Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the tip. I’m slowing building tools to help manage MOI to modo and LW workflow. Automating material assignment is on my list.

Here’s where I’m at so far. I’m pulling in CAD assemblies with hundreds of parts. Somewhere in the translation, the file hierarchy (groups) is lost. I have a python script to restore this. It parses the layer names and assigns them to appropriate groups.

The next step is to expand it to cross-reference a parts list and apply the appropriate material. It should be an extension of the same process. Cataloging the materials in the current scene is a good idea. It should do what you want and more. We could have multiple materials (or versions) of textures that could be applied quickly.

Andy