BOM Balloon Parameters in Notes

[JWayman]

In GA drawings, we frequently create notes which reference the ballooned items. For example, we may have a note that says 'Assemble items 18 and 19 before attaching to item 20'.

We currently have no choice but to type in the item numbers. The parameter is not available, although it must exist. What this means is that, when BOM Indices are fixed, the note must be manually edited to reflect any changes. This tends to be missed, resulting in costly rework (or worse).

Idea: Make the parameter that gives rise to the number that appears in the BOM balloon available for use in other areas. Our note could be, say, 'Assemble items &b12 and &b13 before attaching to item &b318'.

This idea, if implemented, will help to prevent drawing errors and therefore reduce costs.

[TomD.inPDX]

All in the interest of full associatively, of course.

I thought this was possible with auto-ballooning if you generate a BOM?  No?

I would think that each component would maintain this information and should certainly be easily accessible.

[ptc-4864603]

so this isn't currently available?

[JWayman]

Not in WF4 - Unless you know differently...

If it can be done already, that would be great, but, if so, it appears to be a well-kept secret.

My thinking is that No, it can't be done at present. Rubbish, isn't it? For nearly 20 years, I have been told, by PTC, that making everything parametric is the right way to use Pro/E, but the Pro/Detail programmers don't seem to have received the same message.

[nsgoldberg]

This is a much-needed addition. We often have drawing errors that revised down the line because FN XX didn't line up with BOM FN XX.

I've seen posts from 2004 asking for this functionality. Here we are, 13 years later, and folks are still asking for it.

[dnordin]

This is already possible if you create your own Find Numbers (FN) (or BOM #'s) for each component in your assemblies, and if you're using Windchill, you can link the FN with Windchill as well. 

The FN is just an assembly level component parameter that you assign to each component in the assembly.  It has been discussed on this forum before, and Steve Shaw posted a link to the instructions on how to configure Windchill for the use of the FNs.  Search for "Bom Item (Find Numbers) used to drive WTProduct structures" for additional information and a copy of Steve's instructions.

I setup a test system to test the use of the FN in Creo Parametric and Windchill, and it works well.  The major disadvantage is the fact that you need to assign the FN's manually as there is no automated method of doing such.  You can assign the FN in the Creo Parametric interface (usually done by showing the FN parameter in the model tree and simply entering the FN's there), or you can assign them in the Windchill interface.  The advantage to assigning them in Windchill is if you have a large number of the same component in your assembly, say 50 of the same screw, you can assign the FN to all 50 at once.  In Creo Parametric, you need to assign each individual component the FN which can be very tedious if you have a large number of components.

A few years back (~2008), we had a company give us a quote on creating a toolkit program to assign the FN's in Creo Parametric.  The program did everything the BOM indexes do currently in drawing mode, plus some additional items like sorting based on certain model parameters, allowing FNs to be skipped, and such.  Unfortunately, we decided to not purchase the program at that time.

At any rate, if you're willing to take the time to assign the FN's to each component, you can have associative notes and BOM balloons.

Regards,

Dan N.