DISQUS

Russell · 2 years ago

I really want to use the SWx BOM's, but I don't like that the cell row height and width is never fixed...it's to easy to screw up and make it look sloppy.

Bruce Buck · 2 years ago

I too love the BOM functionality of SolidWorks, but the reality is we can't use it because all of those "duties" are handled by our MRP system, AS400. No 3rd party software out there to link the two.

Josh · 2 years ago

Russell - yep, that is part of the pain of it. The cell sizing and padding doesn't work all that well. The best way I've gotten around it is by dragging the corner to where it looks good and if there's a row that is scrunched together, I drag it down a little.


Bruce - I remember the horrors of working with an AS400 system a while back. I'm sure it's gotten better, but that is strange there's nothing to link the two. Sounds like a software product idea. :)

Bruce Buck · 2 years ago

As far as row/column sizing, this is what I do.

If I type in text that is too long and causes the row height to get mangled, I simply RMB over a row that is the original/correct height I want, go to Formatting, Row Height and see what the value is. Then I change the one that got mangled to that value.

OR, to you can just, after you're done with everything, RMB on the table and go to Formatting - Entire Table and enter the values you want. Just keep entering values until you get the proportions you want.

Hope that helps.

Russell · 2 years ago

That would work Bruce, I just don't want to have to do that every time, and I don't like the fact that an incidental click can override the fix I just made or the settings I changed.

I deal with a ton of assemblies, most of which are simple and just need quantity, part number, and description. Just not enough functionality to make the switch from Excel worth it.

Brian · 2 years ago

Excellent post, Josh! I agree with the others though about the cells resizing a little too easily. Although it doesn't cause much concern here, we just correct them as Bruce mentions above.

Brian, CADFanatic
http://www.cadfanatic.com/

cristian traistaru · 1 year ago

is there a way to relay the features dimension with am excell table, ather than design table? for an example, i have an assemblywith an aleator number of diferent parts. it is possible to autogenerate an excell table with part lenght, weight , qty, and thikness? please email me. thnx

Josh · 1 year ago

Cristian, hi. a design table is basically an excel table. If you're trying to create a table in excel and want to import it you can do that when you first create design table and even link to that file. It's the first set of options after you select insert, design table.

Dusan · 1 year ago

I'm trying to insert BOM into SolidWorks drawing but when I insert it, it doesn't show the materials of the parts.I chosed template with material and I applied a material to the part previously but ?material? column is still empty!Can somebody help me with this?

Gary · 1 year ago

How can you enter a description of a part in the 'Description' column of the Bill of Materials without losing the parametric link to the drawing? Is this possible?

cristian · 1 year ago

hello.

how can i link the parts of an assamble that is made of part that are defined by lenght weight, thick and qty to an exel table, so i can create automaticli a table with this features starting from an existing assembly. escuse my english please.

thnx

Josh · 1 year ago

Cristian, Hi. you can create an excel table that links to quantity and any other property you have defined. You would have to make sure that each of those (length, width, thcikness, and qty) are a property.

Jason · 1 year ago

I love the functionality of the SW BOM. I have been trying to figure out how the BOM draws the Qty from the assembly, as I would like to put that on each part drawing (so the cutting table operator does not need the assembly drawing - just part drawing - to determine qty required). Can any body help? Thanks guys...

Scott · 10 months ago

IF YOU LINK THE DATE YOU WANT IN THE BOM FIELD TO A PROPERTY THEN SET YOUR PROPERTIES UP ON THE MODEL (SLDPRT OR SLDASM). WHEN YOU INSERT THE BOM TABLE IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY POPULATE THE DATA THUS NOT REQUIRING YOU TO EDIT THE BOM ON THE DRAWING SIDE. YOU SET UP YOUR BOM TEMPLATE WIDTHS WITH WHATEVER VALUES WORK WITH YOUR TITLEBLOCK AND SAVE IT. GO INTO YOUR FILE SEARCH PATHS AND POINT TO YOUR BOM TEMPLATE. YOU SHOULD THEN BE USING THE SAME TEMPLATE EVERY TIME.

Matthew Carlson · 1 year ago

Hi,
We have had the same problem, as most of you are having here, in fact there is a 3rd party software out there to link the two, which is called CustomTools. We have been using it for 3 years now, and it helped us a lot as you are able to connect the BOM to ERP and MPR systems. The software presents other functionalities such as the batch printing. I have to say that our team has been very pleased by the software. I know that there is demo, but I cannot remember where you can find it.
Matthew

Sami Altonen · 1 year ago

Thank you Matthew for the advice, we just bought CustomTools. It is very useful, and finally allowed us to link our ERP system to SolidWorks. We also use a lot the custom properties features, which help us to save a considerable amount of time. I would recommend it.

Sebastien Leveneur · 1 year ago

Hi,

Some of you look very satisfy with this CustomTools, but where can i find it? Thank you

Josh M · 1 year ago

Sebastian, Hi, CustomTools is here http://customtools.info/ - I haven't used it so I can't comment on it. It doesn look like it has some great features.

Sebastien Leveneur · 1 year ago

Thank you for the website, I will download a demo and let you know if it is a good add in or not

Sebastien Leveneur · 11 months ago

Hi everyone,

After trying CustomTools, I have to say that it is the ultimate tool to manage your custom property and link your ERP to SW. There are some very useful tools, such as the batch printing tool and assembly copy tools. Some of them we did not used (DWG translationt tool, or CustomNotes).

At the end we bought 10 seats, I have to say that we received a very good support from them during the trial time. Very satisfied with that product

dlc · 10 months ago

Any way of getting the system property, "sw-file name", ie part/assembly number into the EXCEL based bill of materials?

Josh M · 10 months ago

Yep, very simple. Set up a Property Name FILENAME or something. In the Value/Text Expression Column enter

$PRP:"SW-File Name(File Name)"

Now just add that Property to your Excel BOM Template.

dlc · 10 months ago

...will give it a try! Thanks!

dlc · 10 months ago

...that works to bring in the file names for the parts; how about the assembly file name, ie the name of the file that the view is on? I am trying to dump everything into one database table and keep track of what parts come from which assemblies. Thanks again.

Filipe Venceslau · 6 months ago

Hi! Very good post! Thanks for sharing!
I am currently making up a BOM list (for production purposes).
My BOM type is "Parts Only", so I get a list of all my parts.
Now in my main assembly, I have one custom property which is called Quantity, which basically is the total amount required of that final product (which consists of a group of parts as well).
Every part also has a custom property called quantity, so my bill of materials tells me how many parts I need for 1 assembly.
I have two rows for quantities, one for a single assembly, and one for the total amount of assemblies required. I was thinking of making a formula like:
Total quantity = Single quantity * assembly quantity
This would work perfectly, however...I can't seem to find a way to link to that Main assembly custom property or any for that mater. All the other custom properties I can link to no problem and calculate stuff, but I'd like to know if there's a way of reading custom properties from a specific assembly, when it's not in the BOM list.

Thanks in advance

Josh M · 6 months ago

Filipe, you can link to any property using $PRP:"custom property" or $PRPMODEL:"custom property" ($PRPVIEW:"custom property" and $PRPSHEET:"custom property" in drawings)

In your case, you could add a Column and select 'EQUATION' from the pulldown and enter your equation from the attributes below to get Total Quantity.

Hope this helps! Thanks for the comment!

Filipe Venceslau · 6 months ago

Hi Josh!
Thanks for your quick reply!
I tried the $PRPSHEET option and it works!
But I have another problem now, in the cell I get =`Quantity` * 3"
`Quantity` is a custom property in each part...I also Tried 'QTY' * 3...but I get the same problem.

Thanks again

Filipe Venceslau · 6 months ago

So I'm trying to troubleshoot this here, and it seems like the returned value from $PRPSHEET:"QUANTITY" is =3 instead of just 3.
am I doing anything wrong?
Should the equation editor be smart enough to ignore that?
I tried the # trick on the Row name, but didn't work either.

Thanks again

Jacon · 5 months ago

Filipe

We also have a need for such as that.

Qty of parts * total # of unit made
I have an assembly which represents one unit. It has a custom property of "TotalQTY"

I was able to get my BOM to show the total needed by adding a cloumn which shows.

'QTY' * $PRPMODEL:"TotalQTY"

Vanessa · 5 months ago

How can I add a price of a piece and obtain a budget in a BOM's column?

scottmcfadden · 3 weeks ago

How do you change the formating in more then one row or column in Solidworks BOM?
I tried holding down the control key and selecting more then one row or column and it would
slect all, but only update one of them.
Thanks

Josh M · 2 weeks ago

if you select the column or row header then select across (without holding Ctrl down) you should be able to make changes to all row/columns selected.