Mastering the Parts List - Help

[mcrump28210]

I have created a huige monster.  I am doing a lot of piping work for a company and the piping system has numerous common components.  The problem is that for components like valves, instruments, pumps, etc. they each need their own unique "TAG".  That means that  merging some items such as piping and flanges are OK but valves have to be called out individually because of their tag.

The only way I have been able to accomplish this is, for instance, to copy the same valve many times and give each copy a unique name.  Then I can give all valves the name "VALVE, BALL" IN THE PART NUMBER field.  That way I can use the merge filter and my parts list is cottect because each valve is called out individually.  It has become a major headache and very time consuming.

If anyone knows of a better way to accomplish this and get it to look like the attachment I sure would appreciate it.

[cbenner]

In your Part Number column, create a function that combines Stock Number and Tag.  =<Stock Number-Tag>.  This will create a unique line item for each valve without having to have separate part files for each one.  Then when you merge, these will be excluded since the Part numbers will be unique.  It looks like you don't show the Part Number column in your parts lists... am I correct?

[mcrump28210]

Would you be kind enougn to explain this in a little more detail?  Do I start with "Edit Parts List"?

[cbenner]

No.... do this at the Bill Of Materials.  You can grab this from the assembly, or by right clicking over your Parts List on the drawing sheet.  Then in the part number column, enter the function I showed you... just on the valves and other parts you need to have unique.  Then do your part number merge.  All common parts will be merged, and your unique parts will not.

[mcrump28210]

Mr. Benner,

Try as I might I can't get this to work.  What would be the chance of you creating a file that has only 3 nuts of the same p/ and 3 washers of the same p/n in the assembly and get it to call out just the washers seperately.  I'm more of a visual learner anyway and it sure would help for me to see it.  Ypu could pack it up and I could open it uo to see exactly what you did and how you did it.  Thank you for your time and effort.

Michael Crump

mcrump@spectrum-inc.com

[cbenner]

I think I told you a lie.  There is no way to have the "Tag" property unique without creating a separate part file for each one.  I was relating this in my mind to Frame Generator, we use this method to sort by length.... but FG DOES create a separate ipt for each piece of steel.  I'll keep thinking on this one, but I think I steered you in the wrong diarection.  Sorry!

[mcrump28210]

It sure looks like there should be a way to do this.

[RobJV]

I am a little confused as to why you need to merge the items in the end if they all have separate tags?  Wouldn't you want them to appear separately in your partslist if you want to show the tag number of each valve?

Maybe I am just not following your partslist - as I see a qty of 4 for an item that I assume requires separate tag numbers - is the partslist where you need to show the tag number?

Also, how many are we talking?  5, 10, 100?  I think copying the items multiple times is your best bet but obviously if you have lots to do you could look at batch copying options.

Rob

[jeanchile]

He probably needs the Tag numbers to show up in the balloons on the drawing for each of the individual valves but for ordering purposes needs all the valve quantities to be totalled up, is this correct by chance?

[cbenner]

My take is that he wants one valve part, with only one model... places several times in an assembly, with each one having a unique "Tag" value.  Obviously you can do this as a simple text entry in a parts list, but the the value is not associated with the part at all.  I think IV needs to come up with some sort of "Occurence" properties... where you can set a value that is unique to an occurence of a part, without having to create a separate ipt file.

[jeanchile]

Ooooh! Well that seems easy because we do something similar by creating a quick table driven iPart where only the Tag number changes, then creating another balloon style that references the Tag number. Won't that work for both of our assumptions?

[cbenner]

That would work, yes.  I agree, and we do that in CC for parts that are identical but have different part numbers due to some internal difference that we don't model in... ie a voltage difference.  I just think it would rock to be able to do that without having to have a table that could potentially be several hundred lines long eventually.

[jeanchile]

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@cbenner wrote:

.... that could potentially be several hundred lines long eventually.

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You're right, I didn't think about that. Most of the piping runs we do contain maybe 8 to 12 total Tag variations for each part but they could be massive if the assembly is big enough I guess.

It would be nice to have some other options here. It would also be nice to have a few more BOM options for quantities and such from a pipe fabrication standpoint. Anyway, hopefully he finds a workflow that works for him. Good luck.

[mcrump28210]

In process piping, bills of materials generally group common items like piping (by size), flanges, etc., but process components such as valves have to be each called out.  I can exclude the valves because I edit the part number in the Properties ab and Part Number field.  That way, in my bill of materials it will read VALVE, BALL, NC.  I use the Authority field for the valve TAG number.  However, as you can see, the actual name of the valve is Valve, Ball, Accurate, 50l-0.50-20-TSW-L, 0.50 NC (DV 2007).

There may be hundreds of the same size and type of valve in an assembly, but that means that if I want to call them out individually in the BOM I literally have to make hundreds of physical copies, rename each one, open each one and edit the Authority field with the correct tag number.  It's a huge block of time wasted.  There must be some sort of solution to this.

[jeanchile]

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@mcrump28210 wrote:

...  There must be some sort of solution to this.

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I think there is. You should look into creating a table driven iPart, we do a similar thing and it works great for us.

[mcrump28210]

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@jeanchile wrote:

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@mcrump28210 wrote:

...  There must be some sort of solution to this.

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I think there is. You should look into creating a table driven iPart, we do a similar thing and it works great for us.

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I tried it but couldn't get it to work.  Could you send me a very simple ipart that will accept different tag numbers that I can look at and see how it's done?

mcrump@carolina.rr.com

[mcrump28210 · Accepted solution]

Figured it out.  Works like a charm.  Thank you!