Manually Edited BOM Values Disappearing

[AHilditch]

Hi there!
I'm having trouble with some of the manually edited cell values disappearing in my Indented Bill of Materials. I can edit the cells, but as soon as I click off, arrow over, or hit 'enter' the inserted value disappears/ doesn't show. Is there a specific reason this is happening? It's in the item number column that is not property driven or linked. The top level assembly item numbers that ARE linked to balloons can be edited with out a problem. The odd thing is that it doesn't happen every time I insert a BOM into a drawing. Sometimes all I need to do it delete and reinsert the BOM, but for a 70+ item BOM (like the one I'm working on now), I would rather not delete all of the manual edits I have done. If anyone has similar issues or some insight on this matter, I would greatly appreciate assistance.

 

[StrykerTECH]

I would suggest flat numbering, manually editing the numbers is not generally a good thing. Every time you rebuild the BOM they will disappear, unless you turn off automatic updates then it will just be added to the end of the list. But with indented BOMs if you add a component it can't throw it at the end since like sub-assembly indents are grouped together, so it refreshes the entire BOM losing manual updates.
Why are you manually editing the item number column in the first place? What do you need to do that won't work with the options they give you?

StrykerTECH Engineering Staff
Milwaukee, WI

http://www.stryker-tech.com/

 

[AHilditch]

Ah, okay that makes sense. Once I select Flat numbering the cells become editable. The reason we do them by hand is that the system we use hasn't been automated with Solidworks yet; mostly due to lack of understanding on our department's part. My job right now is to start working out kinks we've been having and figuring out how to automate the majority of the drawing process. The numbering system seems like a good place to start, hehe. Thank you for your help!