One must allocate an identifier for each part in order to be identifiable during the planning, manufacturing and ordering process. There are multiple ways to organise drawing numbers – every company has the chance to develop their own numbering system. It can be based on serial numbers, categories, insertion site or a combination of these.
In this article, we are going to investigate how to automate numbering based on categories.
How to automate numbering based on categories in SOLIDWORKS
The following text was written by Botond Bővíz from BBM Zrt., at the beginning of our development cooperation.
Botond Bővíz – “Introducing a numbering system for the drawings is always a crucial question and most companies already have some sort of a strategy in use, thus it requires a lot of flexibility on the developers’ part to be able to respond to all custom requirements. XperiCAD aims to fulfil all customer needs. They have decades of experience so if you are just starting your company or you have not standardised your numbering system, they are happy to make recommendations so that you can start your engineering work with the most efficient numbering system.”
Through the example of an earlier client, we present the custom solution that XperiCAD’s engineers created to automate the drawing numbering at the given company. Even though our client had already had a very costly group work software from a third party, it was not appropriate for their needs. As a result, the engineering department tracked item numbers on paper. A communally used numbering book guaranteed that the same number is not used twice by two different engineers. According to their well-established process, once an engineer was done with the construction design and deemed the items ready for manufacturing, they entered the given part’s Hungarian and English name into the drawing numbering book, then renamed the SOLIDWORKS files to match the drawing number which fits the company standard, paying attention to not breaking the hyperlinks in the design system. Afterwards, the files were transferred manually to the group work software and the corporate governance MRP system.
As not only the mechanical engineers used the drawing numbering book but also other departments which did not have access to SolidWorks, a web interface had to be provided through which anyone could request a drawing number. The drawing numbers must be unique, this is now guaranteed by an SQL database running in the background – it can manage taking back drawing numbers and redistributing numbers that are no longer used. The users can define the system of the given categories and subcategories in a simple XML file – in our case, this would be Manufactured items / Electrical items / Commercial items / Custom items.
As it is rarely the case that a company introduces a completely new numbering system, a common request is to upload the numbers from the existing book into the database. The previously mentioned client wanted to synchronise the “Name” fields through the SQL database, thus making sure that the names in the numbering book are identical to the values in the Solidworks files’ “Name” fields, stored as Custom Property, eliminating the chance of typos. We can also set the method of this synchronisation – whether we want to update the SQL database based on Solidworks or the other way around.
To solve this problem, XperiCAD’s engineers developed a file loading program which can upload the existing drawing numbers into an SQL database from a traditional Excel file. In our case, the Excel file was generated from the corporate governance system.
After the basic configuration and customisation, the drawing numbering programme is ready to use. The numbering module is a stand-alone programme within the XperiCAD programme package which integrates into the SolidWorks interface, just like the file generating and sorting modules do. Fine tuning is possible through the Settings menu, but the package is good to go!
If the user thinks that a part is complete, all they have to do is to click on the Start numbering command and choose the category to which they would like to add the given item – in their own drawing numbering system (Manufactured, Commercial, etc.). The program generates the next drawing number based on the SQL database, or upon request checks whether there is a gap in any field and issues the next item number to be used. Upon request the programme automatically renames the file after having issued the drawing number, so the part – similarly to the “Save As” command, is swapped in all compilation, even if they are open, while also renaming the drawings and keeping references. The “Name” fields are automatically synchronised between SQL and SolidWorks.
It was easy to predict that the clients next request would be to have the option to carry out these steps en masse. Similarly to the process described in our previous blog post about en masse file generation, we developed a dialogue box through which one can generate drawing numbers for the entire compilation – instead of doing it individually for each part, a whole compilation can be numbered at once. Based on the file names, the programme identifies which items are in line with the preset numbering scheme and which are not. For the latter, it automatically proposes to generate drawing numbers, but we can also request new drawing numbers for the already existing items. A viewing pane helps us identify the specific items and thanks to the intuitive interface, we can quickly choose the required actions. After the en masse numbering, we can also request the files to be renamed in a larger group. At this point, the programme closes the compilation and performs the requested changes in the background – renames the files and the related drawings, making sure to keep the references – than reopens the compilation, this time including all the item numbers. Of course, the application logs all changes in detail, just as the earlier modules did, so each step can be retrieved. This is very useful for the customisation and custom development of the program.
I’ve mentioned earlier that a web interface has also been developed to allow other departments to request item numbers from the system, so not all users have to have SolidWorks CAD access. The common SQL database guarantees the seamless operation. Through this interface, further maintenance functions can also be carried out, for example we can delete certain elements if they were added to the database by mistake. The entire SQL database can be linked to an Excel spreadsheet thus creating a drawing numbering book accessible for everyone, which, due to the centralised drawing number engine, is searchable and always up to date. Its content is continuously updated and synchronises the names with SolidWorks programme.
Our blog post today presented how XperiCAD Kft. implemented the client’s unique requests into the drawing numbering module, making the users’ life easier: digitised drawing numbering and introduced numbering of parts en masse. In the last post of our posts, we will write more about another useful XperiCAD development which is not only meant for engineers but also contains functions that could be useful for all employees. Digital Drawing Store can be a great addition to manage files in an organised and controlled way at any company.