Assigning Asset Properties

Properties help you manage and search for assets, create reports, and update bills of materials. When assigning or updating asset properties, keep in mind the following:

• If you update properties, those updates are not applied to assets already placed in your layout. To update placed assets, click Update Assets in the Factory Assets panel on the Factory tab.
• If an asset appears multiple times in a layout, but the properties differ, the asset appears as a single row in the bill of materials.

Complete the following steps to assign properties to an asset:

1. On the Asset Builder tab, in the Author panel, click Asset Properties to open the Properties window.
2. Enter Summary information to help you search for this asset in the Asset Browser.

   
   

   
   
   

3. The Project tab includes information that is useful when preparing a bill of materials:

   File Subtype	File type; for example, dwf or ipt
   Part Number	Part number of the asset. If you leave this blank, the file name is automatically assigned as the part number.
   Stock Number	Stock number of the asset
   Description	A brief description of the asset
   Revision Number	File revision number
   Project	Project name
   Designer	Project or model designer
   Authority	Signature authority
   Cost Center	Cost center to apply to the asset
   Estimated Cost	Cost of the asset used in the bill of materials and other cost calculations
   Create Date	Today's date; click the calendar icon to select a different date.
   Vendor	Manufacturer or supplier name if this is a third-party asset
   WEB Link	Vendor link or other relevant Web site address

4. Click the Descriptor tab to add a description to the asset. The Description field accepts a brief single-line entry. The Extended Descriptor can include a more detailed, multiline description. The Extended Descriptor field also supports web site addresses, which appear as clickable links in the pop-up asset description.
5. Enter Process tab information to run simulations in Process Analysis 360. If you are not using Process Analysis 360, skip to the Layer tab in the next step.

   Process Object	Check this box to designate this asset as a simulation object, and then select the object type: Buffer, Processor or Source. The fields that appear vary based on your object type selection.
   Buffer	Buffers temporarily store items produced by a processor. Name: buffer name; for example, storage1 Capacity: how many items the buffer can store
   Processor	Processors receive source materials or parts and perform operations on them. Name: processor name; for example, base assembly Description: processor description MTBF: mean time between failures for this processor and all of its operations; for example, 4400 hr indicates that, on average, this processor will run 4400 hours before failing MTTR: mean time needed to repair this processor after a failure; for example, 60 min indicates that, on average it will take 60 minutes to repair Setup Cost Rate: setup expenses divided by the amount of setup time Processing Cost Rate: processing expenses divided by processing time Uptime Percentage: percent of time the processor is operating Energy Consumption Rate: number of items processed per unit of energy Processor Operations: Name: name of the overall process model of which this processor is a part; for example engine assembly Processing Time: number of items processed in the selected unit of time Setup Time: time required to set up the processor to perform this operation Sequential Operations: run the operations in the sequence shown; to add an operation to the list click
   Source	Sources are raw materials or parts entering a factory workflow. Name: source name; example, metal rod Output Rate: number of items the source supplies in the selected unit of time Infinite Feed: indicates that an unlimited supply is available; if supplies are limited, leave this blank, and enter a value in the Total Number of Parts field Total Number of Parts: number of items available from this source

6. The Layer tab lets you select an existing layer or define a new layer in which to place the asset. Automatic layering is useful if you want to control the visibility of this asset in complex designs.

   Select Specify Layer for Asset to associate a layer with this asset. If you do not select this checkbox, the asset will be placed in the current DWG layer in AutoCAD or Layer 0 in Inventor. To create a new layer, type a name in the text box and select a color to represent the layer. To select an existing layer, choose one from the list that appears. The list shown is pulled from the file designated under the Asset Builder option in the AutoCAD Options Factory Assets tab. If no file is designated in the settings, the layer list is blank. See Setting Factory Asset Defaults for more details.

   Note: You must select the Enable Automatic Layering check box on the Factory Assets Options tab to activate this feature. See Setting Factory Asset Defaults for details.
7. The Customizable tab lets you add custom properties to help you track asset data. Information entered here appears in the Factory Properties browser organized by category:

   Name	Enter a new property name or select an existing customizable property for editing.
   Type	Select a data type.
   Value	Enter a value that conforms to the selected data type.
   Category	Enter a new category name or select an existing one.

   Click Add to add the property to the list. The Delete button deletes the selected property from the properties list.

After you define these properties and publish the asset, you can place it in your AutoCAD and Inventor layouts.