BOM Workshop

The BOM workshop lets you manage the bill of materials (BOM) list and table. A BOM is a list of parts, which is an essential part of the design and manufacture of most products.

To display this workshop, click Workshops > Publishing > BOM > .

This page discusses:

See Also
BOM Table Properties

Main Area

The main area of the BOM workshop lets you store settings using profiles, manage BOM IDs, callouts and options.

Profile

Profiles store your settings for future use. For details, see About Profiles for Workshop Settings.

BOM IDs

Icon Command Name Description
N/A Apply to Specifies the scope for generating or resetting BOM IDs:
  • Visible geometry - Generates or resets IDs for all geometry (geometry nodes in the Assembly tree) visible in the viewport.
  • Selection - Generates or resets IDs for the selected geometry, parts, or assemblies.
    Tip: Use the Select pane to select actors based on level in the assembly.
  • All geometry - Generates or resets IDs for all geometry.
  • Visible parts - Generates or resets IDs for all parts (part nodes in the Assembly tree) visible in the viewport.
  • All parts - Generates or resets IDs for all parts.
Generate BOM IDs Creates BOM IDs for the selected Apply to scope. Set appropriate Definition and BOM ID Format options before generating BOM IDs.
Reset BOM IDs Deletes BOM IDs for the selected Apply to scope.
N/A Assign Manually Lets you assign BOM IDs manually. To assign IDs:
  1. Set appropriate Definition and BOM ID Format options.
  2. Click Assign Manually.
  3. Click callouts or geometry actors in the viewport.
  4. Press Esc to stop making assignments.

Callouts

Icon Command Name Description
Create Callouts Creates callouts for the selected actors. Set appropriate Callouts options before creating callouts.
Note: When no callouts exist, the BOM table has entries for all geometry actors with BOM IDs. When callouts exist, the BOM table contains only actors with callouts. To display all actors regardless of callout status, create callouts for all actors and set callout opacity to 0 (transparent) for callouts you want hidden.
Delete Visible Callouts Deletes all visible callouts.

Options

Tab Name Description
Definition See Definition.
BOM ID Format See BOM ID Format.
Callouts See Callouts.

BOM and Callout Visibility

Icon Command Name Description
Show/Hide BOM Table Toggles visibility of the BOM table in the model. You can also display the BOM table by selecting Home > Visibility > BOM Table in the ribbon or enabling Panels > BOM in the Collaboration pane.
Note: At least one BOM ID must be assigned for the BOM table to appear in the viewport.
Show/Hide Callouts Toggles visibility of all callouts in the model.

Definition Tab

The Definition tab lets you specify how BOM IDs are assigned to geometry actors.

Command Name Description
Parent level Specifies whether to create the BOM description from the actor itself (level 0) or from a parent.
Property name Specifies the property ( Label or Name) or meta-property used as the BOM description.
Compare property Assigns the same BOM ID to actors by comparing Property name values. Select one or more options:
  • Skip characters from right - Ignores the specified number of characters when comparing property values. For example, specify 2 to match Bolt-A1 and Bolt-B1.
  • Ignore numerical suffix - Ignores number suffixes when comparing property values. For example, select this option to match Bolt-11 and Bolt-456.
  • Match case - Considers case when comparing property values.
Compare geometry Assigns the same BOM ID to actors by comparing geometry (meshing). Select one of the following:
  • Exact - Actors match if they have the same number of triangles, if those triangles have the same index, and if the meshing points fit. Two actors that come from the same CAD or are copies are always exact matches.
  • By similarity - Actors can have different meshings so meshing points are not compared. Choose from low to high matching criteria.

    Select Check coordinate system to also check the point coordinates.

Assign unique BOM IDs Assigns unique IDs to all actors. Each BOM ID has a quantity ( Qty) of one (1).

BOM ID Format Tab

The BOM ID Format tab lets you define BOM ID naming rules.

These rules are obeyed when you generate BOM IDs automatically ( Generate BOM IDs) or manually ( Assign Manually).

Tip: To create grouped (nested) BOM numbering, use the Select Actors command to select different parent/child levels, then generate BOM IDs on the current selection using different prefix, start, and increment values. See Select Pane.

Command Name Description
Prefix

Defines a BOM ID prefix. Specify any combination of alphabetic, numeric, or other characters.

Prefix = A-

Suffix

Defines a BOM ID suffix. Specify any combination of alphabetic, numeric, or other characters.

Suffix = -B

Data type Defines the BOM ID data format: Numeric (1, 2, ...) or Alphabetic (A, B, ..., Z, AA, AB, ...).
Start Defines the first BOM ID value. Specify a number when Data type is Numeric or a letter when Data type is Alphabetic.
Increment

Defines the step value.

Start = 10, Increment = 2

Callouts Tab

The Callouts tab lets you define how BOM callouts are created.

Command Name Description
Create Specifies how callouts are generated:
  • One callout per instance - Creates one callout per actor.

  • One callout per BOM ID - Creates one callout for all actors with the same BOM ID. The annotation is anchored on the first actor with this BOM ID.

  • One multi-callout per BOM ID - Creates one callout linked to all actors by a line.

Note: The BOM workshop is the only way to create callouts on assemblies. (You can create part callouts with the Callout command. See Annotations Commands.) By default, assembly callouts are black and part callouts are white.
Tip: Set callout alignment with the Auto alignment callout property (Properties pane). Many arrangements are supported, such as perimetric, circle, and left.
Attach point Specifies where callouts attach to actors:
  • Center of the bounding box - The callout attach point need not touch the actor.

  • Closest point to the center - The callout attach point is on the actor at the closest point to the center of the bounding box.