The current 3 BOM types have limitations and are not user friendly to the fullest extend. Adding a 4th type of BOM (or 2 options to the model BOM) would provide users with much more flexibility.
The biggest drawback to the current BOM types is that we can NEVER see all parts in the model in a "flat" layout, with each part appearing only once.
Implications:
- If you are editing iProperties, you line count is drastically higher than it needs to be as each item can be duplicated multiple times throughout multiple levels.
- If you are exporting component information, there is not a single way to export all of the information for parts AND assemblies at once, with their "flat" quantities, with each item only appearing once.
Implementing these changes would be great, but I have 2 further suggestions:
1. For this 4th BOM type, add the option to include Reference components and to Exclude them.
- This helps with model processing and establishing how much "fluff" reference components are in the document)
2. For ALL BOM types, add the option to include "derived components". This way, if a part that has a derived component, they can control is visibility with the BOM structure, but also have "sub-levels" of parts available in order to give the part materials.
- This helps so that it more closely matches ERP systems, and allows for quick & direct exports.
3. Optional: Add an "ancestry" iProperty that establishes the "chain of usage" to the TOP level, and includes the quantity required for that chain as it pertains to the assembly.
- This is useful for logistics and planning during ordering.
(My current workaround for iProperty editting is to run a rule which places one of each document in a NEW assembly, at the top level, so all iProperties are exposed. I then leave the rows collapsed and edit iProperties as I like.)
(My current work-around for gather document properties is to use a complex Excel macro that is ran on the structured BOM in order to "flatten" quantities. This macro also handles ancestry)