Technical Drawing/Drafting

Internally manufactured parts and assemblies:

AAAA-###### TITLE [SIZE] (NOTE) Revision

AAAA the company I work for

####### sequential unique part number. BOM and drawing title block are automatically populated with company and part number data.

TITLE Everything that comes after the first space and not enclosed by brackets or parentheses is automatically parsed as the drawing and part title. This information automatically populates the BOM description field.

[SIZE] Everything enclosed in brackets is optional and automatically populates the BOM size field.

(NOTE) Everything enclosed in parentheses is optional and is ignored for the BOM and drawing title block.

Revision is optional. Generally, the current revision is left out and previous revisions have this info included. This is because revisions to a part must always be backwards compatible. Leaving the current revision blank results in all CAD assemblies always referencing the latest revision of a part. Note: If a revision is not 100% backwards compatible then it’s not a revision. It’s a new part.

example:

SMNA-12001-01 FOLDER BRACKET EXTENSION [11Ga x 23.50 x 5.00](flat layout).IPT

Purchased parts and assemblies:

…\PURCHASED PARTS\VENDOR\SUBDIRECTORIES\AAAA-BBBB_###### TITLE [SIZE] (NOTE)

PURCHASED PARTS\VENDOR Directory name is parsed and automatically populates the BOM vendor field.

SUBDIRECTORIES are ignored

AAAA-BBBB_###### vendor part number used to order the part. Info automatically populates the BOM order number. Note: spaces in the part number are replaced with _ but automatically changed back to a space when the BOM is populated.

TITLE [SIZE] (NOTE) same as internal parts and assemblies above

Example:

…\PURCHASED PARTS\MCMASTER-CARR\BEARINGS\5972K279 STEEL BALL BEARING, 6804-2RS[20mm ID x 32mm OD X 7mm] (shown with seals removed).IPT

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This system was developed over 30+ years of doing CAD work. VBA.NET programs have been developed to automatically parse this information and populate the BOM fields. The BOM data can easily be overridden if desired. It results in a very consistent file naming convention and extremely low likelihood of incorrect or missing BOM data. It also greatly increases efficiency.

I use a system where the first part is the job number acronym, the second part denotes assy, sub assy or part and the third is sequence only. All parts are given a number but not necessarily drawn. The description of the part shows in the BOM. The system looks like this

xxx-01-001.... assembly

xxx-02-001.... sub assembly

xxx-03-001..... part

if required a top level assembly can be added in the form xxx-00-001...

Revisions are only shown on the drawing and are managed separately, procured items are managed separately from the drawing as are internal or external manufactures.

The company I do contract work for uses:

XeeeeeeY... drawing

XeeeeeeY001... assembly

XeeeeeeY001-001... part

XeeeeeeY001-001-01... sub assembly if needed

We use Enovia (soon going to Windchill) to generate the upper level part number. One letter followed by six numbers ending with a letter. The software control the revision letters. (I.E.: M123456C)

For vendor parts we use:

vendor name_part number (I.E.: mcmaster_99607a212)

We use Creo (Pro/E) so all letters are lower case.

Thanks https://grabcad.com/bob.wiley-1, https://grabcad.com/john-736 and https://grabcad.com/daryll.smith-2 for your inputs.