How to prevent a mirrored part from creating a new row

[drawingsCHR7R]

Hi guys,

Is there a way to prevent a mirrored part from creating a new row with new quantities in the BOM.

What I want to achieve is for the mirrored part to ust update the quantities of the original as opposed to creating a new line with new quantities.

Thanks in advance.

[CGBenner]

@drawingsCHR7R 

Hello!  Is the mirrored part getting a new part number when it is created?  New description or anything else that would make it show up as a separate BOM line item?  Can you share a screen shot of your BOM after the part is generated by the mirror?

[drawingsCHR7R]

Hi so, a bit of backstory is the I created the gusset and the placed the exact part in the assembly, I then mirrored the 2 that I had placed. (The exact parts)

The mirrored part is not getting anything different from the original, it will all be exactly the same.

[freesbee]

...can't you reuse the original gusset instead of mirroring it?

[CGBenner · Accepted solution]

@drawingsCHR7R 

Look at the Part Number column in your image.  The mirrored part has a different part number from the original.  If you make the part number and description the same, you should be able to use the "Enable Row Merge on Part Number Match" to group them and have the correct quantity.

[drawingsCHR7R]

Of course I could, what I want to do is just see how I can speed up workflow and by using mirror command it saves me a bit of time.

[drawingsCHR7R]

@CGBenner 

Thanks for the tip, I tried it but unfortuantely for some reason it isnt working.

Would I need to change the name of the part using design assistant perhaps?

See attached that they have the same part number and description , the merge row command doesn't work.

[freesbee · Accepted solution]

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@drawingsCHR7R wrote:

Thanks for the tip, I tried it but unfortunately for some reason it isn't working.

You will see the effects of the row merge setting in the Structured BOM (second tab).

The first tab is just the model data, and will reflect the real filesystem situation of your design.

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@drawingsCHR7R wrote:

Would I need to change the name of the part using design assistant perhaps?

No: row merge primary key is the part number, so the suggestion from Christopher is right.

There is also a nice idea from my AU mentor to vote to improve the Inventor functionality in this area:

• BOM Improvement: Part Number Row Merge Settings icon

Besides this I would really suggest you to avoid scenarios where different files have the same filename, even if inventor can still handle it (it's a very brittle situation, believe me 😁).

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@drawingsCHR7R wrote:

Of course I could, what I want to do is just see how I can speed up workflow and by using mirror command it saves me a bit of time.

You have for sure valid reasons for leveraging one workflow instead of another. I personally would suggest you to try to pursue the "reuse" strategy: a little bit more time at the beginning, but better design management and lower design complexity afterwards. Scaling the "mirroring" strategy for larger assemblies, would imply to have many different files which are actually describing the same geometry (your gusset in this case): those files must be handled on the filesystem (hence in the PDM system if you have it) and they need to be loaded by Inventor. But it's your choice.

I've attached here an Autodesk SkillBuilder that gives you a nice overview of one of the best inventor modules: the BOM. It was written back by Inventor 10 but still applies 100%, and should be part of the basic knowledge of every inventor user (unfortunately most of times it is not, but I am not surprised as I live in a nation where they call "BOM" the "PartList" 😅).

Hope it helps

[drawingsCHR7R]

I see, thanks for that I will have a look again.

What I actully did to circumvent this problem was use the pattern command, I deleted the mirror.

I'll give it a read (BOM Improvement: Part Number Row Merge Settings icon) and will definitely upvote if I see merit.

Thak you s much for the explanation and attaching learning materail, I welcome it as I want to improve as much as possible. I feel that this is an aspect of Inventor where I have very little knowledge. So I am looking forward to hopefully upskilling myself with the pdf you have given. 

Thanks, as this is done. I feel the @CGBenner  suggestion would be the solution to my problem so I will mark it as such.

[SBix26]

I wonder why you are not simply selecting Reuse in the Mirror Components dialog?  If the components you are mirroring are exactly the same, you should not be creating new files.

I can't recall ever using the Mirror Components function, figuring I have better control of parts and constraints using manual methods.  But Mirror Components allows you to reuse components, resulting in more instances of the exact same file, increasing the Qty in the BOM, which is what you want, no? 

Note, however, that the Mirror function does not establish constraints, it simply drops the parts in their correct positions in a completely unconstrained state (unless you check the box to ground them).

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Sam B
Inventor Pro 2021.1 | Windows 10 Home 2004
LinkedIn

[SBix26 · Accepted solution]

Here's the image that I forgot to include in the previous reply:

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Sam B
Inventor Pro 2021.1 | Windows 10 Home 2004
LinkedIn

[drawingsCHR7R]

@SBix26 I did not know one could do this, Thank you so much.

This is brilliant. Appreciate the assistance.