Sharing Intralink parts & assemblies with outsiders

[stick1]

Does anyone have any comments on how they manage having others outside of their company create and modify ProE model files that reside within Intralink commonspace? How do you check items back in, especially if the parts are contained in assemblies used in other places? Can branching be used? Right now we wait until the last possible minute before products are released, and that way the designs are mature enough for us to take them over without having to make substantial changes. This does not allow easy sharing or access by others of the parts and assemblies during the critical early design phase.
We are a small company, and cannot afford expensive third party software for managing this task (i.e. Windchill, etc). Also we deal with small companies in the Far East that don't necessarily have a lot of IT support. The ideal solution would be fairly transparent to them.

 

[mloew]

stick1,

I have had no problem importing files back into a workspace from a vendor. Here is how I have done it:

[li]I have started the files (so it has all the right datum features, parameters, etc.) and added any content I needed to get the vendor started[/li][li]Export out of workspace[/li][li]Send to vendor[/li][li]Vendor works on it[/li][li]Import into workspace. The files will show "updated" in the workspace.[/li][li]Fire up Pro/E with the new information to make sure everything works[/li][li]Check into commonspace[/li]

It all worked out surprisingly well.


Best regards,

Matthew Ian Loew
"Organizations cannot make a genius out of an incompetent. On the other hand, disorganization can scarcely fail to result in efficiency." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[stick1]

Thanks Mloew.
We sometimes need both outside sources and our own designers work to within the same subassemblies. The trick is how to pull in the changed parts into those assemblies. We also sometimes have a designer create a concept, then have the outside source take it to completion. This means they make drawings as well. Consequently, we will have a part in commonspace that the designer started, and we would like to check in the outside completed version of that same part along with the associated drawings. Can we use branching in this case to our advantage? Has anyone tried this?