Assembly promotion of multiple instances of same subassembly

[michmaju]

I have an assembly with multiple instances of a subassembly.  I'd like to remove the subassembly and place the subassembly compoenents (i.e. multiple instances) in the main assembly.  When complete, the top assembly would have multiple instances of all the subassebmly components.

Component promote seems like the right way to do this.  So, I selected an instance of one of the subassemblies components and promoted it.  That component was promoted, removing it from the subassembly as placing it in my top level assembly.

However, all the other instances of that compoent disappear (which makes sense since that component is no longer in the subassembly).  Unfortunately, this means I have to assemble and constrain all the other instances that disappeared.

Anyone know a relativley painless way to accomplish my goal?

Matthew

[jtylerbc · Accepted solution]

I don't know how many instances of the subassembly you're talking about, so maybe this won't be practical.  You could consider using Save and Replace Component to make each of the subassembly instances into a separate assembly file.  Then you could promote the parts individually from each one.

Another possibility - if you don't want a subassembly showing up in the BOM and Parts List, but don't care if it's modeled with one, you could change the subassembly's BOM Structure to Phantom.  This promotes the parts into the list as though they were in the main assembly, without changing the actual structure of the model.

[SteveMDennis]

As jtyler pointed out if all you are concerned about is the BOM you can get around that.

other than that I'm not sure why you want to/need to get rid of the sub assembly hierarchy.

We do not have a "Promote and keep" option for you to do what you want but if you explain why you are doing this we might be able to find your another solution.

For instance if you are looking for dynamic motion in each sub assembly you can use flexible and leave the subs in...

[michmaju]

Promoting the sub-compnents to the top level BOM is my primary objective so changing the subassembly BOM structure to phantom works great.

Thanks,

Matthew

[mcgyvr]

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@jtylerbc wrote:

I don't know how many instances of the subassembly you're talking about, so maybe this won't be practical.  You could consider using Save and Replace Component to make each of the subassembly instances into a separate assembly file.  Then you could promote the parts individually from each one.

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@jtylerbc Thank you.. Thank you ..Thank you.. 

This saved my sanity and was something I just didn't think about but it works perfectly..

While setting to phantom works too (the subs I have already are) and we are ditching phantoms company wide and I wanted my assembly models to match that change.. 

Save and replaced then promote works perfectly as many of my phantom subs are used in multiple top level assemblies and multiple times in the same assembly.. 

I will still keep the phantom subs just to have for future use so I don't have to keep constraining the individual parts over and over again but the  "save and replace then promote" works fantastic..

I would like a "Promote and Keep" option like suggested by Steve but don't think there is much of a need to put in an ideastation request for it and wait years.. 

I sure could use it now but its probably the only time I ever will so I'm happy with the save/replace/promote workaround..

[jtylerbc]

Glad it could help you.  Now if I could just figure out a way to solve my own problems five years in advance, that would be fantastic!

We don't have any sort of a concerted effort to move away from Phantom subassemblies, but I have found that since the introduction of constraints copying with their corresponding parts, we are just naturally using them less.  They still have their place, but it's becoming more and more special-case and less a normal way of operating.

[toores]

Hi!

I have a similar question. I don't care about the BOM but I need to promote all stuff (break down) to the level of weldments so I can model truck-loads of components going out of the factory in the right order. This requires me to take the main assembly appart section by section and model truck-loads in the right order. Trucks-loads must be modelled to take into account dimensions and weight of the load. Taking the pieces form the assembly gives a visual feedback that all required parts are loaded onto the right truck (the assembly starts right after the first truck arrives to the building site).

In a nutshell I need an option to promote the same items from all instances to the selected level and keep all their respective positions. The end results should be all correct weldments and parts grouped into assemblies by truck-loads: "truck 1", "truck 2" etc.