reverse BOM?

Perhaps this funtionality already exists within SWx, or in an add-in. If
so, please let me know.


Working with a part today that is used in many different assemblies.
Some of those assemblies are also sub-assemblies, ect, ect, ect. Our
production manager ask me to provide him a new copy of the drawing for this
part today. While waiting on the printer, he ask me if there were a way to
compare his upcoming production orders to a list of that part's " where used
". To my knowledge, there is not. It would have been useful to be able to
tell him that the particular part is also used as a component in 4 of the
assemblies on his list. It saves setup time to produce all parts at once.
I'd like to be able to create a reverse BOM that I can anchor within a parts
drawing, listing its useage.

The scenario would then be:
PM receives a work order for retail assembly "J" ( currently all our work
orders are hand written )
he pulls the BOM for J and all associated drawings
each part drawing contains a "reverse BOM"
he then can visually scan the reverse BOMs and notice that part # 091-2017
also happens to be used in items Q T and F ( either directly or as part of a
sub-assembly)
he is aware that a work order for Q is also lying on his desk
now he can make enough of part # 091-2017 to satisfy both work orders thus
saving him setup time, and perhaps, some raw material cost

I can get part of the information from the SW explorer or PDM works "
Where Used" buttons. But that only catches the first assembly. If that
assembly is a sub to another, the " Where Used " misses it. I would have to
repeat the process for each assembly until reaching the "retail part" level.
Any ideas?

 

Sounds like a job for SW Explorer which is a freebie bundled with SW.
It can be downloaded from SW also.

Note that is will have a hard time with parts that exist as
configurations of another part. Other than that you should have a look
at the things you have under START/Program Files/SW.

 

you could perhaps do something is SW, but it sounds like it'd be clumsy at
best....essentially, you're talking about a primitive MRP system

You might want to look at "NumberCruncher"--it's a Quickbooks add-on that
can be used to generate work-orders, and to perform inventory management.
We input the BOM from SW into NumberCruncher, and from there can generate
reports that will compare requirements to available inventory. It allows us
to manage our material requirements pretty well.

 

Brian,

If I understand you are asking for a multilevel Next Assembly List?

I was planning on creating a solution for single level Next Assembly.
I was debating whether to use a PDM works related addin or creating the
whole where used database stand alone. It sounds like what you want is
a little beyond what I was thinking but I will add it in. I will let
you know when I have something. It will be a while yet though.

Corey