In this lesson, we'll explore the two ways of creating items in your bill of materials without CAD: the BOM interface in the web app, and the Upchain Office plugin for Excel.
Understanding how to create items and assign the proper item type is critical to maintaining an organized bill of materials. Let’s start creating items in the BOM interface of the Upchain web application.
Transcript
00:04
In this video, we walk you through how to go about creating end items,
00:09
how to find and select the correct item type and how to create child items all within the BOM interface.
00:16
When working within your BOM, you will at times need to add new items to your BOM structure.
00:22
To do this, there are three different ways.
00:24
Through the BOM interface in your web application from within Upchain's excel plugin or via the mechanical CAD plugin in your CAD software.
00:34
It should be noted that the preferred method of adding items into your BOM is through the CAD plugin wherever possible.
00:41
This process is the gusting detail in the mCAD courses and then expanded upon in our mCAD webinar.
00:47
Also bear in mind that while it is easy to add an item directly through the BOM interface,
00:53
this process does not support any CAD models or documents associated with the item.
00:59
Depending on the item, the CAD and documents would have to be added to the item later using the CAD plugin.
01:05
However, for a CAD related item, for example, a gear or bearing,
01:11
it would be a better idea to add via the CAD plugin, so that the CAD files and drawings are all added and associated with the item at once.
01:20
In this video, we are going to focus on adding items through the BOM interface via the web app.
01:25
This method is handy if you just need to add in a single item or two.
01:29
Building an entire BOM structure one item at time will likely prove time consuming and, usually, isn't recommended.
01:37
To add an item, you need to determine if it will be an end item or a child item. Any populated BOM structure will have an end item.
01:45
To first create an end item, we can simply click on the "Add End Item" button at the top of the navigation tree.
01:52
From here, a window will appear where we will need to select the type of item that we are creating.
01:58
We are going to select "Assembly" since we know it's going to become apparent,
02:03
we also need to enter a name for the item and we also need to enter in a description.
02:09
Descriptions are helpful in giving other users in our tenant more information about the item that we are creating.
02:16
Once we have entered in all the information, we can go ahead and click on "Create".
02:20
The item will be created and added to our BOM structure in a development state.
02:25
Now that we've created our assembly, we can see it listed as an end item here.
02:30
Notice that we left the revision and item numbers at their default.
02:34
So we've allowed Upchain to set that up for us according to our tenant properties along with the item numbering rule.
02:42
Generally speaking, we usually recommend that you let Upchain automatically assign these numbers for you in order to reduce user error.
02:50
Once we have created an end item or assembly item or if we perhaps already have an existing one,
02:56
we can now go about creating any children that may need to go underneath this item.
03:01
To create a child item, you will need to follow a similar process.
03:05
The difference is that we need to give Upchain context for where the item should be placed within the BOM structure.
03:11
So this time, we want to click on the "More actions" button next to what will be the parent of our child item and select "Create Item".
03:20
Once again, we need to select an Item type.
03:23
If we once again chose Assembly or Sub Assembly, we would now be creating Sub Assembly beneath the one we just created.
03:32
This time, however, let's pick manufactured item, which is the default item type for parts and components manufactured in house.
03:41
Then, we need to fill in the item name and, of course, add in a description.
03:48
Once all of our information is filled in, we can go ahead and click on "Create".
03:53
Now once our item is created, we can see how it is visible underneath the parent item.
03:59
So now that we know how to create both end items and child items through the BOM interface,
04:04
the next step is to learn how to create a BOM structure using the Excel plugin.
00:04
In this video, we walk you through how to go about creating end items,
00:09
how to find and select the correct item type and how to create child items all within the BOM interface.
00:16
When working within your BOM, you will at times need to add new items to your BOM structure.
00:22
To do this, there are three different ways.
00:24
Through the BOM interface in your web application from within Upchain's excel plugin or via the mechanical CAD plugin in your CAD software.
00:34
It should be noted that the preferred method of adding items into your BOM is through the CAD plugin wherever possible.
00:41
This process is the gusting detail in the mCAD courses and then expanded upon in our mCAD webinar.
00:47
Also bear in mind that while it is easy to add an item directly through the BOM interface,
00:53
this process does not support any CAD models or documents associated with the item.
00:59
Depending on the item, the CAD and documents would have to be added to the item later using the CAD plugin.
01:05
However, for a CAD related item, for example, a gear or bearing,
01:11
it would be a better idea to add via the CAD plugin, so that the CAD files and drawings are all added and associated with the item at once.
01:20
In this video, we are going to focus on adding items through the BOM interface via the web app.
01:25
This method is handy if you just need to add in a single item or two.
01:29
Building an entire BOM structure one item at time will likely prove time consuming and, usually, isn't recommended.
01:37
To add an item, you need to determine if it will be an end item or a child item. Any populated BOM structure will have an end item.
01:45
To first create an end item, we can simply click on the "Add End Item" button at the top of the navigation tree.
01:52
From here, a window will appear where we will need to select the type of item that we are creating.
01:58
We are going to select "Assembly" since we know it's going to become apparent,
02:03
we also need to enter a name for the item and we also need to enter in a description.
02:09
Descriptions are helpful in giving other users in our tenant more information about the item that we are creating.
02:16
Once we have entered in all the information, we can go ahead and click on "Create".
02:20
The item will be created and added to our BOM structure in a development state.
02:25
Now that we've created our assembly, we can see it listed as an end item here.
02:30
Notice that we left the revision and item numbers at their default.
02:34
So we've allowed Upchain to set that up for us according to our tenant properties along with the item numbering rule.
02:42
Generally speaking, we usually recommend that you let Upchain automatically assign these numbers for you in order to reduce user error.
02:50
Once we have created an end item or assembly item or if we perhaps already have an existing one,
02:56
we can now go about creating any children that may need to go underneath this item.
03:01
To create a child item, you will need to follow a similar process.
03:05
The difference is that we need to give Upchain context for where the item should be placed within the BOM structure.
03:11
So this time, we want to click on the "More actions" button next to what will be the parent of our child item and select "Create Item".
03:20
Once again, we need to select an Item type.
03:23
If we once again chose Assembly or Sub Assembly, we would now be creating Sub Assembly beneath the one we just created.
03:32
This time, however, let's pick manufactured item, which is the default item type for parts and components manufactured in house.
03:41
Then, we need to fill in the item name and, of course, add in a description.
03:48
Once all of our information is filled in, we can go ahead and click on "Create".
03:53
Now once our item is created, we can see how it is visible underneath the parent item.
03:59
So now that we know how to create both end items and child items through the BOM interface,
04:04
the next step is to learn how to create a BOM structure using the Excel plugin.
Now that we know how to create items in the web app, let’s learn how to import an entire BOM structure using the Upchain for Office Excel plugin. We’ll also explore some of the best practices in this process.
If you wish to perform the actions demonstrated in the following video, you must install the Upchain for Office plugin. This is available from the Plugins page in the Upchain web app.
Upchain plugins require an up-to-date version of Java 8 (64-bit) or Amazon Corretto 8 installed on your computer. If you have the 32-bit version installed, please uninstall that version. You must also have admin rights to your computer in order to install software locally.
Transcript
00:04
In this video, we show you what's required to make use of an Excel spreadsheet within Upchain.
00:09
How to import an Excel spreadsheet as a BOM structure and what to check for once you have the structure imported into Upchain.
00:16
So let's take a look.
00:18
Another method of importing items into your project in Upchain is to use the Excel plugin.
00:24
The Excel plugin allows you to import an entire BOM structure into your project complete with parent/child relationships,
00:31
attributes filled out, and much more.
00:33
It should be noted that the recommended method of importing your BOM struck is through your CAD plugin where possible.
00:40
The CAD plugin is discussed in detail in our mCAD course series.
00:45
To make use of the Excel plugin, you will need to have a spreadsheet open in Excel with your BOM items filled out.
00:52
You will also need Upchain's Excel plugin downloaded, installed and opened within Excel.
00:59
To gain acess to this plugin, any user can simply navigate over to the little arrow in the top right of the web application and click on plugins.
01:07
The minimum data set required to tell Upchain what you're working with are item number and item name.
01:14
Even if they are left blank, they must be mapped.
01:17
All other columns are optional and can either be imported from another Excel spreadsheet or simply left out of the process if you wish.
01:25
The ID and parent ID columns need to be numbered in such a way as to identify the parent/child relationship between the items.
01:33
If we don't include this, Upchain will have no way of understanding the BOM structure and will create a flat list of items,
01:40
which is not likely what you want.
01:42
If you're creating a BOM template in Excel, you will likely need to set this up yourself according to the structure that you require.
01:49
Let's take a moment to fill this in.
01:56
Now that we have filled out a column structure to suit our BOM, we'll be able to import it into Upchain.
02:03
In our example here, the item number column has been left blank.
02:07
This allows Upchain to use the item numbering rules that have been figured within the tenant to create the item number based on the item type.
02:15
Item numbers can be filled out if you'd like to create a specific new number or to use an existing number already registered in Upchain.
02:25
You can, for instance, copy an existing item number out of Upchain,
02:29
and paste it straight into the Excel spreadsheet to have it reference an existing item within Upchain.
02:35
Note that if you're updating the item type, it should be the same as the types listed in Upchain.
02:41
If there's no item type listed, Upchain will assign the item either a default assembly or default manufactured item type.
02:49
Once we have the data in our spreadsheet in the right format, we can start by selecting the desired project within Upchain's excel plugin.
02:58
If we take a look at the BOM structure, we can see that it is currently an empty project.
03:03
To import the entire BOM structure from the spreadsheet into our empty project, we simply need to click on the "More actions" button in the top right.
03:13
From here, we can select "Import BOM structure".
03:16
Once we have selected "Import BOM structure", the next step is to indicate where the project the items will go.
03:22
Since our project is currently empty, there's no way else to put it, but in the top level.
03:27
This will ensure that the top level assembly from our spreadsheet will be created as an end item within the project,
03:33
and the descending items will go below it.
03:36
If our project already had an existing item structure,
03:40
we could have expanded the project and items below and inserted our BOM from the spreadsheet into an already existing assembly or end item.
03:49
For now, our project is empty. So let's simply hit select.
03:53
This will bring us to a window where we need to map the columns in the Excel spreadsheet to the fields within Upchain.
03:60
As we can see, Upchain has referenced the first row within our spreadsheet by default,
04:05
and has brought the column headings into the main portion of this window for mapping.
04:10
Before mapping the actual columns to attribute down below, we are able to map the column ID and the parent ID that we discussed earlier.
04:18
This is not mandatory, but it is what defines the parent/child relationships when you import this structure here.
04:26
So if we were to leave these fields blank, for instance,
04:28
you would end up with a flat BOM structure imported with no parent/child relationships as we have set up here.
04:35
Now we need to ensure that we map the item number and the item name at the very least.
04:42
These are required to let Upchain know if it's creating new items or referencing existing ones.
04:48
Now that we have the two required fields filled in,
04:51
we can now map whatever columns we would like from our Excel spreadsheet to the attributes in Upchain.
04:57
Any fields left unmapped will simply not have the data extracted from Excel. It will not overwrite existing fields created in Upchain.
05:06
If we specify further fields to values that do currently exist in Upchain, this Excel spreadsheet will override those values.
05:14
Once you have completed your required mapping, it is recommended that you save the mapping as a template.
05:20
You can see here I already have templates saved and when I select one, it automatically fills in all of the mappings required.
05:28
This template is both handy for future imports and can also be used when exporting data out of Upchain again.
05:35
So it not only speeds up your experience, but also allows you to create standardized practices as well.
05:41
Excel combined with a plugin is a powerful tool to be used within Upchain,
05:45
and it's a good idea to limit some of your users to what fields they want to pull in, and edit, especially when working with large BOM structures.
05:54
Once we are happy with our mapping, we can go ahead and click "Next".
05:58
This will advance us to a window where we can review the mapping and what impact our changes will have.
06:04
We can see on the left, the information in our spreadsheet that's being imported into Upchain.
06:09
And on the right, what will be changed as a consequence of that information.
06:13
For example, a red pen icon will indicate the changes are being made to an existing item,
06:19
but in our case, brand new items are being created with an item number being automatically assigned because we left that field blank earlier.
06:27
In this screen, I can see that our BOM is going to be pulled in as a list of items, and we don't want that. So let's go back one.
06:34
Because we've set up a template, we can quite simply reuse the template here. And now let's fill in our ID and parent ID and see the difference.
06:44
We can now see that a BOM structure is being created here, even though there are all new items,
06:49
Upchain understands that there is a large parent/child relationship to be set up.
06:54
If we have no error messages and we're happy with the result, we can go ahead and click on "Import".
06:60
Once import is successful, we will receive a confirmation pop up and we can hit "Okay" completing the import.
07:07
And now we can verify that the items have been imported into our project BOM by refreshing and then expanding the structure below.
07:14
Now we can see all of our items listed here in our project.
07:18
We can also navigate over to the web application, refresh, and view all the items within our BOM interface.
07:25
We have now learned how to set up a spreadsheet for use within Upchain's Excel plugin,
07:30
and how to use that spreadsheet to import a BOM structure into an Upchain project.
00:04
In this video, we show you what's required to make use of an Excel spreadsheet within Upchain.
00:09
How to import an Excel spreadsheet as a BOM structure and what to check for once you have the structure imported into Upchain.
00:16
So let's take a look.
00:18
Another method of importing items into your project in Upchain is to use the Excel plugin.
00:24
The Excel plugin allows you to import an entire BOM structure into your project complete with parent/child relationships,
00:31
attributes filled out, and much more.
00:33
It should be noted that the recommended method of importing your BOM struck is through your CAD plugin where possible.
00:40
The CAD plugin is discussed in detail in our mCAD course series.
00:45
To make use of the Excel plugin, you will need to have a spreadsheet open in Excel with your BOM items filled out.
00:52
You will also need Upchain's Excel plugin downloaded, installed and opened within Excel.
00:59
To gain acess to this plugin, any user can simply navigate over to the little arrow in the top right of the web application and click on plugins.
01:07
The minimum data set required to tell Upchain what you're working with are item number and item name.
01:14
Even if they are left blank, they must be mapped.
01:17
All other columns are optional and can either be imported from another Excel spreadsheet or simply left out of the process if you wish.
01:25
The ID and parent ID columns need to be numbered in such a way as to identify the parent/child relationship between the items.
01:33
If we don't include this, Upchain will have no way of understanding the BOM structure and will create a flat list of items,
01:40
which is not likely what you want.
01:42
If you're creating a BOM template in Excel, you will likely need to set this up yourself according to the structure that you require.
01:49
Let's take a moment to fill this in.
01:56
Now that we have filled out a column structure to suit our BOM, we'll be able to import it into Upchain.
02:03
In our example here, the item number column has been left blank.
02:07
This allows Upchain to use the item numbering rules that have been figured within the tenant to create the item number based on the item type.
02:15
Item numbers can be filled out if you'd like to create a specific new number or to use an existing number already registered in Upchain.
02:25
You can, for instance, copy an existing item number out of Upchain,
02:29
and paste it straight into the Excel spreadsheet to have it reference an existing item within Upchain.
02:35
Note that if you're updating the item type, it should be the same as the types listed in Upchain.
02:41
If there's no item type listed, Upchain will assign the item either a default assembly or default manufactured item type.
02:49
Once we have the data in our spreadsheet in the right format, we can start by selecting the desired project within Upchain's excel plugin.
02:58
If we take a look at the BOM structure, we can see that it is currently an empty project.
03:03
To import the entire BOM structure from the spreadsheet into our empty project, we simply need to click on the "More actions" button in the top right.
03:13
From here, we can select "Import BOM structure".
03:16
Once we have selected "Import BOM structure", the next step is to indicate where the project the items will go.
03:22
Since our project is currently empty, there's no way else to put it, but in the top level.
03:27
This will ensure that the top level assembly from our spreadsheet will be created as an end item within the project,
03:33
and the descending items will go below it.
03:36
If our project already had an existing item structure,
03:40
we could have expanded the project and items below and inserted our BOM from the spreadsheet into an already existing assembly or end item.
03:49
For now, our project is empty. So let's simply hit select.
03:53
This will bring us to a window where we need to map the columns in the Excel spreadsheet to the fields within Upchain.
03:60
As we can see, Upchain has referenced the first row within our spreadsheet by default,
04:05
and has brought the column headings into the main portion of this window for mapping.
04:10
Before mapping the actual columns to attribute down below, we are able to map the column ID and the parent ID that we discussed earlier.
04:18
This is not mandatory, but it is what defines the parent/child relationships when you import this structure here.
04:26
So if we were to leave these fields blank, for instance,
04:28
you would end up with a flat BOM structure imported with no parent/child relationships as we have set up here.
04:35
Now we need to ensure that we map the item number and the item name at the very least.
04:42
These are required to let Upchain know if it's creating new items or referencing existing ones.
04:48
Now that we have the two required fields filled in,
04:51
we can now map whatever columns we would like from our Excel spreadsheet to the attributes in Upchain.
04:57
Any fields left unmapped will simply not have the data extracted from Excel. It will not overwrite existing fields created in Upchain.
05:06
If we specify further fields to values that do currently exist in Upchain, this Excel spreadsheet will override those values.
05:14
Once you have completed your required mapping, it is recommended that you save the mapping as a template.
05:20
You can see here I already have templates saved and when I select one, it automatically fills in all of the mappings required.
05:28
This template is both handy for future imports and can also be used when exporting data out of Upchain again.
05:35
So it not only speeds up your experience, but also allows you to create standardized practices as well.
05:41
Excel combined with a plugin is a powerful tool to be used within Upchain,
05:45
and it's a good idea to limit some of your users to what fields they want to pull in, and edit, especially when working with large BOM structures.
05:54
Once we are happy with our mapping, we can go ahead and click "Next".
05:58
This will advance us to a window where we can review the mapping and what impact our changes will have.
06:04
We can see on the left, the information in our spreadsheet that's being imported into Upchain.
06:09
And on the right, what will be changed as a consequence of that information.
06:13
For example, a red pen icon will indicate the changes are being made to an existing item,
06:19
but in our case, brand new items are being created with an item number being automatically assigned because we left that field blank earlier.
06:27
In this screen, I can see that our BOM is going to be pulled in as a list of items, and we don't want that. So let's go back one.
06:34
Because we've set up a template, we can quite simply reuse the template here. And now let's fill in our ID and parent ID and see the difference.
06:44
We can now see that a BOM structure is being created here, even though there are all new items,
06:49
Upchain understands that there is a large parent/child relationship to be set up.
06:54
If we have no error messages and we're happy with the result, we can go ahead and click on "Import".
06:60
Once import is successful, we will receive a confirmation pop up and we can hit "Okay" completing the import.
07:07
And now we can verify that the items have been imported into our project BOM by refreshing and then expanding the structure below.
07:14
Now we can see all of our items listed here in our project.
07:18
We can also navigate over to the web application, refresh, and view all the items within our BOM interface.
07:25
We have now learned how to set up a spreadsheet for use within Upchain's Excel plugin,
07:30
and how to use that spreadsheet to import a BOM structure into an Upchain project.
