Import a Bill of Materials
Step 1
Start the data import feature by clicking the data import toolbar button.
Step 2
With the data import feature open, an import data source must be specified using the 'Open File' toolbar button. Import data sources must be in CSV file format (easily created from within Excel by choosing to save in CSV file format; a large number of CAE tools also support CSV file format outputs).
Step 3
To create a BOM from the import data a product and product version must be specified, as a BOM must always be associated with a product version. The component designator field is also mandatory and must be specified. Component designators identify the unqiue instances of component on an assembly or are used to reference a collection of components on an assembly.
Step 4
If the component designators in the data source do not identify individual instances of a component on an assembly, and instead are simply references to a collection the same components, then the quantity attribute should be specified. If the quantity attribute is specified and the importer detects that the format of the designator attribute data indicates that it is a collection of unique instances (defined by whether the attribute delimiter is detected in the import data), then it will automatically verify whether the quantity matches the designator count and prompt a warning if it does not.
Step 5
The importer can be configured to work with differing file formats by changing the input file format user settings. The attribute delimiter tells the importer which character to look for when decoding the input data. If the input data source contains pricing information which is encoded into a single attribute, then the importer can also be configured to tell it how to interpret this data.
Step 6
The 'Three Tier Component Model' implemented by Ciiva defines three categories of components; base, manufacturer and supplier. Data sources may contain a combination of these components, and the importer allows the user to specify which types of components exist in the import data source. Base components can be created automatically if the import data source does not contain any company specific component part numbers, and manufacturer components can be automatically created from the Cloud database if a the supplier component is known to Ciiva.
Step 7
Additional attributes which may be contained within the data source can be mapped to component attributes (including custom attributes) and the associated data included as part of the import process.
Step 8
When the import configuration is complete, the next step is to create a preview by clicking the 'Create Preview' toolbar button. This provides an opportunity to review the updates to the component library and the BOM entries that will be created.
Step 9
The preview will be shown in the bottom of the import navigator. Icons are used to indicate the status of any existing components in the component library and the actions that the importer will take once the preview has been committed. A blue addition icon indicates the components is new and will be added to the component library. A red addition icon indicates that the component exists in the library but one or more attributes for that component will be updated from the import data. A green checkmark icon indicates that the component already exists in the library and no changes will be made to it.
Step 10
The generated preview can be compared with an existing BOM by clicking the 'Compare Preview' toolbar button. The allows differences between an existing BOM to be compared with the import data before the import is committed.
Step 11
Once the preview has been reviewed, it can be committed by clicking the 'Confirm Import' toolbar button. This will commit the changes shown in the preview window to the database and create a BOM as may be requried.