PLEASE REAL BOM TOOL

[Anonymous]

Hello everybody,
I hope anybody from Autodesk reads this, and something happens about it.

@jorge_garcia 

I'm using EAGLE for more than 5 years, and I've been also using several other EDA tools, before that and while using eagle.
Right now, at work my company also uses eagle, and I have to develop a new PCB every week. That means lots of PCB work.

For my work, I need to get the BOM in a decent format, in which other people can also work with it, and even modify it if necessary.

This is completely NOT THE CASE for the current bom tools. Moreover, because there are not proper BOM tools, I end up having to edit the BOM by hand, because I can't generate a new one from the ULP in a good format. Which ends up in a complete mess in regards to synchronization between my PCB changes and my BOM.

That really makes complicated to use eagle professionally in an organization where processes need to be automated,
that's why, I would like to strongly encourage Autodesk to create a proper BOM tool for eagle.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Hey, 

I found that the built-in BOM tool works really well if you have a 'well managed' library. By this I mean that, whenever I need a new part, I create it within a custom library and add a bunch of attributes. Then, when using the BOM ULP, making it group components by value and include attributes. I end up with something looking like this: 

It's not the prettiest, but it certainly gets the job done. I then have a simple Python tool that parses the BOM and puts together component orders using Mouser's API which is so so helpful - turned half a days work into a few clicks! 

I know this isn't a solution to your problem, but hopefully a decent example of what can be achieved with a little work! 

Adam

[sergeQJMQW]

Hi,

Could you explain with more details what are you doing.

[Anonymous]

Hi Serge, 

Sure! So I maintain a handful of custom parts libraries, everything from different values of passives right through to specific ICs. This allows a number of things for me, such as having consistent footprints, silkscreen font sizes and 3D models (so I can easily provide tangible updates to clients and check mechanical elements of the design), amongst other things. Another benefit of taking the time to keep my libraries up to date, and what you'll be most interested in, is custom attributes.

Here's a screenshot of my RCL library (it's not in the neatest state at the moment so forgive me!):

As you can see if I have devices for MLCCs and resistors, etc... So below is a screenshot of my RES-THICK_FILM device:

You can see on the right-hand side that I have lots of variants of my RES-THICK_FILM; these are all thick film resistors with different values, tolerances, footprints and the like. Underneath the component symbol you'll see the attributes table. Here I list things such as rated power and tolerance, but you'll see that I also have attributes called MS_PN, RS_PN and DK_PN. These correspond to the Mouser, RS Components and DigiKey stock codes for this specific 10k 0402 resistor. 

I provide this information for all of my resistors, capacitors, inductors, ICs, switches - everything. This does take a bit of time, but eventually you end up with a library full of commonly used components and rarely have to make new components. The benefit of this is that I can export a BOM easily using the settings below for the standard BOM ULP:

I can then import this into something like Microsoft Excel and have a BOM in the format of the screenshot in my previous reply. 

The real beauty of this is that, because I can export a BOM in a consistent format with supplier stock numbers for every part on the design, not only do contract manufacturers have all of the information they need to order parts or suitable alternatives, but I can automatically order every component! 

I do this using some custom Python and Mouser/DigiKey's APIs - but this is another topic completely! 

Anyway, I hope this helps!

Adam

[Anonymous]

Same I do, I always manage my own libraries and be sure the attributes I need are there.

[Anonymous]

The python script to automate the order sounds interesting though!

[infoledeco_sk]

 Hi, I understand that you creaated new "variant" for every different value you have available on stock for the same device (0805 resistors for example)
What I dont understand, how and where are the stock core/supplier code / part no. information placed, and how they are parsed for BOM export. Can you clarify that somehow?