Assembly Template

[cninneman]

I would like to create an assembly template, of a standard group of assembled parts. When I try to do so, I get an error informing me that "A document which references other documents may not be saved as a template".

Is there a way to get around this? All of the parts are either in PDM or Design Library.

Thanks in advance
Chris

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

What do you mean by "assembly template"?

 

[cninneman]

an assembly template file, .asmdot

I'm guessing I'm going to have to abandon the idea of doing it this way. I'll probably have to save the assembly somewhere, and do a save as each time I need it.

 

[meintsi]

Save the group of "standard parts" as a sub-assembly identified as you need.

Then insert the sub-assembly as the first part each time you start a new assembly. (All the sub-assembly mates will be there from the start).

Templates cannot be saved with parts included.



Remember...
"If you don't use your head,
your going to have to use your feet."

 

[cninneman]

meintsi,

Normaly this would work just fine, however, in this case it won't. I need the BOM to see each individual part. As things are structured, this would cause the BOM to see the assembly, and not the individual parts. Kind of a sticky situation. Just trying to find the easiest way for me to build the full assembly each and every time.

Thanks for the input
Chris

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

cninneman ... You can set the BOM to list just the parts, or just the TL assys & parts, or all assys & indented parts.

so as Meintsi suggests placing the "standard group" in the first postion (or any position) of the FM tree will give you what you need.

You could also make a Pallette Feature of the assy if needed, then simply drag & drop it into the Top Level assy

 

[cninneman]

I hear what you're saying, but that just doesn't work, for us. Not for the way we structure our bills anyway.

If I start a new assembly, then drag in this group of assembled parts, then drag in the rest of the parts needed to finish the full assembly, if one of those added parts was also a sub-assembly, the BOM will not be correct, to our standards. The results of this, showing just parts, would not give me the part # for the 2nd sub-assy. that was added. Indented would give me the sub-assy. number, but also the parts in that sub-assy., and that's not how we structure things.

Anyway, I just wanted to clarify why this doesn't work for us. Unless there's something I'm not doing right, which is entirely possible. I just thought there was a way to build a template, to get me started on something like this. No big deal, I'll just have to do a save as on the partial built assembly, not the end of the world.

Thanks for the input
Chris

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The way SW structures the BOM is "industry standard", it sounds like you have someting different.

You mentioned that:-

showing just parts, would not give me the part # for the 2nd sub-assy. that was added. Indented would give me the sub-assy. number, but also the parts in that sub-assy

How about the 3rd alternative ... Top Level assy & parts?

Can you explain how you want the BOM to read the assy, then we may be able to help.

 

[TheTick]

If I start a new assembly, then drag in this group of assembled parts, then drag in the rest of the parts needed to finish the full assembly, if one of those added parts was also a sub-assembly, the BOM will not be correct, to our standards.

Once you drag in a subassembly, you can dissolve the subassembly and all of its components will be part of the main assembly.

"Customer satisfaction, while theoretically possible, is neither guaranteed nor statistically likely.--E.L. Kersten

http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

 

[cninneman]

CorBlimeyLimey,

Trust me, there are plenty of things that are "industry standard" that this company does not do. I learned that one pretty quick when I took this job. We are about 5 months into converting to solidworks, and it has been an uphill battle for me. Over 3/4 of the people I'm working with have been here 20+ years, and do things "because that's they way we've always done them". I'm doing the best I can to change that way of thinking, but I'm also doing the best I can to change it a little at a time. I'm afraid there would be an internal meltdown, if I tried to revamp the entire system in one swoop.

Anyway, to give you an idea on how they've structured things here, imagine a basic swivel caster, because that's exactly what I'm dealing with right now. You have the Swivel Rig (sub-assembly) and then you have the wheel bolted into the rig.
Our bill would show the Rig as the first item, it has a part number.
The next items would be the wheel, and hardware used to bolt it in. Each of those items has an individual part number.

So, now if you want to see what's needed to build the first item, the Rig, you need to lookup that part number/print and read the bill for it. If there happens to be a sub-assembly with a part number on that bill, once again you need to go find that print and read it's bill.

I hope you follow me on that, you can imagine how difficult it would be to follow the trail of prints on something that contains multiple sub-assemblies. It's a very dirty process, in my opinion, and I hope to clean it up someday. It's difficult for a new guy like me, to convince these guys that there is a better way. There are still times when I can't believe I convinced them that we needed to dump autocad and get solidworks.


TheTick,

That may be something I can do. I'll look into it.

Thanks guys,
Chris

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

cninneman ... The BOM structure you describe is very common practice & is exactly what the Top Level assemblies & parts option will give you.
ie: The BOM will list all the sub-assemblies (not with indented parts) & also the individual parts which are needed to fasten the sub-assys together.

 

[cninneman]

OK, Somewhere we got off track here. I understand that the basic structure of our BOM is pretty common, I got to rambling on, and shouldn't have. It's the internals of our process that make things messy, and that's my problem to deal with. Enough about that.

Envision the caster I spoke of before. My problem is this:
We have litteraly hundreds of casters that need to be modeled. They are devided into seperate series numbers. The particullar series I'm working on right now, has a group of parts that are common to all casters of that series, however this group of parts does not have a sub-assembly part number. I don't want to have to assemble this group of parts each and every time we model or design a new caster.

If I take and save this group of parts as an assembly, and then insert them into a new assembly, the BOM sees this as an assembly and, for the part number, shows the bogus name they were saved as. I thought that TheTick was onto something by having me dissolve the assembly, but that won't work either. It removes a component pattern that I need.

And this is why I wanted to create an assembly template, already containing the parts that I need to assemble. I appologize for not explaining this very well from the start, I hope we're on the same page now, you're probably sick of me by now anyway.

Thanks
Chris

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

It removes a component pattern that I need.

Is this a large pattern? Can you place seperate instances of the part instead? Then TheTicks suggestion would still be a valid workaround.

 

[cninneman]

There are two patterns, both are of steel ball bearings. They are set into a raceway on the caster plate, when assembled. There are 24 in one pattern, and 14 in the other. I'd rather not have to create the pattern every time, but it is an option I'll have to explore.

Thanks