The last year we went live with a new E10 environment and merged 4 separate operating companies under a single brand/company and system. Each brand operates individually from a quote/design and assembly POV. But all other resources are shared from billing, purchasing and MOMs (single company)
Now that things are recovering and ramping back up, its becoming increasingly painful to manage inventory. Specifically vendor managed hardware (fasteners/bearings/belts/etc). Each BOM that came over of course had their own part master structure which also came with, so the same fastener/bolt has to be stocked under 3 different numbers for a time as it’s called out under 3 different numbers.
I had assumed that engineering would be revising the BOMS and drawings to get them under a single material number. But now I hear that the lift to revise drawings is too big, and they want to look at another way.
I don’t see an easy way to accomplish this, and I’m wondering if there is anyone out there with a shared experience.
If you can identify duplicate parts and define the numbers to be used going forward, then I would think it wouldn’t be too hard to clean up your methods… either via DMT if you are licensed or… maybe using “mass replace”?
Do you mean your engineering department(s) are calling out the material part numbers right on the drawings - instead of balloons references to a separate BOM.
If so… I can foresee some push back from from an engineering department. I know a lot of people think it is easier to use a drawing with embedded material lists but… any mass changes could become much more involved.
A couple questions
Are people pulling a fresh print for each job… or do they store/re-use “personal” copies…i.e. need to distribute new prints whenever a drawing change is made?
The mass update of the BOM would not be an issue for me. We’ have MASS REPLACE and DMT and Id be done tomorrow.
The easy answer is “update the drawing” and the pushback is coming from engineering. I think its a mix of PRINT and Solidworks for most, and I believe the material part numbers are right on the drawing.
We usually print the travelers with the drawing, and most cells have access to the PDM with monitors to view prints.
Yes… this is usually where mass updates start to break down.
In the past I’ve used contract houses / temps to perform all the “grunt work” on the Solidworks drawings. ( usually after some fighting with Eng/Mfg managers to reach agreements on processes that need to change… whose budget, etc… )
but… sounds like it will be worth it in you case?
P.S. if it were me I’d…
a.) Remove material part numbers from all the drawings.
b.) Make sure all users have access to the CAD library and have a viewer
c.) Collect any old “personal” copies of drawings - and transfer any notes to CAD/work instructions… before burning them.
I would put “balloon” numbers on the drawings
and then enter those same numbers in the “Find Number” field on the BOM PartMtl.FindNumber and/or ECOMtl.FindNumber
Then when you look at the Methods/Traveler - you should see the “Find Number” - and look for a balloon on the drawing with that same number.
From the Help:
Find Number specifies the characters used on the drawing that show where the material is used. This is an additional reference that can be useful to shop personnel. Also referred to as a “bubble”, it describes the encircled characters on the engineering drawing. Tip: You can resequence the material records in the bill of material by the bubble number.
