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showing bulk items in a BoM

M00m137

M00m137

Member
Presumably this is not best practice, otherwise it would be easy, but I'd like to include bulk items (glue, paint, etc.) in the BoM. I've tried putting it into the model as an empty assembly (i.e. there is an empty sub-assembly in the model called "loctite sdfkljjlk", with the appropriate metadata in M-files), but this doesn't seem to show up - and yes, I have ticked the box in Alibre saying "treat as part in boM when used as a subassembly".

any suggestions on why this doesn't work? Any ideas on how I can achieve this?

Presumably I could put it in as a manual entry in the BoM, but that doesn't appeal much because it means retyping all the metadata each time... is there a better way?
 
J

jsturty45

New Member
I don't necessarily think it's poor practice. I do this at work all the time. It's a good way to keep metadata together.

I was able to do this with a blank part. No geometry, just the part metadata stored in the Part Data tab. It showed up in the BOM just fine. The only thing I haven't figured out is the quantity - it will show up as "1". With other CAD software, I have a "BULK ITEM" parameter, and if the value is "YES" a script overrides the qty to "AR" (As Required). Alibre doesn't seem to like non-number values in the QTY field. I suspect the QTY field is either stored as an Integer or Precision Number.

I don't know if you care about any of this, but maybe with some smart scripting the QTY could be pulled and written to the BOM as text, and that would allow "AR" to be added to bulk materials?
 
JST

JST

Alibre Super User
There are also sheet goods to be considered. Coverings, acoustic damping materials, and the like. Wire likewise. Those may be defined as units of length/area, or as fractions of a sheet, roll, etc.

You CAN just add them into the BOM manually, but you will need to do that at the end of the process, since they disappear when the BOM is regenerated.
 
M00m137

M00m137

Member
Thanks jsturty45, that all sounds very familiar - exactly what I was doing in my previous CAD system. "A/R" is precisely what I would be using, if I could get the dratted thing to accept it. In this particular situation I was using a blank assembly (not sure why), which didn't seem to go down too well. Guess I should try it with a blank part. In this case I ended up adding them manually, but this means it isn't linked to the PDM metadata, and as JST points out, they have a tendency to disappear (nice to know there's a system to when they disappear... I think...)

Altogether, not ideal. I agree it seems like something which could be scripted (basically what I was doing in Creo) - but I'm constantly pushed for time, so I guess this will have to wait until the next time it's driving me berserk.
 
Lew_Merrick

Lew_Merrick

Guest
This is one problem with the BoM approach, Qty is assumed to be an Integer. As has been discussed here, it can oten be "AR" or (say) "4.25 lbs" or some other "value." Were I a wise man (as opposed to being merely a wise guy I might have a functional answer to suggest. -- Lew
 
JST

JST

Alibre Super User
It seems that Alibre could reasonably easily allow the entry of manually added items which would be automatically appended to the BOM being worked on. That would substantially "fix" this issue.

This comes up enough in BOMs that I would think it was important enough to add.

Now, I admit that hobby types are far less likely to need, want, or care about, this (and other requested additions). So if Alibre is going for that market, this is "way off the radar".

But for a business user, being able to add "0.75l paint, pantone 1553C p/n 57-596-12" or the like is very useful for ordering materials. A possible workaround for something like paint is to create a part number for paint, in a unit quantity, and then enter a decimal fraction corresponding to the

For sheet goods, the workaround at the assembly level is to create a part number for the piece (even if it is cut as-required on the line), but there is still the quantity problem at the part level. Again, a decimal fraction amount of a unit quantity could be used.

It occurs to me that I do not know if Alibre will add up decimal fractions in an assembly, or if it will end up with 5 x 0.75l amounts, instead of 3.75 units quantity. I'll have to check, but I think it will give the 5.
 
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