How are callout numbers generated in the assembly

[sathersc]

Hey all,

Working with parts list (coming from Autodesk Inventor) and I am trying to understand how the callout number gets generated when adding a component to an assembly. In Inventor this was fairly automated, and I have figured out how to edit them once I have generated a specification drawing, but I would like to have them system generated in a sensible way if at all possible. Autodesk Inventor generates callouts based on ascending part number, and increments from 1 to N, depending on settings. Is there a comparable way to set this up in NX, or does it require a journal that we hit and reorder the callouts at the end of assembly?

Thanks,

Sam C. Sather E.I.
Project Engineer

 

[sathersc]

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=337741

Found a thread that articulates this - we use a TC environment so we'll have to modify the defaults there. Does anyone know the resolution to the last comment regarding TC and if it is able to maintain a "Find No" less than 10?

 

[JohnRBaker]

In NX it's based on how they're listed in the Parts List note.

The order in which you see items listed in the Parts List note can be controlled by either manually arranging the entries (by 'Cutting & Pasting' the rows) or by using the 'Sort' option to define which columns and what order are the sorting rules to be applied.

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

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

 

[sathersc]

John,

Sorry if I wasn't clear:

When adding components to an NX assembly it'll give unique callout numbers to each instance of a component. When I go to add the parts list I end up getting a [...] in the PC NO field as it is grabbing the callout field and can't understand what to do with multiple callout numbers. I then have to go in and manually drive all the callouts to the same number at the component level to get the parts list to work.

I was wondering why this is so and how to define what order and increment the callout number is generated in when placing a component in an assembly (which is a TC setting I do not have access to at our site).

Thanks,

Sam

 

[JohnRBaker]

I don't run NX under Teamcenter therefore the 'Callout' attributes are not assigned UNTIL the Parts List note has actually been created, and then that's done based on the sort order of the columns as I previously described.

I can't comment on how this is accomplished when running in 'Managed Mode', that is under the control of Teamcenter or some other PDM system.

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

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

 

[ewh]

We assign a callout number attribute to each component (that we want to see in the PL) in the assembly file.
The attribute has usually been created in our seed files, so we only update the find number.
If working on a fabrication drawing such as a weldment (where we want to see items that may not be "components"), we create the attribute for each item we want to see in the PL.

"Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively."
-Dalai Lama XIV

 

[Dave K]

From my experience, things can work in managed mode, just as John describes. OR, with additional effort, you can tie the callout number to the sequence number.

From the help files:

Callout and sequence number in Teamcenter Integration
If you are running Teamcenter Integration and edit the assembly structure in NX, the callout in the parts list is updated with the sequence number from the PSE.

See the Teamcenter Integration for NX help for additional information about NX parts lists and Teamcenter Integration.

We have not gone to this yet, but there is some interest in making the callout number match the sequence number


-Dave

NX 9, Teamcenter 10

 

[SDETERS]

From the help files in teamcenter the default find Number is set to 10. I do not know if you talk to your teamcenter admin if you can change this or not. In the help documents it almost sounded like you could But I could not find a good answer to this. Go to your teamcenter help documents and do a search for find number.

 

[Dave K]

From the Teamcenter help:


Callout Management
This topic refers to the callout option in the NX Parts List menu. Before using this option, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the NX callout functionality.
Callout column as key field
The Callout column in the parts list is a key field used by default for packing and corresponds to the Find No. in Teamcenter Structure Manager. To ensure that multiple occurrences of the same component appear on the same line of the parts list, it is recommended that you change the value of the Teamcenter preference PS_new_seqno_mode to existing. If you do not change this preference, turn off the Callout column as a key field to allow similar items to pack (by part number) in the parts list.
Callouts in multi-level assemblies
In an assembly with multiple levels, the situation can occur where you get a parts list that has the same callout numbers for different parts. This is because each subassembly only considers the components it contains when assigning callouts. For example, callout 30 in subassembly A could be a bolt and callout 30 in subassembly B could be a bracket. To avoid this confusion with multiple subassemblies, you need to structure the parts list so that unique callout numbers are provided.
The following guidelines are recommended for structuring the parts list:
Note This functionality is in the Drafting application, Edit Levels popup toolbar.
Ideally, a parts list should only be used to show one level of the product structure. The buttons on the Edit Levels toolbar can be used to achieve this.
For a parts list in a non-master drawing, select Master Model (the default) to get skip one level.
For a parts list with a multi-level assembly, use the $~C setting for the callout column instead of the callout attribute. Then the callout numbers are generated from the parts list which avoids duplicate callout numbers.
Note If $~C is used for the callout column, then callout numbers generated from the parts list are not mapped to the Callout attribute on the components of the assembly, and therefore are not synchronized with the corresponding Teamcenter attributes. In addition, you cannot create annotations referencing the parts list callout number.


-Dave

NX 9, Teamcenter 10