Paint, grease & other consumables in SolidWorks' BOM

Let's take a look at how and why companies are quantifying consumable products in BOM's within SolidWorks.

First off, let's assume that in order to get an account of such products in assemblies, customers are creating actual part models of such things.  This might sound strange but when companies are using parametric designs to create complete and accurate BOM's to pass to ERP systems or purchasing folks this becomes a necessary step.

So to keep these folks happy, when should they re-order the grease that keeps the wheel from squeaking?  If the standard recorded quantity is "1" each time the consumable was used in an assembly, this could mean that this item is ordered by the truckload.  On the other hand, if the consumable product is not within the BOM, how do you quantify it?

Let's have SolidWorks create an accurate BOM.  In this example, let's assume we need to quantify grease and we use approximately .005 ounces per application.  We have an assembly that uses 4 applications.

Steps involved:

1. Create a custom property for a part named grease.

2. Name the property Amount.

3. Assign the value .005 to this custom property.

4. Select Amount in the BOM Quantity field of the custom or configuration specific tab of the part.

 

This quantity is also computed and accurately displayed in the BOM should you use this in Enterprise BOM or export this to an Excel file for import into your ERP/MRP program.

So hopefully this will give you some ideas on how to more accurately display and account for your consumable items in your next SolidWorks Assembly BOM.

Thank you,

Brian Reel
CATI 

Free SolidWorks from Performance Constraints (FSWPC-13-#20)

(Modeling Methodology - Large Assembly Mode)

The use of Large Assembly Mode and Lightweight is the one setting that made the largest impact in our testing. Large Assembly Mode allow a user to open an extremely large assembly without bringing in all of the computational data that defines it (Lightweight). The user gets the visual of the model without the over head of the math behind it. The user will then have the ability to resolve the portions of the assembly that they would like to work on. The data for just that portion of the assembly is then loaded into RAM and the user has the best of both worlds; the ability to work on a part or sub-assembly within the context of the greater assembly while dealing only with the overhead of the portion they are specifically working on. The testing we did involved very large assemblies where Large Assembly Mode and Lightweight can have its most pronounced effect on performance.

You can by looking at our deltas see that on our Practical machine we gained 58.7% total improvement taking our benchmark run time down to just over 32min. If we look at the Typical machine we can see that the overall improvement is 81% performance gain and took our benchmark run time to just under 54min.

Please
check back to the CATI blog as we will continue posting our
series of articles that goes further into the details of each of our tests. All
of these articles will be stored in the category of Free SolidWorks from Performance
Constraints and links to each with their
release date are listed below:

• FSWPC-13-#1 Introduction (3/19/13)


• FSWPC-13-#2 RAM (3/21/13)


• FSWPC-13-#3 Processor Cores (3/26/13)


• FSWPC-13-#4 Processor Cores for Simulation
  and PhotoView360 (3/28/13)


• FSWPC-13-#5 Processor Clock Speed (4/2/13)


• FSWPC-13-#6 Hard Drives (4/4/13)


• FSWPC-13-#7a Graphics Cards-SolidWorks
  Functionality (4/9/13)


• FSWPC-13-#7b Graphics Cards-Hardware
  Comparison (4/11/13)


• FSWPC-13-#7c Graphics Cards-Model Complexity (4/16/13)


• FSWPC-13-#8 Files stored in an older version
  (4/18/13)


• FSWPC-13-#9 OS Visual and User Settings (4/23/13)


• FSWPC-13-#10 SolidWorks Options (4/25/13)


• FSWPC-13-#11 SolidWorks Image Quality (4/30/13)


• FSWPC-13-#12 SolidWorks RealView Graphics (5/2/13)


• FSWPC-13-#13 SolidWorks  Level of Detail (5/7/13)


• FSWPC-13-#14 SolidWorks Mates and Flexible
  Subassemblies (5/9/13)


• FSWPC-13-#15 SolidWorks Defeature (5/14/13)


• FSWPC-13-#16 SolidWorks Envelope (5/16/13)


• FSWPC-13-#17 SolidWorks Large
  Design Review (5/21/13)


• FSWPC-13-#18 SolidWorks
  SpeedPak (5/23/13)


• FSWPC-13-#19 SolidWorks Save as Part (5/28/13)


• FSWPC-13-#20 SolidWorks Large Assembly Mode (5/30/13)


• FSWPC-13-#21
  Optimal Configuration and Conclusion (6/4/13)

Thanks,

Josh
Altergott, CATI Support Manager

Adrian
Fanjoy, CATI Technical Services Director

 

 

Custom Toolbox Part

I have seen a few issues pop up recently while working on support. We had a customer create a few custom toolbox parts and place them in the assembly. Assembly looked great so they saved and closed the assembly and went on about their day.

The next day, they opened up the assembly to work on it and realized that their custom toolbox parts in their assembly were changed to actual toolbox parts.

There is an easy explanation for why this happens. Just go to Tools, Options, System Options and select Hole Wizard/Toolbox. On the right of that menu, you will see the option "Make this folder the default search location for Toolbox components". By having this option checked, SolidWorks will automatically go to the Toolbox location and try to find those parts. That is why it is replacing the custom part with a toolbox one. By unchecking this option, SolidWorks will use the custom part that is already in the assembly.

Phil Whitaker

Free SolidWorks from Performance Constraints (FSWPC-13-#19)

(Modeling Methodology - Save As Part)

The next tool that we are going to look at for reducing the level of detail in our parts and subassemblies is Save As Part. The ability to save an assembly as a part file gives us three different options; Exterior Faces, Exterior Components and All Components. Each of these options produces a different result so we chose to test each option and see which one gave us the greatest performance gain.

For our assembly once again due to the overall size we choose to use Save As Part on just the Cab Assembly. The stats on the Cab Assembly and its related files are the assembly file is 30.15mb and had has an overall folder size of 621mb.

Exterior Faces

This was the 2nd best option, our new part file size was 79mb and had 0 Solid Bodies and 8432 Surface Bodies.

Exterior Components

This was the best option, our new part file size was 120mb and had 1080 Solid Bodies and 225 Surface Bodies.

All Components

This was the worst option, our new part file size was 317mb and had 3668 Solid Bodies and 271 Surface Bodies.

You can by looking at our deltas see that paying attention to the options we have for different operations can either help or hinder our performance. On our Practical machine we gained as much as 25.9% total improvement and lost as much as 4.7%. If we look at the Typical machine we can see that the overall improvement is as much as 60% performance gain and took almost 3 hours off of our benchmark time or it cost us much as 95% adding almost 4-1/2 hours to our benchmark.

Please
check back to the CATI blog as we will continue posting our
series of articles that goes further into the details of each of our tests. All
of these articles will be stored in the category of Free SolidWorks from Performance
Constraints and links to each with their
release date are listed below:

• FSWPC-13-#1 Introduction (3/19/13)


• FSWPC-13-#2 RAM (3/21/13)


• FSWPC-13-#3 Processor Cores (3/26/13)


• FSWPC-13-#4 Processor Cores for Simulation
  and PhotoView360 (3/28/13)


• FSWPC-13-#5 Processor Clock Speed (4/2/13)


• FSWPC-13-#6 Hard Drives (4/4/13)


• FSWPC-13-#7a Graphics Cards-SolidWorks
  Functionality (4/9/13)


• FSWPC-13-#7b Graphics Cards-Hardware
  Comparison (4/11/13)


• FSWPC-13-#7c Graphics Cards-Model Complexity (4/16/13)


• FSWPC-13-#8 Files stored in an older version
  (4/18/13)


• FSWPC-13-#9 OS Visual and User Settings (4/23/13)


• FSWPC-13-#10 SolidWorks Options (4/25/13)


• FSWPC-13-#11 SolidWorks Image Quality (4/30/13)


• FSWPC-13-#12 SolidWorks RealView Graphics (5/2/13)


• FSWPC-13-#13 SolidWorks  Level of Detail (5/7/13)


• FSWPC-13-#14 SolidWorks Mates and Flexible
  Subassemblies (5/9/13)


• FSWPC-13-#15 SolidWorks Defeature (5/14/13)


• FSWPC-13-#16 SolidWorks Envelope (5/16/13)


• FSWPC-13-#17 SolidWorks Large
  Design Review (5/21/13)


• FSWPC-13-#18 SolidWorks
  SpeedPak (5/23/13)


• FSWPC-13-#19 SolidWorks Save as Part (5/28/13)


• FSWPC-13-#20
  SolidWorks Large Assembly Mode (5/30/13)


• FSWPC-13-#21
  Optimal Configuration and Conclusion (6/4/13)

Thanks,

Josh
Altergott, CATI Support Manager

Adrian
Fanjoy, CATI Technical Services Director

 

 

Additive Manufacturing User Group (AMUG) Conference Wrap-Up

It’s hard to believe just over a month ago I was in attendance at the Additive Manufacturing User Group (AMUG) in Jacksonville,Florida.  Once again the executive board put a great conference together.  For those of you that do not know, the AMUG started out as the North American
Stereolithography Users Group.  After twenty five years the group has morphed into AMUG, comprised of users of additive manufacturing technology.  The conference kicks off on Sunday evening with a welcoming session combined with a vendor fair.   Over 50 OEM manufacturers and suppliers to the
industry display their products.  Along with multiple keynote presentations in the morning, every morning, there were over 30 afternoon breakout sessions.  A couple of the most impressive presentations I sat in on was a soluble core molding application and a presentation where spray on electrical conductive was dispersed onto the wings of a drone to spin propellers.  As for hands on sessions I had the opportunity to try hydro printing and nickel plating.  This kind of information is what makes this user group so valuable to anyone involved with additive manufacturing.  People share ideas, pass on tips or tricks, or discuss specific projects the attendees did throughout the year.

During the upcoming Rapid show June 10-13, 2013 held in Pittsburgh the executive board members will sit down and begin the task of putting together the 2014 AMUG conference. I have been fortunate enough to be elected to the board in a VP role.  All work is on a volunteer basis but when the conference starts it gives you a gratifying feeling to see all the attendees enjoying themselves throughout the week.  If you would like to see learn more about AMUG feel free to visit the AMUG website. Here is the address  http://www.additivemanufacturingusersgroup.com/.  Hopefully you will get a chance to attend next year’s conference.  All  veteran attendees like to see first time
attendees and watch the organization grow.

 

Derek Ellis
Digital Prototyping Group
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

Free SolidWorks from Performance Constraints (FSWPC-13-#18)

(Modeling Methodology - SpeedPak)

The next tool that we are going to look at for reducing the level of detail in our parts and subassemblies is SpeedPak.

The SpeedPak utility allows you to create a simplified configuration of an assembly without losing references. A SpeedPak configuration reduces your large or complex subassemblies into a subset of parts and faces of an assembly that you can use to mate into your top level assembly or reference with dimensions in a drawing.

For our assembly once again due to the overall size we choose to use SpeedPak on just the Cab Assembly, we also chose the option for Remove ghost as it states it, further reduces memory.

You can by looking at our deltas see that on our Practical machine we gained 30.7% total improvement. If we look at the Typical machine we can see that the overall improvement is cut by over 65% performance gain and took over 3 hours off of our benchmark time.

Please
check back to the CATI blog as we will continue posting our
series of articles that goes further into the details of each of our tests. All
of these articles will be stored in the category of Free SolidWorks from Performance
Constraints and links to each with their
release date are listed below:

• FSWPC-13-#1 Introduction (3/19/13)


• FSWPC-13-#2 RAM (3/21/13)


• FSWPC-13-#3 Processor Cores (3/26/13)


• FSWPC-13-#4 Processor Cores for Simulation
  and PhotoView360 (3/28/13)


• FSWPC-13-#5 Processor Clock Speed (4/2/13)


• FSWPC-13-#6 Hard Drives (4/4/13)


• FSWPC-13-#7a Graphics Cards-SolidWorks
  Functionality (4/9/13)


• FSWPC-13-#7b Graphics Cards-Hardware
  Comparison (4/11/13)


• FSWPC-13-#7c Graphics Cards-Model Complexity (4/16/13)


• FSWPC-13-#8 Files stored in an older version
  (4/18/13)


• FSWPC-13-#9 OS Visual and User Settings (4/23/13)


• FSWPC-13-#10 SolidWorks Options (4/25/13)


• FSWPC-13-#11 SolidWorks Image Quality (4/30/13)


• FSWPC-13-#12 SolidWorks RealView Graphics (5/2/13)


• FSWPC-13-#13 SolidWorks  Level of Detail (5/7/13)


• FSWPC-13-#14 SolidWorks Mates and Flexible
  Subassemblies (5/9/13)


• FSWPC-13-#15 SolidWorks Defeature (5/14/13)


• FSWPC-13-#16 SolidWorks Envelope (5/16/13)


• FSWPC-13-#17 SolidWorks Large
  Design Review (5/21/13)


• FSWPC-13-#18 SolidWorks
  SpeedPak (5/23/13)


• FSWPC-13-#19
  SolidWorks Save as Part (5/28/13)


• FSWPC-13-#20
  SolidWorks Large Assembly Mode (5/30/13)


• FSWPC-13-#21
  Optimal Configuration and Conclusion (6/4/13)

Thanks,

Josh
Altergott, CATI Support Manager

Adrian
Fanjoy, CATI Technical Services Director

 

 

Free SolidWorks from Performance Constraints (FSWPC-13-#17)

(Modeling Methodology - Large Design Review)

The next tool that we are going to look at for reducing the level of detail in our parts and subassemblies is Large Design Review. Large Design Review lets you open very large assemblies quickly, while still retaining capabilities that are useful when conducting design reviews of assemblies.

When you open an assembly in Large Design Review mode, you can:

• Navigate the FeatureManager design tree
  


• Measure distances
  


• Create cross sections
  


• Hide and show components
  


• Create, edit, and play back walk-throughs
  

Large Design Review is primarily intended as an environment for quick design reviews. If you want to ensure that all items are updated properly, you must open your assembly as lightweight or fully resolved.

You can see that our benchmark program failed to complete for Large Design Review. This is because when an assembly is opened with the tool our benchmark is not able to perform the tasks it is programmed to do.

Please
check back to the CATI blog as we will continue posting our
series of articles that goes further into the details of each of our tests. All
of these articles will be stored in the category of Free SolidWorks from Performance
Constraints and links to each with their
release date are listed below:

• FSWPC-13-#1 Introduction (3/19/13)


• FSWPC-13-#2 RAM (3/21/13)


• FSWPC-13-#3 Processor Cores (3/26/13)


• FSWPC-13-#4 Processor Cores for Simulation
  and PhotoView360 (3/28/13)


• FSWPC-13-#5 Processor Clock Speed (4/2/13)


• FSWPC-13-#6 Hard Drives (4/4/13)


• FSWPC-13-#7a Graphics Cards-SolidWorks
  Functionality (4/9/13)


• FSWPC-13-#7b Graphics Cards-Hardware
  Comparison (4/11/13)


• FSWPC-13-#7c Graphics Cards-Model Complexity (4/16/13)


• FSWPC-13-#8 Files stored in an older version
  (4/18/13)


• FSWPC-13-#9 OS Visual and User Settings (4/23/13)


• FSWPC-13-#10 SolidWorks Options (4/25/13)


• FSWPC-13-#11 SolidWorks Image Quality (4/30/13)


• FSWPC-13-#12 SolidWorks RealView Graphics (5/2/13)


• FSWPC-13-#13 SolidWorks  Level of Detail (5/7/13)


• FSWPC-13-#14 SolidWorks Mates and Flexible
  Subassemblies (5/9/13)


• FSWPC-13-#15 SolidWorks Defeature (5/14/13)


• FSWPC-13-#16 SolidWorks Envelope (5/16/13)


• FSWPC-13-#17 SolidWorks Large
  Design Review (5/21/13)


• FSWPC-13-#18
  SolidWorks
  SpeedPak (5/23/13)


• FSWPC-13-#19
  SolidWorks Save as Part (5/28/13)


• FSWPC-13-#20
  SolidWorks Large Assembly Mode (5/30/13)


• FSWPC-13-#21
  Optimal Configuration and Conclusion (6/4/13)

Thanks,

Josh
Altergott, CATI Support Manager

Adrian
Fanjoy, CATI Technical Services Director