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In This Chapter

11

Working with BOMs and
Parts Lists

In AutoCAD

®

Mechanical 6, you can create parts lists

and bills of material (BOMs) automatically, and modify

part references and balloons. In this chapter, you insert

and edit a parts list, and work with the bill of material

(BOM) database.

■

Inserting part references

■

Editing a part reference

■

Placing and modifying balloons

■

Creating a parts list

■

Merging and splitting items in a
parts list

■

Collecting balloons

■

Sorting and renumbering items
on a parts list

■

Using filters

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Key Terms

Term

Definition

balloon

Circular annotation tag that identifies a bill of material item in a drawing. The
number in the balloon corresponds with the number of the part in the bill of
material.

bill of material

A dynamic database containing a list of all the parts in an assembly. Used to
generate parts lists that contain associated attributes such as part number,
manufacturer, and quantity.

BOM attribute

An entity that contains attributes by default (the attribute is invisible) that can add
information to and describe details of a part in the drawing. The values of these
attributes are transformed into the parts list attributes when converting BOM
attributes and creating a parts list.

part reference

Part information for a bill of material, which is attached to the part in the
drawing.

parts list

A dynamic list of parts and associated attributes generated from a bill of material
database. The parts list automatically reflects additions and subtractions of parts
from an assembly.

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Working with Parts Lists

Open the initial drawing.

To open a drawing

1

Open the file tut_ex08 in the acadm\tutorial folder.
Menu

File ➤ Open

Command

OPEN

The drawing contains a shaft with a housing.

2

Zoom in to the area of interest.
Menu

View ➤ Zoom ➤ Window

Command

ZOOM

3

Respond to the prompts as follows:

Specify first corner:

Specify the first corner point figure (1)

Specify opposite corner:

Specify the second corner point (2)

Save your file under a different name or to a different directory to preserve
the original tutorial file.

Inserting a Part Reference

The part references contain the part information required for the bill of
material. The information of the part reference is available in the parts data-
base for creating a parts list.

Here, you use the part reference command to enter part information for your
part.

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To insert a Part Reference

1

Start the Part Reference command.
Menu

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ Part Reference

Command

AMPARTREF

2

Respond to the prompts as follows:

Select point or [Block/Copy/Reference]:

Specify a point on the part (1)

3

In the Part Ref Attributes dialog box, specify:

Description:

Housing Partition

Standard:

Size 130x125x55

Material:

EN-GJL-200

Choose OK. The Part Reference is inserted into the drawing.

NOTE

Standard Parts get such a Part Reference containing all standard infor-

mation automatically.

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In the next step, you create a part reference by reference.

To insert a Part Reference by reference

1

Start the Part reference command again.
Menu

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ Part Reference

Command

AMPARTREF

2

Right-click to display the context menu and select Reference, or enter R at the
Command prompt.

3

Select the previously inserted part reference in the drawing to create a
reference.

This means that the same part shows a quantity of 2 in the BOM database.

NOTE

You can use the option Copy to create a new part with similar text infor-

mation.

4

Respond to the prompt as follows:

Select point or:

Specify the insertion point at the circular edge (2)

5

In the Part Ref Attribute dialog box, choose OK.

NOTE

This part reference looks different, because it has been attached to an

object (the circular edge) of the part.

Save your file.

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Editing Part References

Now, you have to edit an existing part reference.

To edit a Part Reference

1

Start the Part Reference Edit command.
Menu

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ Part Reference Edit

Command

AMPARTREFEDIT

2

Respond to the prompts as follows:

Select pick object:

Specify the part reference of the left screw (3)

The Part Ref Attributes dialog box is displayed.

3

For Reference Quantity, enter 3, and choose OK.

NOTE

For the related nut and the screw connection on the right side the ref-

erence quantity is already changed in the drawing.

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4

Zoom to the extents to display the entire drawing.
Menu

View ➤ Zoom ➤ EXTENTS

Command

ZOOM

Save your file.

Placing Balloons

Now, you create balloons from the part references in the drawing.

To place a balloon

1

Start the Balloon command.
Menu

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ Balloons

Command

AMBALLOON

2

Respond to the prompt as follows:

Select part/assembly or :[auTo/autoAll/Collect/Manual/One/Renumber/rEorganize]:

Enter A

NOTE

If you use one of the commands

AMBALLOON

or

AMPARTLIST

the BOM

database will be created automatically. This means all part references will be
added to the database and item numbers will be created inside the database.

To create and edit a database manually, you can use the

AMBOM

command.

3

Use a window to select all objects and press

ENTER

.

NOTE

Press

ENTER

to change the type of arrangement (horizontal, vertical,

angle or stand-alone).

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4

Place the balloons horizontally, above the assembly.

Because the balloons are numbered automatically, depending on where you
have located the part references, the appearance of your drawing can be dif-
ferent.

In the next step, you will renumber the balloons.

To renumber balloons

1

Start the Balloon command again.
Menu

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ Balloons

Command

AMBALLOON

2

Respond to the prompt as follows:

Select part/assembly or [auTo/autoAll/Collect/Manual/One/Renumber/ rEorganize]:

Enter R

3

Continue to respond to the prompts as follows:

Enter starting item number: <1>:

Press

ENTER

Enter increment: <1>:

Press

ENTER

Select balloon:

Select the balloons in numerical order from 1 to 7

Select balloon:

Press

ENTER

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Your drawing needs to look like the following in order for you to continue:

NOTE

Since balloon 7 has a reference, you do not have to select balloon 8. It

will get the number 7 automatically.

Now, rearrange the balloons for a better representation.

To rearrange balloons.

1

Drag a window from right to left to select the 6 balloons on the right. This
turns on the grips.

2

Right-click to activate the context menu. Choose Reorganize.

3

Move the cursor through the center of balloon 1 to get the horizontal track-
ing line.

NOTE

Make sure that the

OTRACK

function is active.

4

Move the cursor to the right, and snap along the tracking line, until you
reach a distance of 120, and click.

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The result needs to look like the following:

NOTE

The snap distance can be controlled within the Balloon Properties dialog.

In the next step, you create a part reference and a balloon in one step with
the manual option.

To create a part reference and a balloon using the manual option

1

Start the Balloon command again.
Menu

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ Balloons

Command

AMBALLOON

2

Respond to the prompt as follows:

Select part/assembly
or

[auTo/autoAll/Collect/Manual/One/Renumber/rEorganize]: Enter M

Select point or [Block/Copy/Reference]:

Select a point on the shaft

NOTE

Instead of selecting a point to create a part reference, you can use Copy

or Reference from the Manual option, to get the information from an existing
balloon or part reference.

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3

In the Part Ref Attributes dialog box, specify:

Description:

Shaft

Standard:

Size Dia. 50x150

Material:

C45

4

Choose OK.

5

Press

ENTER

to start the leader line of the balloon in the center of the part ref-

erence.

6

Move the cursor through the center of balloon 1 to get the tracking line and
the snap distance, and click the insertion point.

NOTE

Instead of entering the insertion point, you can select another point to

create an extended leader line.

7

Press

ENTER

.

Save your file.

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Creating a Parts List

Now, you generate a parts list from the part reference information.

To create a parts list

1

Start the Parts List command.
Menu

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ Parts List

Command

AMPARTLIST

2

Respond to the prompt as follows:

Select border:

Move the cursor over the border until tooltip ISO_A2 is displayed,

and then click the highlighted border

The Parts List dialog box opens.

Choose OK.

The parts list appears dynamically on the cursor.

3

Move the cursor to the top of the title block. Click to insert the parts list.

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The parts list should look like the following:

NOTE

If you are working with more than one drawing border, you can create

border-specific parts lists. In this case, a BOM database is created for each border
automatically when the AMBALLOON or AMPARTLIST commands are used.

You can use the AMBOM command to create or edit a BOM manually.

An example of a BOM database that contains more than one border is shown
below. Selecting BORDER1 or BORDER2 displays the contents for each BOM
database.

In the next step, you edit balloon / parts list information using several meth-
ods.

To edit parts list information

1

Start the Edit Part List/Balloon command.

Command

AMEDIT

2

Respond to the prompt as follows:

Select object:

Select balloon 2

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3

In the Balloon dialog box, enter 8.8 in the Material column.

4

Choose OK.

Notice the changes in your parts list.

NOTE

Choose Apply to see the results in the drawing immediately without

leaving the dialog box. All changes made in the dialog box are associative and
change the data in the drawing immediately.

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5

Double-click the parts list.

The Parts List dialog box is displayed.

You can edit your data in this dialog box. Some examples are shown next.

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6

Select the Hexagon Nut entry and choose the Set values icon.

7

In the Set Value dialog box, specify:

Column:

Material

Value:

8

8

Choose OK.

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The result should look like the following.

9

Now, change the material of the second bolt and nut accordingly.

NOTE

Using the shortcut menu inside a field provides additional functions

such as cut, copy, and paste.

Save your file.

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Merging and Splitting Items in a Parts List

The Parts List function allows you to merge items which appear repeatedly.

To merge parts list items

1

In the Parts List dialog box, hold down

CTRL

while you click the box in front

of item 1 and the box in front of item 6. With items 1 and 6 selected, choose
the Merge items icon.

Item 1 now has a quantity of 2, and Item 6 is missing.

Selecting several rows allows you to merge or split items. The selected rows
need to have the same entries.

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2

Choose Apply to display the changes in the drawing.

Balloon 1 is displayed twice.

NOTE

Select the gray field to the left of row 1, and the Split item icon is acti-

vated.

NOTE

In this case, if you choose Split item, the previously merged items will

be split again.
Selecting the gray field in the upper left corner left to Item allows you to select
all rows at once, as shown in the following.

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NOTE

In this case, the Merge item and Split item icons are active.

Selecting one of the icons allows you to merge or split all items at once. All data
will be compared, and, if they are the same, they are merged together. Other-
wise, if they are merged items, they are split at once.

Now that you have merged the bearing, you can delete one of the balloons
and add an additional leader.

To delete a balloon

1

Use Power Erase, and select the left balloon with the item number 1.

2

Press

ENTER

to delete the balloon.

NOTE

Deleting a balloon in the drawing, doesn't delete any data. Data is only

lost if you delete a part reference. You can add more than one balloon to a part
reference, for example, to create a balloon with the same item number, for the
same part in another view.

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To add an additional leader

1

Select the remaining balloon 1.

2

Right-click to display the shortcut menu. Select Add Leader and respond to
the prompts as follows:

Select object to attach:

Select the left bearing

Enter an option [Next/Accept] <Accept>:

Press

ENTER

Next point (or F for first point):

Select a point inside the balloon 1

The leader is added and your drawing should look like the following:

Save your file.

Collecting Balloons

Collecting balloons enables you to place balloons of related parts to one
leader line. For example, you can place the balloons of a screw and a nut to
one common leader line.

To collect balloons

1

Use Zoom Window to zoom in the top view of the drawing.
Menu

View ➤ Zoom ➤ Window

Command

ZOOM

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2

Start the AMBALLOON command.
Menu

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ Balloons

Command

AMBALLOON

3

Respond to the prompt as follows:

Select part/assembly
or

[auTo/autoAll/Collect/Manual/One/Renumber/rEorganize]: Enter C

4

Continue to respond to the prompts as follows:

Select pick object or balloon:

Select the part reference of the left nut

5

Continue to respond to the prompts as follows:

Select pick object or balloon:

Press

ENTER

Select balloon:

Select balloon 2

Pick orientation:

Select a vertical orientation

6

Repeat the collect balloon command for the screw and nut on the right side.

The result should look like this:

Save your file.

Sorting and Renumbering Items on a Parts List

You can sort a parts list for manufacturing and sort standard parts with
updated item numbers.

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To sort a parts list

1

Zoom to the extents of the drawing.
Menu

View ➤ Zoom ➤ Extents

Command

ZOOM

2

Double-click the parts list to display the Parts List dialog box.

3

Choose the Sort icon.

The Sort dialog box opens.

NOTE

You can sort within a selection set, otherwise you are sorting all items.

4

In the Sort dialog box, specify as shown in the following.

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Choose OK.

The result should look like this:

In the next step, you renumber the items.

To renumber parts list items

1

Click the Item cell to select the whole Item column.

2

Choose the Set values icon.

3

In the Set Value dialog box, specify:

Column:

Item

Start value:

10

Step:

10

4

Choose OK to return to the Parts List dialog box.

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5

Choose Apply to see the results.

The result should look like the following.

6

Choose OK to return to the drawing.

Save your file.

Using Filters

You can create and use one or more filters for every parts list you have
inserted in the drawing.

To use filters in a parts list

1

Double-click the parts list to display the Parts List dialog box.

2

Move the cursor over the white Filters field, and right-click.

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3

Select Add Filter to display the List of Filters dialog box.

4

Select Custom and choose OK.

The details for this filter are displayed.

5

Set the following values to define the filter.

6

Activate the filter with the Custom check box.

7

Choose Apply in the Parts List dialog box.

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The Standards that contain ISO are displayed.

The filtered parts list is displayed in the drawing. The defined filters are saved
with the parts list and can be used again later.

If you only want to print the filtered list, choose the Print icon.

8

Deactivate the custom filter and close the dialog box with OK.

The filter will not be used in this drawing.

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The result looks like the following:

This is the end of this tutorial chapter.

Save your file.