Multiple iparts linked to one 2D drawing

[dylanasafe]

We are currently changing over to Inventor and Vault, (away from Creo and Windchill).

We use a lot of family table drawings with multiple variations of products and currently have individual 2D drawings for them all.  I want to change over to table drawings where multiple variants of a product can be shown on one drawing.  I can create iparts and I can create a drawing with a table on it listing out the variation details.

What I would like to be able to do is search for any of the part codes (iparts) and it always opens the one table drawing related to that particular product range.  Is this possible?

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I hesitate to say it is doable in Inventor since there are a few unknowns in your description. Are these parts iPart members? Have the drawing views been created in multiple sheets in an Inventor drawing file or in multiple Inventor drawing files?

Many thanks!

[dylanasafe]

Hi Johnson.  Thanks for looking into this query.

The drawing I am experimenting on is a .ipt 3D model with multiple iparts where the overall length is the only variable.

The .idw 2D drawing will be just one sheet showing dimensioned views and a table in this instance.  Other products may need multiple sheets in one .idw file though.

I want our production personnel to be able to search for any of the ipart codes related to that model and be provided with the one .idw drawing.

The problem we have is that we currently have thousands of individual 2D drawings.  If we could use tabulated drawings we could cut this down to dozens instead.  Our production personnel need to be able to search for a part number and see the 2D drawing.

Thank you.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! Your request should not be unique. But, I am still trying to understand it better and provide the best workflow. You mentioned that the one-sheet drawing points to an iPart with multiple members. Do you want to create one sheet per member or you want to create one idw per member? If the production team has access to Vault, they should be able to find the drawing by searching in Vault.

Many thanks!

[dylanasafe]

Sorry.  I am not doing a very good job of explaining my query.

I would like just one idw file that covers all ipart members.

e.g.

One 3D model called "Post_Model" containing ipart members "Post1",  "Post2",  "Post3",  "Post4".........  "Post20" etc...

One 2D .idw file called "Post_Drg" with a table on it showing a list of the ipart members and the differing sizes.

If someone wants a 2D drawing for "Post1" they can search for "Post1" and it will open "Post_Drg"

If someone wants a 2D drawing for "Post2" they can search for "Post2" and it will open "Post_Drg"

If someone wants a 2D drawing for "Post15" they can search for "Post15" and it will open "Post_Drg"

If someone wants a 2D drawing for "Post20" they can search for "Pos20" and it will open "Post_Drg"

I am not sure whether this is possible in Inventor and / or Vault, but I am very grateful for your patience with me.

Thank you.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! Inventor iPart workflows are not the most intuitive area in the product. Sometimes it can lead to further confusion and frustration. We are getting to the bottom of the issues. I still have a few questions to you. When you said, you want one drawing file containing the views to all members, do you want them on individual sheets or there should only be one sheet in the drawing file?

Many thanks!

[dylanasafe]

Hi,

There would be just one drawing sheet.  It would have a list of all variations on it.  See below.

A dimension is labelled "length" and the table shows the variants.  I want to be able to search for any of the part numbers (ipart members) listed in the "part number" column and this one drawing is opened.  The intention is to move away from separate drawing sheets.  Dozens of drawing sheets are easier to maintain than thousands of drawing sheets.

Thank you

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! Attached is a very simple example of how it can be done in Inventor. For this workflow, you don't even need to generate iPart members because the dimensions are all captured on the table. One drawing view represents the basic outline and where dimensions are.

Please let me know if you have any question.

Many thanks!