Large SolidWorks drawings

[Standing]

We have 19 SolidWorks users and with the way the finances are going we cannot afford the fastest workstations for everyone. We have top-level drawings that have 2000 to 3000 parts counting subassemblies parts. Our 733 GHz computers with around 392,688 KB RAM machines cannot open the large assemblies then create a drawing. When a drawing is created, SolidWorks resets the assembly to non-lightweight parts then the system crashes. Is anyone out there creating large multi-sheet assemblies drawings on slow machines. If so, how are you doing it? I’ve tried Join and that is not working. What we are doing is exporting the view to AutoCAD 14 and working with them there. You can see why this is not a good idea, no parametric values.
Bradley

 

[MadMango]

Have you considered using RapidDraft functionality? I know many people do not like them since they do "strange" things. "The attempt and not the deed confounds us."

 

[BBJT]

Buy more memory. I am not sure what it goes for at this time but it is usually a cheep solution. I am guessing that you are running out of memory and swap file space when you crash. Make sure that your virtual memory is set to 3x the memory for min and 4x the mem for max. That may help the crashing. What operating system are you running on? Win9X is a horrible memory manager. BBJT CSWP

 

[drawoh]

Bradley,

I can offer you the standard SolidWorks advice of not modeling complicated, unnecessary features and stuff. I am managing a large assembly model, and I often find it difficult to impress on everyone the need for simple, easily updated parts. You may have to work on this.

While your assembly model is enormous, there is no need for the sub-assemblies and parts to be enormous. The people on the slower machines can work on these.

JHG

 

[Standing]

MadMango,
We are looking into RapidDraft, but that is not a cure all. RapidDraft drawings do load fast.
BBJT,
We have HP machines that only allow certain memory chips. More memory cost more than ones pays for a new machine. Plus we have to buy from an approved company vendor.
JHG,
I am looking into creating configurations that would suppress parts that do not show up on next assemblies. This idea might work.
Bradley

 

[Stoker]

I strongly recommend creating configurations with assemblies which are not visible suppressed. The suppressed components don't have to be loaded into memory and will definitely help loading times. There is one limitation though. If you use a single drawing to document the entire assembly process you may have to show almost every part at some point. Even if those parts are only shown on a single sheet they still have to be loaded and you won't see much advantage out of having them suppressed in the views on the other sheets. This is why some people choose to break up the drawing into several smaller drawing files. This results in a greater percentage of the parts (per file) being suppressed. Obviously it would be nice to keep everything in one drawing but if you are reaching the limit of the machine then you should try breaking up the files.