At my workplace we’re using SW 2014 SP 4.0, probably upgrading to SW 2015 early next year.

At my past jobs, a BOM in the ERP system would include the list of parts and quantities, but not part numbers. In the parts list on a given drawing, parts would be sorted in ascending order by part number, and SolidWorks would see to it that balloons were correct. If the item number for a given part changed from one rev of a drawing to another, it was a non-issue.

At my current job, we do it differently. A BOM in our ERP system includes part numbers. We create a BOM on a drawing, but we drag it off the sheet so it’s not visible. We balloon parts on assembly drawings. To build an assembly, the shop needs a print of the drawing and a hard copy of BOM from the ERP system. If a part is entered as, say, item 2 in the ERP system, then it needs to be item 2 on the drawing.

This gives rise to a couple of problems. It isn’t always practical to make the sequence of parts in the SolidWorks assembly match the BOM in the ERP system. Also, if (for example) part 6 is deleted from an assembly, the parts after it don’t “move up one.” Item 7 stays item 7, and so on

.

Consequently, we have to do a lot of tweaking of balloons, changing the item number to static text. This is time-consuming and gives scope for mistakes.

Is there a straightforward way to tweak the item numbers in the BOM on the drawing and then know that the balloons will be correct? Thank you.