how do you know what changes have been made to a part? 1

[Scarecrow]

Hi guys,
we routinely send part files back and forth to our manufacturer in China. It's becoming a file management nightmare.
How can you track revision changes to part files? Currently I send the file along with a email detailing each change, be it dimensional or a new feature. This seems really dumb, and a huge time waster, and very hard to track.

Any input greatly appreciated

Gerry

http://www.scatmat.com

 

[TheTick]

I worked in one place that had a very effective system for showing changes to molded parts. These were computer shells being made in Taiwan.

When a revision was sent, there were three sets of solid bodies:[ul][li]The most recent revision of the part[/li][li]A set of solid bodies showing net material added[/li][li]A set of solid bodies showing net material removed.[/li][/ul]

Transcends all language barriers, it does.

"Customer satisfaction, while theoretically possible, is neither guaranteed nor statistically likely.--E.L. Kersten

http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

If you have SW Office, you could use the Compare
functions in the Utilities module. It can compare & highlight differences between Documents, Features & Geometry.

 

[macPT]

If it's so important to you, to document exactly which features are changed and in what revision they changed, here are some ideas:

- using SW2005: you can add a note for each changed/created feature, where you show the revision state

- using SW200x: you can change the feature name in order to show the revision state

Regards

 

[SBaugh]

To add to macPT:

In SW2005 you can add a Comment to each feature

and

In SW2005 you can use the Design Journal for recording your changes.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP
3DVision Technologies

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

Merry Christmas
faq731-376
faq559-716 - SW Fora Users

 

[macduff]

MacPT,
Great suggestions and would like to add another one.

-using SW2005: you can add Exel and Word documents within a part model. This allows you to keep revision history with the part.

Macduff
Meggitt Airdynamics Inc.
Dell Precision 370
SW2004 Pro SP4.1
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1300

 

[Dennyd]

macduff,

The ability to add a Word, Excel, txt, or any other file has been a part of SWX from day 1, not just 2005. I used to keep a Word doc open in the file which encouraged me to write down why I did what I did. This is especially helpful when doing new product development and you are trying many things.

- - -Dennyd

 

[macduff]

Dennyd,
Guess I learned something today. I'm going home now.....

Have a good Holiday all,

Macduff
Meggitt Airdynamics Inc.
Dell Precision 370
SW2004 Pro SP4.1
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1300

 

[Beggar]

I make a new configuration for each new revision. You can then use API to generate a list of config-specific dimensions and their values.

--------------------
Bring back the HP-15

http://www.hp15c.org

--------------------

 

[StiLLiving]

I'm using Visual Safe Source (VSS) - part of MS Visual Studio to back up all my data. Simple, easy to use and this enables me to keep track of any changes/revs. Simply update database and put your comments. Beauty of this is cmplete part history at any time and ability to roll back to very first revision if needed.

 

[macPT]

Dennyd

You are correct, but with 2005 you can attach this file to the design bin of the feature manager tree, which I think it's a much more pratical and elegant way to link this kind of documents to SW.

I'm planning, in the near future, that every documents related to the development of one part/assembly (thoughts, calculations, quality reports, specifications,...) will be accessed directly from the feature manager tree.

Regards

 

[Dennyd]

macPT,

That's good info. Can you create a part template with this type of documentation already setup?

- - -Dennyd

 

[macduff]

Dennyd,
Yes you can have setup in your templates. I've been working on that as we speak. I have our "Engineering Analysis" form imported as well as our "ECO form". Both of them our Excel documents.

Also,
Your last comment was talking about inserting docs in 2004. Can't figure how to get them loaded in the command manager.

Best,

Macduff
Meggitt Airdynamics Inc.
Dell Precision 370
SW2004 Pro SP4.1
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1300

 

[aamoroso]

Some things we have done in the past, SW04, we use a second sheet for the drawing and keep history notes on it for detailed information on revisions.

Another option we have used is each revision is a seperate configuration, this is not always a great option for development, in those instances a new file (copy of the last rev) could be saved with the new rev level in the file name.