Our ERP has a plugin for SolidWorks but it doesn't respect the BOM assembly structure controlled through "Show", "Hide","Promote" and always defaults to "Show."
I believe this is a core and universally used function of SW and I feel crippled without it.
Can you weigh in on whether you use this functionality, and if you do, What do you use it for?
If you don't feel like elaborating, a simple "Yes" or "No" will suffice in lieu of a poll.
No, no and no. My BOM always follows the assembly order and doesn't use show hide or promote. Can you provide an example of where you think it is absolutely necessary to use show, hide or promote?
1. "Hide" A purchased assembly that is flexible. The assembly is one part number and can only be purchased as an assembly. A hinge is a good example.
2. "Promote" A compartmentalized promoted (solidworks calls this "dissolved")subassembly (I almost always do these as virtual subassemblies) that includes a few components that always move together from one assembly to another when being reused. Also, this reduces top-level mates and improves performance. A good example might be a cover plate and the corresponding bolts and washers.
Brian Graves wrote:
1. "Hide" A purchased assembly that is flexible. The assembly is one part number and can only be purchased as an assembly. A hinge is a good example.
So, this is a hinge that can be disassembled and one half is mounted to one subassembly and the other half is mounted to a different subassembly? When I have that situation, I add display states to the assembly (one for each 'half' and then put the assembly in both subassemblies. Use Exclude from BOM in one of the assemblies and use a note pointing to the other subassembly as reference (e.g. SEE ITEM XX ON DRAWING XXXXXXX).
If your ERP system is pulling data from the SOLIDWORKS drawing BOM or PDM, the Exclude from BOM should be honored, whereas 'Hide' is apparently not.
2. "Promote" A compartmentalized promoted (solidworks calls this "dissolved")subassembly (I almost always do these as virtual subassemblies) that includes a few components that always move together from one assembly to another when being reused. Also, this reduces top-level mates and improves performance. A good example might be a cover plate and the corresponding bolts and washers.
I'd be more inclined to make a cover kit assembly and drawing. I just do not like making any changes whatsoever to a BOM. I want the BOM as dropped in the drawing to be 'correct'. Any fiddling with it just leads to problems like you are having or a great deal of confusion for someone coming along behind me trying to understand where the BOM contents are coming from.
2. "Promote" A compartmentalized promoted (solidworks calls this "dissolved")subassembly (I almost always do these as virtual subassemblies) that includes a few components that always move together from one assembly to another when being reused. Also, this reduces top-level mates and improves performance. A good example might be a cover plate and the corresponding bolts and washers.
I'd be more inclined to make a cover kit assembly and drawing. I just do not like making any changes whatsoever to a BOM. I want the BOM as dropped in the drawing to be 'correct'. Any fiddling with it just leads to problems like you are having or a great deal of confusion for someone coming along behind me trying to understand where the BOM contents are coming from.
You're not making changes to the BOM, you're using Solidworks exactly as Dassault designed it.
2017 SOLIDWORKS Help - Configuration Properties PropertyManager
2017 SOLIDWORKS Help - Examples - Child Component Display Properties
It sounds like you're implying that the BOM table is being manually fiddled with outside of the above core SW functionality. That isn't happening.
I'm not HAVING any problems. I was trying to convince our ERP to add this functionality to their awful plugin so someone doens't have to manually enter all of the parts and assemblies into it. They already implied they have no intention of not adding this functionality or even "exclude from bill of materials." Facepalm forreal.
CounterPart ERP, CustomTools, DelmiaWorks ALL respect this BOM functionality because it their plugins were designed by people who actually know how to use SW.
Brian Graves wrote:
It sounds like you're implying that the BOM table is being manually fiddled with outside of the above core SW functionality. That isn't happening.
No, I'm saying that my personal preference is to not touch it at all. I drop the BOM on the drawing, and that's it. WYSIWYG (aside from the very rare Exclude from BOM) and KISS. What you believe to be a 'core and universally used function' simply isn't necessary for me, and probably many (if not most) SOLIDWORKS users.
From what I can see, when you promote components, there is no way when looking at the BOM to know that it has happened. You have to dive into the drawing feature tree to find the 'Dissolved in BOM' status.
True, there's is no way to look at the tree to know that one of the items in the BOM is there as a result of being promoted. Fortunately that's of no consequence and desired. However, if it became unpromoted, you'd have an assembly suddenly appearing in your BOM that has no custom properties populated.
Now tell me how you would use those workaround to get a multilink flexible assembly that is purchased as an assembly to work? Something like a 4link tv wall mount...
Before I answer, I'd like to know what you think the difficulty is. What specifically about a thing you purchase that is an assembly that needs to be flexible causes problems in a BOM for you?
Brian Graves wrote:
1. "Hide" A purchased assembly that is flexible. The assembly is one part number and can only be purchased as an assembly. A hinge is a good example.
2. "Promote" A compartmentalized promoted (solidworks calls this "dissolved")subassembly (I almost always do these as virtual subassemblies) that includes a few components that always move together from one assembly to another when being reused. Also, this reduces top-level mates and improves performance. A good example might be a cover plate and the corresponding bolts and washers.
We use "Hide" as you described, but we also have a lot of brazed assemblies where we have different configurations or even assemblies for each step. In the case of these brazed assemblies, we use both "Hide" and "Promote" to control what is shown in the BOM depending on the braze state (ie, pre-braze => promote; post-braze => hide).
Perfect example of its use.
I don't see how a brazed assembly should be handled any differently than a regular assembly. Can you show an example? We braze things here as well, and I've never needed to use show/hide/promote.
Example:
Pre-braze, we want to show how everything goes together (eg, parts, braze shims, paste, etc.). So the drawing shows the part level BOM of those components.
But that same assembly is also needed for a second braze run. However, the after the first braze it is no longer an assembly it's a part; so no matter what type of BOM is selected (Top level, Parts Only, Indented) we should never see this brazed assembly broken out into parts. So it is marked as "Hide".
There are several different ways of doing this and there are arguments for and against everyone of them, but this is the technique that works best with my company's way of doing things.
Just in case you do not know Show/Hide/Promote only work when assembly used as a sub assembly. If you make a drawing of the assembly and insert a BOM, all parts will show unless excluded from BOM.
Show - Yes - Assemblies that require sub parts to show in BOM
Hide - Yes - Assemblies that are really just a part; sub parts not to be shown in BOM
Promote - No (seemed to me IMHO to be cheating way to get past Top Level only). Does not fit in with our Best Practices. We (are supposed to) use parts only (which were developed before Promote option existed).
Solid Air wrote:
Just in case you do not know Show/Hide/Promote only work when assembly used as a sub assembly. If you make a drawing of the assembly and insert a BOM, all parts will show unless excluded from BOM.
Show - Yes - Assemblies that require sub parts to show in BOM
Hide - Yes - Assemblies that are really just a part; sub parts not to be shown in BOM
Promote - No (seemed to me IMHO to be cheating way to get past Top Level only). Does not fit in with our Best Practices. We (are supposed to) use parts only (which were developed before Promote option existed).
I feel like "promote" has been around since at least 2004 when I started using it. It has been around for at LEAST 10 years. solidworks help proves this:
2010 SOLIDWORKS Help - Configuration Properties PropertyManager
Your best practices might be designed around the lowest common denominator in the room. It's a powerful function that they designed into the software. It's not a workaround but core functionality. Inventor has it, Siemens has it.
I was merely trying to take a tally of who uses it and who doesn't.
usually being virtual AND shown as dissolved clearly spells it out to anyone digging around in your assembly and revising your drawings. If not, then they need training.
Sorry, from the way you worded your question, I did not get the impression you understood what the three options did.
Promote became available sometime after SW2007 (I have still have a copy of this version), it was available in SW2012 (next copy I have available after SW2007).
You did ask what we use it for and I told you. If you do not like my answer, then that is your opinion; I will not debate its worthiness.
Yes