[Michael Hill]

We use SolidWorks Workgroup PDM to manage our CAD files. All of our CAD files have part numbers for names. Our part number scheme is as follows: IR[YY]-[AA]-[PPP] for parts that we manufacture ourselves, where [YY] is the 2-digit year, [AA] is a sequential field for assembly number, and [PPP] is a sequential field for part #s. I'm working on implementing an IR-number for vendor parts as well, since we won't have a "00" year any time soon, I can reserve IR00-[TT]-[PPP] for any COTS items, where [TT] is a sequential field indicating a "type" of part, such as bolts, nuts, gears, etc. We can then keep a spreadsheet correlating part numbers to vendor parts. I'm also working to get all of the COTS parts we have in our FRC library on our PDM server. The COTS separation allows us to reuse CAD models of common COTS items from year to year without having multiple part numbers for the same part. If we decide to actually inventory stuff, there is a unique part number that it is assigned to.