Looking to develop a new program. Need some insight from the group at large. I know this will hit a few nerves. If you have a spare moment would love to get the groups input. Yes and no answers will suffice, however long-winded, detailed info is entirely welcome.
Thanks in advance!
Such as:
File Naming
Is the file name the part number?
Is the part number in custom property if the file name is generic or text based.
Do you use intelligent part numbers or not.
Do you use commodity codes to define the part type.
What other taxonomy do you use if any?
What "quirks" do you have in numbering, i.e. are parts numbered differently than drawings for the delineated part. Are assemblies named differently?
Custom Properties
Are custom properties entered manually each time a part is made?
Do you use template (seed) items with properties predefined in them?
Do you store rev (model or drawing) in custom properties?
Do you store model revs and drawing revs or do they track together?
Do you have a standard list of custom properties? What are they?
Do you use configuration specific custom properties.
Costing Information
Does your company have an MRP system to track project costs.
Do you carry costing data in Solidworks parts in any way?
Do buy/procure at the piece part level or sub-assembly level or both?
Is real-time costed BOM's an issue your company struggles with?
Do pass data from your MRP to SW or vice-versa?
Do you use Excel to look at coating data?
Do the purchasing folks look at drawings to order product? If so how do the do that, i.e. SW Viewer, PDF, etc.
Looking to develop a new program. Need some insight from the group at large. I know this will hit a few nerves. If you have a spare moment would love to get the groups input. Yes and no answers will suffice, however long-winded, detailed info is entirely welcome.
Thanks in advance!
Such as:
File Naming
Is the file name the part number?
Is the part number in custom property if the file name is generic or text based.
Do you use intelligent part numbers or not.
Do you use commodity codes to define the part type.
What other taxonomy do you use if any?
What "quirks" do you have in numbering, i.e. are parts numbered differently than drawings for the delineated part. Are assemblies named differently?
Custom Properties
Are custom properties entered manually each time a part is made?
Do you use template (seed) items with properties predefined in them?
Do you store rev (model or drawing) in custom properties?
Do you store model revs and drawing revs or do they track together?
Do you have a standard list of custom properties? What are they?
Do you use configuration specific custom properties.
Costing Information
Does your company have an MRP system to track project costs.
Do you carry costing data in Solidworks parts in any way?
Do buy/procure at the piece part level or sub-assembly level or both?
Is real-time costed BOM's an issue your company struggles with?
Do pass data from your MRP to SW or vice-versa?
Do you use Excel to look at coating data?
Do the purchasing folks look at drawings to order product? If so how do the do that, i.e. SW Viewer, PDF, etc.
I don't do any of these things myself, as a consultant, but my answers below draw from my experience with helping a lot of different companies through file management issues:
Yes. The one real requirement for filenames is that they be unique. This usually means a sequential number which might as well be the part number. If you are working with PDMWorks, there is a field called "Number" which confuses people because this info is already in the filename. A lot of companies want a "descriptive" name, which I usually recommend to be put in the "Description" property, but sometimes people append a brief description to a sequential number in the filename.
I avoid generic filenames. How many parts called "bracket" do you make in a year? The filename has to be unique. If the part number is in a property and you are using PDMWorks, use the property "Number".
Yes. I mean No. I mean sort of. Fully intelligent part numbers are usually a problem. Sometimes there is some classification that goes on with a prefix that helps sort numbers into groups, such as pistons =
10-, blocks = 20- camshafts = 30-, etc, but there should definitely be some sequential (non-intelligent) component to the part number / filename
Yes. This is a better way of saying what I said in 3 above.
I have a stuffed bass on my wall, a guy over in the next town did it.
Sometimes parts receive a xxx-01 suffix to connect them to an assembly, but this can only be done if parts are dedicated to a particular assy and will not be shared, or if you have some way of assigning multiple part numbers to a part with a cross-reference list. Drawings usually have the same number as the part or assy they describe unless there are different types of drawings, such as inspection drawings vs mfg drawings or assembly instructions, etc.
Sometimes templates are used which contain properties, and sometimes you don't know when you start a part if it's going to be cast aluminum or cast zinc. Automated property-filler-outers are beautiful things if they have customizable drop down lists.
Yes, but this hardly ever includes all the possibilities. It's just too hard to maintain a complete list properly (a change to one template requires a change to all templates)
When using PDMWorks, definitely.
No. I'm of the opinion that it is simply impractical to keep model and drawing at the same rev level. It's just impossible to maintain this. They are distinctly separate documents. I encourage people to put the model revision level on the drawing in small print so it's not confused with the drawing rev.
Most companies aren't as sophisticated in this respect as you would wish them to be. Generally they can't just rattle off a list of properties that they are using.
Yes. Not as a rule, but when necessary.
Yes. Most of my customers do this in MRP. If they don't have that, they are usually a small potatoes organization.
No. This is usually seen as too much to maintain. 2 years down the road when steel prices change, who's going to go through and update all the SolidWorks parts? No one. You just change a single number in MRP and be done with it.
Both.
Yes.
This is usually a wish-list item. If there was some way to link MRP to a part number generation system (MRP to SW) and then pump BOM info back to MRP, that would be very helpful.
No, but often I see it used for costing data. This is sometimes done outside of the engineering department, so I don't run into it as often as it is done.
Yes. SW Viewer is passe. eDrawings is replacing the viewer. PDF sometimes, but this requires another level of file management.
That's a large mouth. 8 pounder. (the one on the left, the one on the right is also a "large mouth", but weighs a bit more than 8 lbs!) He's stuffed on my wall right now. Last year I caught 3 that size.
Have to head out to meeting. Answers are a little rushed - sorry.
File Naming
Is the file name the part number? Yes if only one configuration No if multiple configuration (Use a PDM value called ID to identifiy each configuration (part)).
Is the part number in custom property if the file name is generic or
text based Use configuration property ID to identify the part
.
Do you use intelligent part numbers or not. Non-inteligent - pulls the next available number from ERP system
Do you use commodity codes to define the part type. Yes
What other taxonomy do you use if any? Maintenance Authority to determine who has rights to edit document.
What "quirks" do you have in numbering, i.e. are parts numbered differently than drawings for the delineated part. Are assemblies named
differently
Parts, Assemblies, Generic Documents (Word, Excel, etc...) get the next non-intelligent number.
Custom Properties
Are custom properties entered manually each time a part is made PDM system generates the configuration properties on the fly.
Do you use template (seed) items with properties predefined in them?
Nope - See #6
Do you store rev (model or drawing) in custom properties? Stored in Configuration properties
Do you store model revs and drawing revs or do they track together
Use configuration revsions to track individual part revisions - model values propagate to drawings. Don't try to match file revisions - especially with configurations.
?
Do you have a standard list of custom properties? What are they PDM system generates them on the fly. Hint: use the same ones as ERP system the meta data will be sent to.
Do you use configuration specific custom properties.
100%
Costing Information
Does your company have an MRP system to track project costs Clients do - yes.
.
Do you carry costing data in Solidworks parts in any way? No - wrong way to do it - PDM generates excel sheet that is linked to ERP cost values. SW model generates geometry and quantities - ERP values populate Excel BOM
Do buy/procure at the piece part level or sub-assembly level or both Both - changes depending on prototype or production
?
Is real-time costed BOM's an issue your company struggles with? No - PDM pulls info from ERP.
Do pass data from your MRP to SW or vice-versa?
PDM reads ERP data and flags standard items . PDM passes item master and BOMs to ERP.
Do you use Excel to look at coating data? Excel - costing data? yes
Do the purchasing folks look at drawings to order product? If so how do the do that, i.e. SW Viewer, PDF, etc PDM system generates PDF or e-drawings on the fly. Purchasing can use either (engineering). Manufacturing purchaser only sees released PDF's
I am certainly no expert on this subject. However, I just spent the last 15 months working with a company that uses sequential part numbers. In my opinion, and in the opinion of many employees of this company, this causes much confusion. The "part numbers" are useless, they don't display any useful information. In this case, the part "description" displays the needed information to build the assembly.
I spent over 12 years working for the Honda, Suzuki, and Nissan factories here in the USA. They use "smart part numbers". You can look at a part number and know almost exactly what is, what it fits, and what type of finish it has. Also, looking a part, and knowing which model it came from, you could guess it's part number and usually be correct, or close enough to find it quickly.
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