PLM - Part & BOM
Below is a group of How-to's that are related to the topic of 'Batch import' in the PLM - Part & BOM subcategory. Click on their links to find more information on these topics.
- What is the concept of Batch Import?
- How to use a Batch Import?
- How to enter metadata with drag and drop (batch import)?
- How to retrieve / find an existing job in Batch Import?
- How to add new files to a pending job or modify the metadata in Batch Import?
- How to delete a file or document from a pending job in Batch Import?
Below is a group of How-to's that are related to the topic of 'BOM' in the PLM - Part & BOM subcategory. Click on their links to find more information on these topics.
Below are the remaining How-to's that are not present in other subgroups in the PLM - Part & BOM subcategory. Click on their links to find more information on these topics.
There are two ways of retrieving all the objects that you have claimed.
- Method one is to use the dashboard. From either one of the specific tabs (e.g CAD documents) or the All tab, click on the 'claimed by me' filter at the top. This will filter the results of the tab to show only objects that you currently have claimed.
- Method two is from a regular PLM search window. From the table of contents navigate to one of the objects, such as Part, and from here you can open a search window for this object type. Use the column 'claimed by' to filter documents claimed by you. The flag column confirms that these objects are claimed by you, through the presence of a green flag. (Note the column order is customisable to user preferences through drag and drop, so yours may differ from the screenshot below)
To unclaim all the objects in one go, use method 2 and highlight the results. (Press and hold the Ctrl key to select individual results. Alternatively, select a result then hold down the shift button and select another result, this will highlight all the documents in between.)
Once the required documents are highlighted right click to bring up the contextual menu. Click 'unclaim', to unclaim all the highlighted documents.
In most situations all master CAD documents in a CAD structure are contained in the assembly’s BOM. However, there is a valid use case where this is not true.
For example, a component in a structure will be manufactured from a standard SCEM part, such as a long tube. The component is ‘Master’, but very simple and does not require its own drawing (dimensions will be placed on the assembly drawing). Rather than putting the modified CAD part in the BOM, the SCEM part is included instead to aid purchasing and manufacturing. See the example below.
To create a BOM structure that includes the Part of CAD C instead of CAD B, we can use the ‘marked as’ attribute in the PLM. There are different properties that can be applied to this attribute which alter how Parts are shown in the parent assembly BOM. The four different options are, ‘ ‘ (default), ‘IN-BOM’, ‘Not IN-BOM’ and ‘Phantom’. For this use case we will use the ‘ ‘ (default) and ‘Not IN- BOM’ property, but you can read more about the other attributes through the link at the bottom of this ‘How-to’.
The image below shows how to alter this property in CATIA. Select the document you want to change, then open the PDM properties window by selecting the icon on the connector toolbar. From here, there is a drop-down list to select the required marked as attribute.
For our structure above, we can set CAD B to ‘Not IN-BOM’, therefore it will not be included in BOM A. CAD D is left at the default option, meaning that because it is a master document, its Part will be included in BOM A. Finally, to add Part C this must be done manually in the PLM by following the steps below, but for more information please read the FAQ linked at the bottom of this page.
- Open the profile card of Part A. Put it into edit mode and navigate to the BOM tab at the bottom.
- Click on the ‘Add Parts’ button.
- A query box will be displayed, search for Part C and press ok.
- The part will be added to the BOM table.
It will be highlighted as manually managed. In addition, the quantity and position override boxed will be ticked as they cannot be computed from the CAD structure. The position box can be left empty, meaning it will be assigned the next available position, or a value can be provided. - If required, modify the quantity value. By default, it is set to 1.
- Click done on Part A’s profile card to save the changes.
Part A’s BOM is now updated and includes the required parts. The schematic below shows the resultant BOM structure compared to the CAD structure.
It is important to note, when creating a workflow to verify the structure, Part B must be added as a root object of the workflow, else it will not be approved and remain in preparation as a baseline.
BOM management FAQ: BOM management in CATIA / PLM
The order of the BOM is determined by the CATIA tree. The BOM is built based on the positions and quantities in the CATIA tree, using a top-down approach.
Please note:
- Only CAD Documents identified as 'Master' 'Representation type' are automatically included in the BOM. See the full FAQ to understand how to manually add documents of alternative 'representation types'.
- The first instance of a reference found in the tree structure is what determines its position in the BOM.
There are manual ways to override the CATIA positions & quantities, for further information on this see the FAQ below. However, you can also simply reorder the CATIA tree to order parts in the BOM as you desire. Use the 'Graph tree Reordering' function in CATIA to easily move the parts around.
The third button in the window can be used to move the part quickly next to any other, by selecting one in the list. Note when moving a part down from its current position, it will be placed under the document you select. When moving up, it will be placed above.
A BOM can be projected onto a drawing using the Title Block Editor (TBE).
When you click on the Title Block Editor icon in CATIA V5, 
it will open in a new window. The BOM can be found in the second tab, called “Bill of Materials”.
Check the “Bill of Materials” box to add the BOM to the title block of the drawing. Then click on “Generate & Save” to add the BOM and the title block to the drawing.
More: Title Block Editor FAQ
Further: BOM management in CATIA / PLM
The PLM uses an automatic engineering BOM (EBOM). This means every time you save an assembly the BOM will be created/updated on each 'claimed' or 'new' assembly node.
The BOM uses the positions and quantities of the instances in the CATIA tree, using a top-down approach.
Please note:
- Only CAD Documents identified as 'Master' 'Representation type' are automatically included in the BOM. See the full FAQ to understand how to manually add documents of alternative 'representation types'.
- The first instance of a reference found in the tree structure is what determines its position in the BOM.
- There are manual ways to override the CATIA positions & quantities, see the FAQ below.
You can also trigger a forced manual BOM synchronisation at any time from the “More” menu of the CAD Document profile card in the PLM platform.
In order to be able to delete an object from the PLM platform (whether it is a Part, a CAD document, a non-CAD document or a Folder), there are a number of requirements that must be met.
All these requirements and the necessary steps are explained in the FAQ below:
If the Batch Import has not yet been launched and the job is still "In Preparation", it can be edited (by clicking on the "Edit" button at the top of the Profile Card). Go to the relationship grid at the bottom of the Profile Card, select the row that corresponds to the document (1) to be deleted and choose the "Delete link Document Batch Import" on the right side (2).
For more information, please check the document below:
If the Batch Import has not yet been launched and the job is still "In Preparation", it can be edited (by clicking on the "Edit" button at the top of the Profile Card). Then the new files can be dragged and dropped into the dedicated area. When the import is ready to launch, close the "Edit" mode and click on the "Launch Import" button.
To find more information, please follow the link below:
Every time a file or a batch of files is dragged and dropped into a Part or a Folder in edit mode, the system automatically created an import job. Each job corresponds to a specific object, i.e. a Batch Import, that is created for that purpose in the PLM Platform. That object has its own Profile Card, properties and lifecycle.
To find the specific Batch Import it is possible by going in the Content and then finding "Design and Documents" and next "Batch Import", then retrieve it by the name, the creation date or the Parent.
When dropping a file into one of the two areas, a table appears.
When importing CAD files, the table contains more fields to be completed. As many fields of the table as possible are prefilled but the proposed default values can be changed and the blank fields filled in.
If you require a new document to be created, leave the 'version a CAD document' column blank. To create a new version of an existing CAD document see the dedicated How-to here.
To enter a value or to change an existing value, double-click in the cell in question. To delete a value select the cell and press the "delete" key on the keyboard or copy a value from one cell to another when you have more files by holding the cell on the corner and moving it to the cell below. The metadata can also be copied and pasted from an excel sheet.
Once the metadata has been entered and the upload is complete, the import can be launched by clicking on the blue "Launch import" button.
Batch importing involves uploading several files at once to the PLM platform from a File Explorer (Windows, Linux or Mac). To do so, the target folder or part in the PLM must be in edit mode, then the files can be dragged and dropped from the File Explorer into the PLM.
For more information, please follow the link below:
The goal of the Drafts Container functionality is to allow users to approve the Part and its Master CAD Documents without being delayed by the finalisation of the other "secondary" objects that are related to the Part but not relevant for the approval of the Part. On top of that, this functionality allows users to attach "secondary" documentation to the Part at any lifecycle state.
The Drafts Container must be manually activated from the Part Profile Card. You just need to select the 
icon and choose “Activate Drafts Container”.
Complete description: Drafts Container FAQ.
The Parts are the group of responsible objects for storing all engineering information related to the equipment like 2D, 3D or other documents and files. However, the Part does not contain any files: the files must be attached to the CAD or non-CAD Documents.
In the PLM Platform the Part can be linked to a second Part, but CADs and Documents can be attached only to one Part.
In the Parent Part it is possible to link several Children: Parts (BOM), CAD Documents and Documents.
The Part can be created manually from the PLM Platform or automatically through connector.
Read More: Part