Hello
Im currently working for a small company in the stages of fully implementing Solid Works to reep all the benifits that can be gained by such a 3D system.
One of the more frustrating tasks has been getting the BOM to look how I would like. Im trying to duplicate the old BOM template that was used with AutoCad LT (where the data was input manually). Im wanting to keep it the same so as not to confuse the guys in manufacture.
There is no problem getting the data into a sheet, its more of a presentation issue. I want the main column title cells to be around row 6 or 7 not row 1. This is because i want to have that space to add headings that are manually filled in by Manufactre. Things like Job Number, Processed By, Paint By, Packed By ....etc. This are normally where the guy processing the job will fill a few things in, for tracing purposes.
Ive tried this but SW (Solid Works) seems to look stright for cell A2 under the first column title (in cell A1). To combat this i attempted to add an actuall Header to the excell template (done by going into View, Header and Footer) and putting all the extra heading in there. But because when you bring in the BOM into SW you then have to save as to create the seperate excell sheet, the header is not copied across. Ive been told this is because of the limited functionality of excell within SW.
Would it be as simple as just changing the cell where SW looks to start putting the data? Ive also been told that the BOM situation is completely changing for the new release of SW but Im being pressed for a comment/solution now.
Are there any small independant PDM plug-in type packages that would deal with this?
The issues effecting my decision are that a standard BOM cannot be created for each job as the company design and make bespoke large items. So each BOM is different from the last.
The current designer also wants to keep the link between the drawing and the BOM for updates should a simular job ever be required again. So I cannot simple copy and paste into an ideal Excell sheet.
I have suggested keeping the BOM within the final drawing sheet and editing the sheet to have the titles that are within the headers but an excell sheet is required because of the size and editing capabilities.
Can some one put me out of my misery?
Many Thanks
Alan