Part families - Same pos number in part list?

[201181]

Hi all, I was wondering if someone could help.

When adding part families to a parts list (lets say I add 5 parts of a family to an assembly), I would like to have that all part family parts share the same pos number. I achieve showing only one of these parts in the drawing views using arrangements.

Right now, I leave the template part family member in the parts list with it's $~C string to call out automatic part numbers, but to have the other family members with the same pos number, I have to manually delete this string, then add a number (which I hate doing). Then, as soon as a part is deleted from the assembly, the pos order can be lost, or a number is missed out, or similar problems...

So, is there a way to make sure that part family members share the same pos number as the template part when added to assemblies/shown in parts lists?

many thanks in advance.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Are you adding DIFFERENT Members of the same Part Family or simply multiple copies of the SAME Part Family Member?

If it's multiple copies of the SAME Part Family Member then the Parts List should work as you want it to. However, if these are DIFFERENT Members of the same Family then they are in reality, DIFFERENT part files themselves and as such, will EACH be assigned their own unique ID/POS number.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[201181]

Hi John, thanks for your reply. I am adding different members of the same family, and as you've said, in reality they are different parts. However, at this company I am working at, they seem to be giving the same pos number for the different family members in the parts list/on the assembly drawings.

I'm curious about a couple of things, when considering that the drawing views only show one of the family members using arrangements.

1. What is the standard practice for adding balloons/pos numbers for parts that aren't actually shown in the drawing views?
2. How is the scenario described in my first post handled by teamcenter? I'm very curious about this, as the company is currently trying to implement teamcenter (currently I work without teamcenter).

Many thanks again.

 

[JohnRBaker]

I can't speak for Teamcenter, but as for Number 1, simply add the Component to the Assembly (position or origin is not critical), then select the Component, press MB3, select 'Properties' and when the dialog comes-up, select the 'Assembly' tab and in the section labeled 'Component', toggle ON the 'Component is Non-Geometric' option. This Component will now be 'invisible' in BOTH the Assembly model and the Drawing views but it WILL appear in the Parts List, as well as the Assembly Navigator as a 'hidden' Component.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[201181]

Thanks John, nice little extra to there

But I am still very curious about common/other people's practices when it comes to position numbers for different part family members in a parts list. Is it normal to give each part family member a different position number (in my head, this makes more sense)? Then, when adding balloons to the drawing views, where only one of the part family members is shown (the template for example), what happens with the balloons for the other part family members that are not shown? Do they just not get added to the drawing views?

Thanks!

 

[JohnRBaker]

I can't speak for what other people are doing today, but back when I was working as an engineer in the 'real world', every unique item had it's own line in the Parts List with it's own letter ID.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[201181]

I think that sounds logical, even though the parts are part of a family, they are different. Plus, I hate having to manually change the pos/id number of the family members on the assembly drawing part list.

So a final question, what about balloons for the 'other' family members when shown on an assembly drawing with a matrix for assembly configurations. Does anyone add these to the drawing views, or do they just get left out of the views?

For example, imagine an assembly consisting of two parts (one common part and five part family members) and five different configurations, hence a drawing with a parts list containing six parts, and a drawing view showing only one configuration. On the assembly drawing view, I would first add a balloon for pos 1, but then what about the positions 2-6? Is it best/common practice to add a balloon for pos 2, then not add balloons for pos 3-6, or perhaps stack the pos 3-6 next to the pos 2 balloon (this is what I had done at a previous company I had worked for)?

Thanks again

 

[JohnRBaker]

There is NOTHING special about a Part file created as a member of a Part Family. It's just a Part file. Granted, there's a reference to the Master Part file and in an assembly we have some tools to make it easy to replace one Family member with another member of the same Family, but other than that, those parts files are treated the same as if you had created them from scratch. What is it that you're doing in your Assembly that you think is so special JUST because these parts were created using a Part Family scheme?

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[201181]

The main reason I am adding these questions is because for me, the company I'm working for are not doing there assembly drawings and parts lists in the correct way.

I totally agree with you, each part family member should be treated as if they are made from scratch, and that they are not special. But because the company wants all family members to share a common pos id, I was mainly wondering if this was done by anyone else, or how it was normally done in NX (or any other system).

I'll post a basic assembly drawing on Monday just to show how I have been told to create assembly drawings at the current company.

Have a great weekend.

 

[201181]

Hi again, just to show you how I am being asked to create my assembly drawings, where part families components are included, I have attached a very basic assembly as an example. The first one shows that I have manually changed the pos number on all of the DIN 912 bolts (Nut_bolt_assembly_dwg_2, this I do not think is correct...).

The second shows how NX does it automatically by giving each part a different pos number (coming in the next post, as it should be). However, I am just still curious how others out there in the engineering world deal with drawings like this. I would imagine everyone does it as NX does (the normal way) and gives each part a unique pos number, but then how are the other part numbers marked on the drawing, when they are not included in the views?

Thanks in advance

 

[201181]

Here is the second file, without manually modified pos numbers...

Thanks