Attribute Driven Item Naming
Typical Company Profile: Small and large organizations with complex part numbering requirements
For any customer that has a requirement to capture additional information related to a design as part of a unique identifier, Enterprise Item Number (EIN) is the recommended solution. The EIN is the primary Part/Item numbering solution in 3DEXPERIENCE. The EIN offers much greater scope for configuration over the Content Naming rule. For example, an EIN can be configured to contain attributes that include different counters linked to individual values.
An EIN can be assigned to parts and assemblies; this can be done either in SOLIDWORKS via the MySession Tools toolbar, or by using the Engineering Release app (requires the Product Release Engineer Role) in a web dashboard.
Once an EIN value has been assigned to a part or assembly, it can be viewed via the ENOVIA Properties dialogue, and by adding the EIN column to the SOLIDWORKS MySession task pane, and web apps (for example Bookmarks Editor and Product Explorer).
Attribute Driven Naming Example
The following example explains how to configure a simple Enterprise Item Number (EIN) based on a formula that combines a single Physical Product attribute value, plus a counter.
Enterprise item Number Setup
- A Physical Product attribute “Part Type ID” has been defined that contains 4 authorised values “None, AN, PN, TN”. The default value of the attribute is “None”. This value will auto populate for each Physical Product if the owner does not select one of the genuine part type values AN, PN, or TN.
2. Only one EIN can be set for each 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The EIN is configured by a platform administrator in the Engineering Definition section of the Collaborative Spaces Configuration Center.
3. Enterprise Item Number : Admin Configuration enables an administrator to determine the method used to generate the EIN, for example by Formula, Business Logic Script, none (manual input). Formula is the method that offers the ability to incorporate attribute values into the EIN and will be selected for this example.
Note: Business Logic script is a method that can be used pull information from various sources in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to automatically generate an EIN, including attribute information. Business logic will require knowledge of the associated scripting language and access to the data setup application. To learn more about the Data Setup application and Business Logic please refer to the 3DEXPERIENCE Configuration and Customization section of the online user guide here, or contact your SOLIDWORKS value added reseller.
4. Enterprise Item Number : Formula Configuration provides the ability to construct the EIN formula based on a series of fields for example counter, text, and Physical Product attributes.
5. New fields are added to the EIN using the + icon. In this example the first field will be the Part Type ID Physical Product attribute.
6. When the Attribute type is selected the user is presented with a list of available Physical Product Attributes.
7. When an attribute is selected an additional option titled Create a New Counter for Each Value is available. Selecting this option will maintain an individual counter for each attribute value.
8. After the attribute field two more fields are added one as text “-“ and the other the counter to complete the EIN formula. At any time the platform administrator can add, edit or remove fields using the + icon and the icons in the Actions column.
When the formula definition is complete it can be deployed to all users by selecting the “Apply” button in the bottom left of the Formula Configuration page.
Assigning an Enterprise Item Number to a Component in SOLIDWORKS
With the EIN deployed SOLIDWORKS users can set the EIN for parts and assemblies using the Set Enterprise Item Number command on the MySession toolbar.
In the EIN dialogue the user must first select the components. The + icon will display the configured EIN formula. In this example the part type id attributes have already been set for each part therefore the resulting EINs are previewed with their respective attribute values
Selecting the Set button will apply the EIN to the selected components.
Tips and Recommended Practice
Enterprise Item Number and SOLIDWORKS Drawings
For quick and easy identification its common engineering practice to display the item number of a component on its associated drawing. The Enterprise Item Number attribute value can be added to a SOLIDWORKS drawing using the link to property option which is available for a range of annotation types e.g. Note, Balloon, Parts List etc.
When SOLIDWORKS is connected to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform the Enterprise Item Number revision and lifecycle PLM properties are automatically made available to the user in the SOLIDWORKS properties dialogue of each part and assembly. When added to the Configuration Properties the EIN property will automatically populate with the resulting value when the EIN is assigned to the component.
The EIN property of the component can then be displayed on a drawing in a range of annotation types.
Combining Auto-naming with Enterprise Item Number
An EIN can only be assigned to a part or assembly after it has been saved to 3DEXPERIENCE and the resulting Physical Product has been created. Some organizations will not want to, or need to assign item numbers until a design reaches a certain level of maturity. However, most companies will still want to ensure that each file being saved to 3DEXPERIENCE has a unique Title. Therefore, in this scenario automatic naming can be used to generate unique Titles for each file when they are saved to 3DEXPERIENCE for the first time. The EIN for each Physical Product could is then assigned later when the design reaches a chosen level of maturity, for example prior to being released into production.
Displaying Enterprise Item Number in the SOLIDWORKS User Interface
Once EIN’s have been assigned to components in an assembly structure, for greater clarity, a user can switch their SOLIDWORKS Feature Manager display to show only EIN and Description, instead of the automatically generated Titles.
To learn more about the setup and configuration of Enterprise Item Number please refer to the following section in the online documentation here.