Reuse an assembly

Once you create a reusable assembly in your MBOM, you can search for identical collections in your EBOM and reuse the assembly so that it is automatically aligned and transformed with the EBOM.

Note

If you want to search for a single part in your EBOM, you can set the ME_reuse_override_immediate_context preference to automatically search from the top line in the EBOM. You must also set the ME_reuse_use_absxform_id_for_multiple_align preference to a value of 1. The single part is the CAD-Part alignment case for standard parts that are repeated many times (for example, nuts and bolts).

Procedure

1. In the MBOM, select the top line of the reusable assembly and choose Tools→Manufacturing Alignment→Reuse Assembly.

In the Reuse Assembly dialog box, in the Search for text box, the reusable assembly parent name is displayed.

2. In the EBOM, select a structure at a level high enough to contain collections of parts identical to those in your reusable assembly and click .

In the Reuse Assembly dialog box, the selected structure is displayed in the In scope text box.

3. Click Search.

The Reusable Assembly view is displayed, showing collections of parts that match those in your reusable assembly but have specific locations and orientations relative to each other. In the Aligned With column, the line where you created your reusable assembly in the MBOM is shown to be aligned. The remaining collections represent opportunities for reuse.

Note If no match is found because a part does not have an in-context ID (ICID), you can use the ME_reuse_use_absxform_id_for_multiple_align preference to search for patterns and automatically align parts.

Warning The search results are not updated if you modify or reconfigure the EBOM or MBOM structure while working in the Reusable Assembly view. If you do so, rerun the search to ensure the search results are consistent with the current data.

4. In the Select For Reuse column, do one of the following.

To select individual collections for reuse, select the check boxes for those collections.

To select all collections, click the Select For Reuse header. Note The check box icon in the header does not change.

Tip To clear all collections, click the header again.

5. On the Reusable Assembly toolbar, click .

6. In the MBOM, select the parent under which you want the selected collections to be created, and in the Reusable Assembly dialog box, click .

7. Click Create.

The reused assembly nodes are added to the MBOM. In the Reusable Assembly view, the check boxes you selected are cleared to indicate that the reuse is successful. The Aligned With column is updated to show which collections are now aligned. If the collections have packed lines or were aligned multiple times, quantities are reported (for example, x 3). Note The precision of transform comparisons can be modified using the ME_reuse_assm_xform_precision preference.

8. (Optional) Add the same or different collections to other assemblies in the same MBOM structure.

After you complete creating your reused assemblies, they should look identical in the MBOM and EBOM Graphics views.

9. (Optional) Run an advanced accountability check to verify that the reused components are correctly mapped to the EBOM.