You can use the "Create" option to create a BOM in AutoCAD and in the SAP system.

If the drawing has not yet been given a file name, you will be prompted to enter a name. The file name is only used to temporarily save BOM information in the computer.

The following dialog box will appear:

The same dialog box appears when you use the normal AutoCAD function for creating a BOM
(Pulldown menu: SAP –> Bill of material tools -> Create bill of material). To find out about the various functions available in the dialog box, refer to the section entitled "Creating BOMs for a Drawing and/or Printer".

If another file already has the name you selected, the following dialog box appears:

It does not matter whether you create a summarized BOM or an itemized BOM – this does not affect the format of the BOM sent to the SAP system. You can also specify here how the BOM should appear (e.g. in the drawing).

When you create a BOM in the SAP system, AutoCAD provides all the information you need. This means that you can also choose any of the BOM display options (e.g. itemized BOM or structured BOM) in the SAP system or in AutoCAD. In order to create a BOM, the following prerequisites must be met:

• A master material record for the BOM must exist in the SAP system
• The drawing must contain a reference to this material master record
• Every item (of specific item categories) in the AutoCAD BOM must contain a material number from the SAP system

If you have already created BOMs from this drawing, the material master record and the respective reference will already exist. If the drawing does not yet contain a reference to a material master record of a BOM in the SAP system, you can establish this reference by creating a material master record in the SAP system, or by assigning a material master record from the SAP system. The software checks whether a reference exists, and provides you with a choice of options accordingly.

If it was not possible to create or assign a material master record, the "Create bill of material" command is aborted. The flag "BomCreateUpdate" in the configuration settings determines whether the BOM created should be retained in AutoCAD.

The following dialog box appears if the reference was created successfully:

You can enter data for the BOM header in the various fields of this dialog box. The active fields may already contain default values from various sources:

• General default values from the AutoCAD configuration file (see also Installation and Configuration)
• Default values from the AutoCAD configuration file for the "Create BOM header" process (see also Installation and Configuration)
• The material number of the BOM.

If applicable, the values in the fields of the dialog box can be overwritten in this order.

First of all, the BOM header data is checked. If the data is not accepted by the SAP system, you will be notified accordingly, and can correct your data.

If the BOM header data is accepted by the SAP system, the software will transfer the individual BOM items to the SAP system. The SAP system checks whether the values of these items are correct.

If AutoCAD is unable to supply a specific value for an item (e.g. item category), and this value is required in order to create the item, a default value from the AutoCAD configuration file for the "Create bill of material items" process is used instead. If an item is rejected by the SAP system, a message to this effect is issued, and the "Create bill of material" process is terminated. The flag "BomCreateUpdate" in the configuration settings determines whether the BOM created should be retained in AutoCAD.

In this case, at least one item in the BOM contains the value "XXX" for the material number. This material number does not exist in the SAP system. None of the items sent up to this point are written to the SAP system, nor is the BOM header data. Consequently, you can correct the item, and repeat the "Create bill of material" procedure.

Once the bill of material has been created successfully, a message to this effect will be issued: