Our engineering team uses Inventor Drawings (IDW) to create spare parts catalogs and service manuals.
Instead of creating hundreds of individual drawings, we maintain a single IDW containing multiple sheets, where each sheet represents a different section of the same assembly (for example: Wheels, Axles, Scale System, Hydraulic System, etc.).
Each sheet contains:
1- An exploded view of a specific section.
2- Balloons for the components shown in that section.
3- A filtered Parts List showing only the relevant items for that sheet.
This workflow works well, except for one major limitation.
Current behavior
All Parts Lists referencing the same assembly share the same Item Numbers.
As a result, modifying or renumbering one Parts List affects every other sheet referencing the same assembly.
For example:
Sheet 1 – Wheels
1 Wheel Assembly
2 Wheel Hardware
3 Stud
4 Nut
Sheet 2 – Scale System
15 Load Cell
16 Mounting Plate
17 Hardware Kit
If we reorganize or update the Parts List on Sheet 2, the balloons and numbering on Sheet 1 may also change because both sheets are linked to the same BOM. Why this is a problem?
1- Spare parts catalogs are living documents.
2- Over time we frequently:
- Add new pages.
- Insert new sections.
- Add or remove hardware.
- Move sections to improve the manual.
- Reuse the same hardware across multiple exploded views.
There is currently no practical way to maintain independent numbering for each sheet while still preserving associative balloons and Parts Lists.
- Using separate assemblies is often not possible because the same hardware legitimately appears on multiple pages.
- Using static tables removes associativity and automatic updates.
Keeping a single global Parts List becomes increasingly difficult to maintain as the catalog grows.
Requested enhancement
- Please consider adding an option allowing a Parts List to maintain its own local Item Numbers independently from other Parts Lists referencing the same assembly.
For example:
☑ Local Item Numbering
☐ Use Assembly BOM Item Numbers
The Parts List and balloons on that sheet would remain synchronized with each other, but would no longer renumber other sheets.
Benefits
This would greatly improve Inventor for users creating:
Spare Parts Catalogs
Service Manuals
Technical Documentation
Illustrated Parts Books
Assembly Manuals with multiple exploded views
without affecting the existing BOM workflow used for manufacturing drawings.
Additional comments
We have investigated several alternatives, including:
1- Multiple subassemblies
2- Separate drawings
3- Static Parts Lists
4- Shared global BOMs
However, none of these approaches provide independent sheet numbering while preserving associativity between the assembly, balloons, and Parts Lists.
An optional per-Parts List numbering mode would solve this limitation while remaining fully backward compatible with existing workflows.
Example...
Sheet 1
1- assembly A
2- assembly B
3- hardware A
4- hardware B
↓
Sheet 2
1- assembly C
3- Hardware A
4- assembly D
1- assembly A
↓
Update Sheet 2 so it can be in the correct order 1,2,3, and 4
↓
Sheet 1
4- assembly A
2- assembly B
2- hardware A
4 - hardware B
