SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Part V: Creating Drawings

FIGURE 24.1

A sample BOM

BOMs are made in one of two ways. The default BOM is made from a special SolidWorks table,

while an Excel-based BOM is driven by Excel. While Excel has advantages and disadvantages,

many users appear to prefer the default BOM. Excel and SolidWorks table-based BOMs are not

interchangeable, so if you plan to customize the default templates, you need to make a decision in

which type of BOM you will want to develop the BOMs.

Note
BOMs can also be placed directly in the assembly and even in multi-body part files. n

Examining the SolidWorks table-based BOM

The BOM shown in Figure 24.1 is a default SolidWorks table-based BOM. The differences between

the displays of the two types of BOM are mainly cosmetic; the bigger difference is in the function-

ality. The PropertyManager interface for the SolidWorks Bill of Materials is shown in Figure 24.2.