Mechanical CAD Core Concepts

In this lesson, we’ll discuss the key concepts when working with the mechanical CAD plugin and explore the most common views you’ll need to navigate.

The cBOM, eBOM, and Project BOM

Let's explore the three types of BOMs you’ll work with in Upchain, and discuss their uses.

Key takeaways

1. Upchain manages three different BOMs available from the CAD plugin.
2. cBOM - CAD bill of materials - this is your design.
3. eBOM - engineering bill of materials - this is how the design is represented in Upchain and may contain additional items not in CAD.
4. Project BOM - the culmination and organization of all eBOMs being used within the project.
5. As a CAD power user, your primary focus is building the cBOM and ensuring the eBOM correctly matches the cBOM where required.

Exploring the BOM views in the CAD plugin 

In this video, we show you where to find each of the BOM views, and an overview of what you can do within each view.

Key takeaways

1. The BOM views are where you spend most of your time in the CAD plugin. Actions that you can take on an item in each view are accessed by right-clicking on the item.
2. The Project BOM is the primary location where you will download existing registered CAD files to view or work on.
3. The cBOM view shows the design structure for the assembly you have open in your CAD system. This view must be refreshed before it shows this structure.
4. The eBOM view shows a similar structure to the cBOM view with items condensed into one instance and any additional items added from the web application.
5. The Lower pane and Item view show a selected item’s attributes, documents, previews, categorization, where used information, and tasks.