Sub option Import External Product Structure...

Details: A part will often have a corresponding drawing, which may also contain a list of what the part on the drawing consists of. This list is often called a Bill Of Material (BOM). Most combined drawing/BOM systems enable you to export this list to a text file, from which you can import this list directly into the Consists Of tab. For example, there is a general script supplied with IFS Applications to export any AutoDesk AutoCAD BOM. The necessary files are supplied in a file called ddbomifs.exe. If you run this program, two files will be extracted: ddbomifs.dcl and ddbomifs.lsp. These files can be used only with AutoCad 12 or later. To use them, copy them somewhere in your AutoCad path, preferably where the other script files are located.

To run this script, load a drawing containing a BOM into AutoCAD and then type:
To load the script into memory:

(load “ddbomifs.lsp”)

To run the script type:

(c:ddbomifs)

The previous entries can be avoided if you modify your acad.mnu, but you will have to consult your AutoCAD manual for instructions on how to do this.

A dialog box will be displayed. If the number of objects found is greater than zero, all you have to do is click OK. Otherwise, click Create Template, and then click somewhere on the BOM in your drawing before clicking OK. The utility will remember the last type of BOM from which you exported and then select the entire BOM automatically everytime you start up the utility. The BOM will be output by default to c:\temp\pdmcon.txt, or where your temp system environment variable is pointing.

After the delimited text file has been created by either ddbomifs for AutoCAD or the export utility that came with your BOM system, you can import it into the part structure by selecting Import Part Structure from the menu. Before you perform this import, you will probably have to configure the import by right-clicking and then clicking Import External Structure and Configure Import Layout.

  1. Open and query for a preliminary part in the Engineering Part Revision window.
  2. Click the Consists Of tab and right-click and then click Import External Structure/Import External Product Structure.
  3. Select your .txt file and click Open.

Note: After the import, you will probably have parts in the structure that are not known in the system. Create these parts by right-clicking and then clicking Create Engineering Part.

Best Fit Search

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to easily find parts based on characteristics. Use Best Fit Search to search the characteristics, and you will easily find suitable part(s) that match your requirements, if they exist in the system. Before you create a new part, this search should always be executed first to prevent duplicate parts.

Windows:
Best Fit Search

  1. Perform a Best Fit Search. In the first step of the wizard, select a Technical (Characteristic) Class. The Selection Count field will show how many parts match the entered criteria.

  2. When you click Next, step 2 is displayed. If the technical class contains attributes with alphanumeric values, you will be able to specify values for the different attributes. Any predefined values are available in the list. If there are no alphanumeric attributes, or if the alphanumeric attributes are not relevant for your search, click Next again.

  3. In the third step, all numeric attributes are listed. Enter the numeric criteria if applicable, then click Next. Enter any numeric criteria. Note that the Where field allows selection options, e.g., greater than or less than.

  4. The next step will show all objects that match the criteria. There can be many different types of objects, and parts will have the Object ID PartCatalog. (Tip: right-click and click Query, and enter PartCatalog in the Object ID field to show only parts in the table.).

  5. If you now have one or more possible parts, you can inspect the characteristics values further by selecting one or more rows and then right-clicking and clicking Technical Specification or or clicking Next.

Note: To automatically insert a part into the structure, right-click and click Best Fit Search in the Consists Of tab in the Engineering Part Revision window. Next, select the part in the list, and right-click and click Select and Return.