File System Overhaul: Moving and Renaming

[Mechomatic]

Hello all. Dropping in to pick some more experienced SWx users' brains-

TL;DR: What's the best way to move and rename assemblies and their drawings (no PDM)?

I'm a new hire at a small company and am looking to does something of an overhaul to the way we manage our product models and drawings. As I am learning the new products and asking questions, "backburner" projects to streamline our models and drawings are coming back to the minds of my colleagues. We have a standard product catalog with various options/configurations for each product depending on customer needs and available utilities (electric, fuel supply, etc). Right now the different options have to be either reconfigured for each job or new revisions of a sub-assembly have to be made to satisfy the customer needs.

My plan is to create a standard model for each product, with the subassemblies within that product having multiple configurations that can be referenced in the job file (save a copy of the product model to the job file) as needed to bring the various options into the model for the specific job. Part numbers would then be assigned in the file properties to each configuration so that manufacturing drawings would have the correct part numbers in their BOM when we print them, without having to go through each drawing and manaully check/revise things.

So, I want to implement this plan with one of the products to start with to prove it will be a beneficial investment of time. Obviously, these models are already created on our document server, so I'd like to not clutter things up (any more than they already are) if at all possible. I'd like to begin work by saving my assemblies to a different server drive and, when each one is complete, move and (possibly) rename files to assimilate them into/in place of the current ones. We do not have PDM, so I'm assuming some combination of Pack and Go and Solidworks Explorer are what's going to get the job done without destroying all the external references.

Any advice and/or suggestions ("abandon thy quest!") are appreciated!

PS- TL;DR: means "Too Long, Didn't Read:"

 

[snowshoe2]

Pack and Go, and Explorer are good tools to use, but even then go slowly and check that it all works when opening SW.

PDM is a pretty useful tool and it forces a regimented way of dealing with versions of files. (just sayin)

Sub Assemblies that can be managed and assembled into new products are a nice way of managing things. A sub assy that is it's own unit with it's own drawing(s) that fits in several places can be a good building block.

Configurations can get messy and slow, I use them but carefully. I would not recommend building the big assemblies that can do everything.

Driveworks may be a fit, not sure of your industry of course.

go slow, make notes.
smilin
Snowshoe2

 

[berkshire]

I do not know if newer versions of Solidworks have solved this problem. But may years ago I learned that dragging and dropping a file into another folder was sure recipe for disaster. The file used to lose its associations with other parts and get corrupted.
I used to set up the new folder, then do a save as into the new folder. Then open the file and check it before you go on.
B.E.

 

[ctopher]

Use SolidWorks Explorer, not Windows Explorer.

Chris
SolidWorks 11
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[MikeHalloran]

My IT geeks used to move entire SW directories among servers, for reasons known only to them. Major PITA.

I always had trouble with the 'Save As', because in SW, it works backwards from everything else that does a Save As. ... or maybe I do.




Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA