Significant vs Non-Significant Part Numbers

[jeff_jordan]

Are we really advancing? Or are we stuck in the old way of thinking?

Our company would like to institute a non-significant numbering scheme. Fortunately, we are starting from scratch and have no legacy files to worry about. Thanks to PDM software, it's possible to search on properties rather than dissecting a significant part number. Significant part number schemes are no longer needed! This makes part numbering much more convenient and there is no need to have a separate database or excel spreadsheet logging the numbers. All you would have is a sequential "serial number" as your part number to make the part unique. However, Vault could do a better job of automated numbering schemes to further expand their capabilities and open the door for further advancement. Here's why:

With Vault's Custom Number Scheme, you can only assign a part number to a file name. This works great for significant part numbers. But to move toward a non-sig scheme (which has become a big push from a lot of people) I feel strongly that applying a part number to a file name is no longer needed. Instead, I feel the custom numbering scheme should be applied to the part number iproperty. In other words, I don't want the numbering scheme to affect my filenames. This creates problems with skeletal modeling,"make components", and copying designs. The old way of doing things meant that a change in the part number (during pre-release design) would mean a change in the filename. And we all know how changes in the filename effects links. (Vault makes renaming files easy, but if you don't clear your workspace, there is risk of problems.) Why have a part number part of a filename???

Ideally, it would be nice to be able to choose when to assign a part number to the part number iproperty (perhaps trigger upon release) and have this number be automatically generated as the next number in a sequence. Having a rule that is triggered every time a file is created will churn through too many numbers (think how many times you start a file and then bail).

Just thinking. And trying to make things easier for all of us.