Using one part for two purposes and BOM management

[edhess]

I have a library part (rivet) that I'm using for two purposes in the same assembly, but only want the ones used for one of the purposes to show up in the Parts List on my drawing. What's the best way I can separate them so that I only get the ones needed to show up in the parts list?

I see that I can right click on the specific instances in the assembly browser and set the BOM structure to Reference, but then it doesn't show up in the drawing views. I can also just override the quantity in the parts list, but I don't want to have to do it this way. If I change the default BOM structure in the library part file, it affects all instances.

Suggestions? Will creating a subassembly somehow make this work?

[johnsonshiue · Accepted solution]

Hi! I think setting the components as Reference is the right workflow to use. They can still be displayed in the drawing view as normal component. Simply edit the drawing view and go to Model State tab -> Line Type = As Parts and set a bigger margin value to encompass the reference components. Let me know if it works for you.

Many thanks!

[Mark.Lancaster]

@edhess to go along with @johnsonshiue information, here's a reference article about Inventor BOM Structures.

[edhess]

This did work. I had to play around with the margin value a bit until it had them all showing up, and hit the update button after each time I changed it, but the parts list works how I wanted it to now. Thanks.

[edhess]

Thanks. I've read a few other articles on Inventor on that site, which were very helpful, so I'll be sure to give that a read.

[edhess]

@johnsonshiue. Ok, so after reading the article by @Mark.Lancaster, I've found that there could be a potential problem doing it this way. If I list the certain instances of the part I don't want in the parts list quantity as referenced, it then will ignore them in the mass/volume calculations. Fortunately I don't need to use that info for this particular project, but if I ever need it in future designs then this way wouldn't work, since those parts technically should be included in the overall assembly volume/mass calculations. Is there a way around this?

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I am sorry I am a bit confused here. You don't want certain parts listed on the partslist but you do want them to be included in mass prop calculation. Wouldn't it be confusing? Referenced parts are excluded from assembly mass prop calculation. I guess you will probably manually override the quantities in the partslist.

Many thanks!

[edhess]

Correct, I will try to explain. Sometimes we work with retrofits, where we have customers send in a fixture/housing and we supply a product/kit to go inside it, and then send it back out to them all put together. The only things I want listed in the parts list are the parts used in our kit that we're selling to them. However, our kit and their housing might sometimes have common parts. So the reason I'd like to have their common reference parts included in the mass/volume calculations might be to figure out the total mass/volume of the assembly as a whole (their housing and our kit together), possibly for shipping and packaging calculations.

Manually overriding is what I originally did, which will work, but I'd prefer to have it done automatically like the reference parts solution does. I guess I will use either or, depending on my needs for each project, unless there's another way around it.

[SBix26 · Accepted solution]

For this particular case, I would make the customer's parts an assembly and set it to Inseparable.  Then it occupies one line of the parts list, which can be set to invisible.  Its mass and volume still figure into the whole assembly, and its linestyle in drawing views can be set as one entity, if that matters.

Components of an inseparable subassembly will never appear on any parts list, even if other instances of those components are in the PL.

Hope that helps,

Sam B

Inventor Professional 2017.4
Vault Workgroup 2017.0.3
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit, SP1
Inventor Certified Professional

[danmachen]

One option would be to make the customer assembly into a part and to set its BOM to Phantom.

This could be done by using the 'derive' function.

This way all your kitted parts will be in the assembly and the drawing view as well as the original housing, but the housing will not appear on the BOM as it is a phantom part. Its mass however will still be referenced in the total mass calculation. 

The reason you have to make it into a part is due to how Phantom BOM structures are handled in Inventor.

See the following for advice on structuring the BOM:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/inventor-products/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2014...

Let me know if it works for you!

Dan

[mcgyvr]

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@SBix26 wrote:

For this particular case, I would make the customer's parts an assembly and set it to Inseparable.  Then it occupies one line of the parts list, which can be set to invisible.  Its mass and volume still figure into the whole assembly, and its linestyle in drawing views can be set as one entity, if that matters.

Components of an inseparable subassembly will never appear on any parts list, even if other instances of those components are in the PL.

Hope that helps,

Sam B

Inventor Professional 2017.4
Vault Workgroup 2017.0.3
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit, SP1
Inventor Certified Professional

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This ^^ is the direction I would head you in also.. 

[edhess]

@SBix26This is what I was looking for. Just had to be sure to keep the parts list set to Structured.

@danmachenThis looks like another way to do it, but if I change it to a part I don't think I have the same flexibility as making it a subassembly.

Thanks all.

[SBix26]

You shouldn't have to keep the parts list set to structured for this to work.  Inseparable (and Purchased, too) subassemblies simply don't expose their component parts to any parts list, with one big exception that I forgot to mention above-- if you create a parts list of that Inseparable assembly by itself, then you get the components listed; makes logical sense, I think.

Sam B

Inventor Professional 2017.4
Vault Workgroup 2017.0.3
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit, SP1
Inventor Certified Professional

[edhess]

Are we talking about the same option? What I changed was, when I click Parts List in the drawing and select the view, and in that dialogue box that pops up before I paste it I changed that dropdown (BOM View) to Structured. If I change it to Parts Only, it does actually list all parts between the overall assembly and the Inseperable subassembly together.

[SBix26]

Don't know how to explain that.  

If I place the top level assembly in a drawing, then place a Parts-Only parts list, the assemblies which are set as Inseparable or Purchased are listed in the parts list, but none of their components.  If I have components in the Inseparable assembly which are also used elsewhere in the main assembly, I only get the quantity used elsewhere; the ones in the Inseparable assembly are not counted.

Sam B

Inventor Professional 2017.4
Vault Workgroup 2017.0.3
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit, SP1
Inventor Certified Professional

[edhess]

I realized I have my main assembly and subassembly backwards. Not sure if that's causing the difference, but I should have the housing as the main assembly and set that to inseparable, so our parts are the subassembly set to normal or purchased depending on the parts included. I will swap them later and see if that fixes things.