POS Manager is a browser-based utility that runs directly inside Creo Parametric, allowing engineers and designers to assign, manage, and apply position numbers (POS parameters) to assembly components — faster, more reliably, and with full visual control.
What is the POS Parameter?
In Creo Parametric, the POS parameter is an integer model parameter designated for use in Windchill and drawing BOM tables. It defines the balloon number shown in assembly drawings — the position number that identifies each component in the Bill of Materials.
Manually creating and managing this parameter across dozens or hundreds of assembly components is tedious and error-prone. POS Manager automates the entire process.
How It Works
POS Manager connects directly to the active Creo session. When launched, it reads the current assembly structure and presents all first-level components in an interactive table. From that single view, engineers can number, reorder, review, and write POS values back into the Creo models — all without leaving the browser panel.
The tool groups components by filename, so if the same part appears multiple times in the assembly, it is shown as a single row with a quantity count. When POS is applied, the same number is written to all instances simultaneously.
Key Features
Automatic Load The tool loads the active assembly automatically on startup. A Reload button allows refreshing the component list at any time without restarting the application.
Intelligent Sorting On load, components are sorted in three tiers: items that already have a POS value appear first, sorted numerically. Items without POS follow, sorted by type (assemblies before parts) and then alphabetically. Excluded items always appear at the bottom.
Drag-and-Drop Reordering Rows can be freely reordered by dragging the handle on the left side of each row. An optional Auto-renumber after drag checkbox immediately reassigns sequential numbers after every reorder operation.
Renumber from 1 A single click assigns sequential position numbers (1, 2, 3…) to all active, non-excluded components in the current order. Excluded items are skipped and their POS input is cleared.
Exclude from Numbering Each row has an exclude toggle (🚫). Excluded components move to the bottom of the table, are visually greyed out with strikethrough styling, and are completely skipped during renumbering and when writing to Creo. This is useful for standard hardware, purchased parts, or components that should not appear in the drawing BOM.
Duplicate POS Detection If the same POS number is entered on two or more rows, both rows are immediately highlighted in red, a pulsing warning badge appears next to the conflicting values, and the Apply button is disabled until the conflict is resolved. This prevents writing invalid data into the assembly.
Apply POS to Models Once numbers are assigned, a single click on Apply POS to Models writes the POS integer parameter to every component feature in the active Creo assembly — including all instances of grouped components. The tool reports exactly how many features were updated, how many were skipped, and lists any errors.
Windchill Checkout Detection If a component is managed in PTC Windchill and has not been checked out (or set to Modify mode), Creo will reject the write operation. POS Manager detects this condition and displays a clear, user-friendly message explaining that the assembly must be checked out in Windchill before the parameter can be written — rather than showing raw technical error output.
New Instance Detection When a component that already has a POS number is added to the assembly a second time, the new instance initially has no POS. POS Manager detects this mismatch — where a grouped component has fewer POS-set instances than its total quantity — and highlights the affected rows in amber. A warning message guides the user to click Apply, which propagates the existing POS number to the new instance.
Search in Table A live search bar filters the component table as you type. Non-matching rows are hidden, matching rows are highlighted, and navigation arrows (▲ ▼) jump between results. The cursor stays in the search field throughout, so you can continue refining the search without clicking. Press Escape to clear the search and restore the full table.
Extra Parameter Columns Up to five additional columns can be added to the table, each reading a named model parameter directly from the Creo session — for example SAP_NUMBER, DESCRIPTION, MATERIAL, or any custom parameter defined in your model templates. Column names are saved automatically and restored on the next session.
Export to CSV The full table — including POS values, component type, quantity, filename, excluded status, and any extra parameter columns — can be exported to a CSV file with one click. The file is named automatically using the assembly name and current date, and opens correctly in Microsoft Excel including special characters.
Visual Status Indicators
The table uses color coding to give instant feedback on the state of each component:
- Subtle green row — POS value is set and ready
- Light blue row — Component has no POS value yet
- Amber row with orange border — Component is grouped and has new instances without POS
- Red row — Duplicate POS value detected
- Grey row with strikethrough — Component is excluded from numbering
Using POS Numbers in Creo Assembly and Drawings
Download BOM symbols used in video tutorials (BOM_symbols.zip)
BOM_cparam.sym
BOM_index.sym
BOM_qty.sym
Requirements
- PTC Creo Parametric (tested with Creo 8 and above)
- Active Windchill workspace or local session
- Assembly must be the active model when the tool is launched
- For writing parameters: assembly and affected components must be checked out in Windchill (or available for modification in a local session)
If you need further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me by email.