Bill Of Materials

[pipedream345]

I have built a magnificant 3d piping model but now my boss wants a bill of materials so he can send it off to bids. I am using Autocad MEP 2008 and 2009. I had no luck finding any plug ins for this or creating a multitude of pipe schedules any advise.

[stelthorst]

I have built a magnificant 3d piping model but now my boss wants a bill of materials so he can send it off to bids. I am using Autocad MEP 2008 and 2009. I had no luck finding any plug ins for this or creating a multitude of pipe schedules any advise.

Hi pipedream,

It's pretty easy to create a schedule to give you pipe size, type and length and a fitting schedule to count the different fitting types and sizes. Have you played with Property Set Definitions (PSD) or schedules before? If not, post back with what parameters (size,type, etc) you would like to see in a BOM and I'll try to help you locate or create the proper PSD to create a schedule.

[pipedream345]

I have very little experience in the property set customizing. The style manager and display managers have been been one of my biggest struggles that I have not over come yet. I planned on taking some classes through Master Graphics (one of our resellers) soon. My intentions for the bill of materials was to display a total lenght of of pipe for every size, size and type of fitting and quantity.

ex:
150' 4" pipe
42 4" 90's
22 4" 45's
If you could throw me a bone I would appreciate it. Thanks.

[stelthorst]

I have very little experience in the property set customizing. The style manager and display managers have been been one of my biggest struggles that I have not over come yet. I planned on taking some classes through Master Graphics (one of our resellers) soon. My intentions for the bill of materials was to display a total lenght of of pipe for every size, size and type of fitting and quantity.

ex:
150' 4" pipe
42 4" 90's
22 4" 45's
If you could throw me a bone I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Hi pipedream,

I'll try to head you in the right direction and let you tweak it to look the way that you want. I don't work with piping so I'm not sure if there is an Out-of-the-box (OOTB) property set (PSD) that has the properties you need so I'll create a new one.

1. Go to FORMAT - Style Manager - Documentation Objects - Property Set Definitions.
2. Right Click on Property Set Definitions and select New
3. Name the PSD "PipeFittingObjects"
4. Click the "Applies To" tab and Click "Objects" for Applies to and Click "Pipe Fitting" and "Pipe Custom Fitting".
5. Click on the Definition tab.
6. Click on the "Add Automatic Property Set" button (Looks like a lightning bolt)
7. Click on :Connection Diameter" and click OK
8. Repeat step 5 and add "Path Angle"
9. Now click on FORMAT - Style Manager - Documentation Objects - Schedule Table Styles. Right click and select New
10. Name this "Pipe Fitting Schedule"
11. Click on the new schedule you just created and click on the "Applies To" tab.
12. Select "Pipe Custom Fitting" and "Pipe Fitting"
13. Click on the Columns Tab and then click Add Column
14. Add the Connection Diameter
15. Repeat step 13 and add Path Angle
16. Click the "Include Quantity Column" check box near the bottom of the dialog.

You can now add this schedule to your drawing. You will probably get all question marks in the cells. Just right click the schedule and pick Add all Property Sets.

The Pipe length schedule is similar to this.

Please note AMEP schedules will not subtotal items so you'll need to export the conduit schedule to Excel to subtotal the pipe lengths by size.

Also, I have given you just the basic steps. You can do so much more with how you want the schedule to look and how you want the data to look. Play with what I've given you so far and don't hesitate to post back with any questions.

[pipedream345]

Thank you very much, I will try this this weekend.

[pipedream345]

I tried these steps this weekend and they were very helpful. All of the elbows listed as expected but any tees or wye pattern fittings were not recognized. One suggestion on the Property Sets was to chose nominal diameter, otherwise I was getting the outside diameter of the fittings. Thanks for your help, did you have a suggestion on the tees and wyes?

[stelthorst]

I tried these steps this weekend and they were very helpful. All of the elbows listed as expected but any tees or wye pattern fittings were not recognized. One suggestion on the Property Sets was to chose nominal diameter, otherwise I was getting the outside diameter of the fittings. Thanks for your help, did you have a suggestion on the tees and wyes?

Hi pipedream,

Good tip on nominal diameter. I don't usually deal with pipe so I didn't notice it.

I added a tee and was able to add it to the schedule but it gave me some weird results in the path angle field. With this in mind I added a style based PSD to get the part type and used this in a formula PSD to filter out the tees and wyes. I have included my sample file for you to look at and copy.

Hope this helps,

[pipedream345]

You are a genius.

[aymanezzat84]

Hi pipedream,

I'll try to head you in the right direction and let you tweak it to look the way that you want. I don't work with piping so I'm not sure if there is an Out-of-the-box (OOTB) property set (PSD) that has the properties you need so I'll create a new one.

1. Go to FORMAT - Style Manager - Documentation Objects - Property Set Definitions.
2. Right Click on Property Set Definitions and select New
3. Name the PSD "PipeFittingObjects"
4. Click the "Applies To" tab and Click "Objects" for Applies to and Click "Pipe Fitting" and "Pipe Custom Fitting".
5. Click on the Definition tab.
6. Click on the "Add Automatic Property Set" button (Looks like a lightning bolt)
7. Click on :Connection Diameter" and click OK
8. Repeat step 5 and add "Path Angle"
9. Now click on FORMAT - Style Manager - Documentation Objects - Schedule Table Styles. Right click and select New
10. Name this "Pipe Fitting Schedule"
11. Click on the new schedule you just created and click on the "Applies To" tab.
12. Select "Pipe Custom Fitting" and "Pipe Fitting"
13. Click on the Columns Tab and then click Add Column
14. Add the Connection Diameter
15. Repeat step 13 and add Path Angle
16. Click the "Include Quantity Column" check box near the bottom of the dialog.

You can now add this schedule to your drawing. You will probably get all question marks in the cells. Just right click the schedule and pick Add all Property Sets.

The Pipe length schedule is similar to this.

Please note AMEP schedules will not subtotal items so you'll need to export the conduit schedule to Excel to subtotal the pipe lengths by size.

Also, I have given you just the basic steps. You can do so much more with how you want the schedule to look and how you want the data to look. Play with what I've given you so far and don't hesitate to post back with any questions.

Thank you for your effort but I have one question how can I add the schedual table to drawing?

[stykface]

Thank you for your effort but I have one question how can I add the schedual table to drawing?

Type STYLEMANAGER at the command line. Expand Documentation Objects > Schedule Table Styles. Right-click on the Table you want to transfer to another drawing, click Copy. If you already have the other drawing open, it should be in this same Pane. Expand to the same location, right-click, paste. It now exists your other drawing.