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Importance of data management in the process

cdspk
1-Newbie

Importance of data management in the process

My students are moaning at me for docking up to 5% for poor file management in their projects, I'm trying to emphasise to them that in a commercial environmentthey can have the most fantastic assemblies in the world but if it all falls over and no one can access them thenit was all for nothing, agreed?


BTW, my students are more likely to go on tobe project managers rather than the front line part designers,


Cheers, Sean


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18 REPLIES 18
ChrisCollinson
6-Contributor
(To:cdspk)

Even more important then if their going to be PMs, they'll have to ensure
all project data is secured but available and correct from all members of
the project team and their own work to.

Maybe a crash course in PDM or PLM would be the way to go

Would have docked them 10%, you're to generous 😉



Best Regards

Chris Collinson




I was also going to suggest that 5% didn't sound very much!



It may also help them understand why their future CAD operators are
"wasting" so much time making sure that everything is orderly and
logical.



Best regards,

Jonathan

(L'boro AAETS 96-01)


wfalco
15-Moonstone
(To:cdspk)


My first impression is that 5 is low.

nrollins
1-Newbie
(To:cdspk)

Sean,



Considering the potential impact on a project, I agree - 5% is low. File
management is certainly more than 5% of the success of a project - IF
success is measured in things like process efficiency, time to market, speed
of revisions. Like you said, if it falls over, it was all for nothing. I
bought SWX this spring and I am suffering through my learning curve there -
not so much because of geometry related issues. I can get the models right
eventually, so I can sleep at night with respect to that. What keeps me up
at night is not fully understanding the relationships between Drawings,
Assemblies and Parts, etc. A mistake in that area can cause a lot of grief -
especially to someone who doesn't know the ropes.



PDM is to file management as a calculator is to math. You need to
understand, know, implement and use the theory manually it before the
automation should be relied on.



But, I give you my sincere and enthusiastic accolades for incorporating that
discipline into your curriculum. The design world will be a better place
because of your insight.



-Nate




JWayman
1-Newbie
(To:cdspk)

Dock away, Sean, dock away...

Anyway, you are the lecturer, right? They get what you say. We never used to
moan in my day!

(Loughborough, Mech. Eng. '78-'82)



John


_____
sshannon
1-Newbie
(To:cdspk)

"My students are moaning at me" ...... "more likely to go on to be project managers"

Sounds like they're pretty much making the grade and on their way! Should fit right in w/ most PM's I know. 😉

Regards, SMS

Steve Shannon
Tooling Engineer
trans-matic
300 East 48th St.
Holland, MI 49423
phone (616) 820-2427
fax (616) 820-2488
www.transmatic.com
TimKnier
4-Participant
(To:cdspk)

Everybody wants to be the big picture person and nobody wants to pay any attention to the details. Project managers are among the worst of those people. They only care about completing the project and don't care what it takes to get it done. They're too wrapped up in their charts, timelines and schedules than to worry about the work that has to be done. File management might not seem important for the project at hand but it's vitally important for the next project. Never ever think that your files won't be re-used again by you or someone else. I've been doing this a long time and it's been far and few between that a project was started completely from scratch. They almost always start with something similar that was done before.

Tim Knier
QG Product & Support Engineering
QuadTech
A Subsidiary of Quad/Graphics
Sussex, Wisconsin
414-566-7439 phone
-<">mailto:->
www.quadtechworld.com<">http://www.quadtechworld.com>
mganzer
1-Newbie
(To:cdspk)

One more point to impress on them. With many PLM systems it is not just design access now. Their poor data management will affect configuration management, sales, supplier management, partners in joint ventures, EBOMs, MBOM, and the list goes on. PLM is a business system not just an engineering system.

TimMcLellan
6-Contributor
(To:cdspk)

For some reason I am thinking these moaning students have a drawer full of
mix matched socks at home.



On the serious side, Mark's points are right on target.



Tim McLellan
Mobius Innovation and Development, Inc.
wfalco
15-Moonstone
(To:cdspk)


SWX is a good example to draw from. SWX lets you go down bad paths and
keep on going. It's flexibility to do now and pay later has been my
number one peave about it.

dgschaefer
21-Topaz II
(To:cdspk)

Even long time SWX users here have a bit of trouble understanding its file management. In fact, we asked our VAR and he couldn’t explain it fully. After a bit he dug up a convoluted explanation from the SW docs. The big problem is it’s very opaque; you have to dig to discover where your files are coming from.



Pro/E’s data management rules take some education, but in the end it’s a handful of simple rules about file retrieval order and pretty easy to understand.



I’d agree with the group, file management is an important part of the design process, and not just CAD files but spec sheets, design specs, excel data and more.



Doug Schaefer
--
Doug Schaefer | Experienced Mechanical Design Engineer
LinkedIn
nrollins
1-Newbie
(To:cdspk)

Oh boy – It’s Friday again…



“What are the general issues with SW?”



Nice question...




dgschaefer
21-Topaz II
(To:cdspk)

What are the issues with SW? Where do I start? Oh, I guess we’re talking specifically about data management here. 😄



The rules for where SW finds files are pretty fuzzy. In an assembly, it’s not readily apparent where the parts live. SW keeps track of where they came from, so if you open an assy from folder A and then add a part from folder B, next time you open the assy from A it’ll look to folder B for that part, even if it exists in folder A too. The problem comes if you already have the part open from another folder or if SW can’t find it or if you move things around in Windows or by ‘Save As’.



We’ve seen parts open in one window from one folder, open an assembly and it finds a different version of the same part from another folder. Yeah, two versions of the same part open in the same session of SW. If assemblies are copied using ‘Save As’ the new copy still references the original parts unless you tell it not to.



There are steps to minimize the issues, but it requires some deliberate techniques from the user (like using ‘Pack and Go’ instead of ‘Save As’). One can certainly make a mess with Pro/E too, but is usually because of user error rather than the software thinking for you. Outside PDM Link or Intralink, Pro/E doesn’t try to keep track of the files. No hidden magic, just look in session, look in the folder, check the search paths then ask the user. Oh, and I can set Pro/E to tell me the full path in the title bar so it’s obvious where the file is.



Doug Schaefer
--
Doug Schaefer | Experienced Mechanical Design Engineer
LinkedIn
amedina
1-Newbie
(To:cdspk)

Great answer! I suggest that you not deduct points. Instead face them with
reality. If they don't suffer upfront, the will pay later. They will feel
like they are getting A+'s. Then at the end give them all C's :). But give
it to them like two days before the end of the class so that they can learn
to scramble and abuse their subjugates in a meaningless and futile effort
to make up for the good times they enjoyed...... But give them all
chocolate as a golden parachute and be hush hush about it so that other
professors don't know a thing of what happened there. Wait a minute! you
can get a cut if you black mail or just keep 5% of the chocolates in the
end.

Actually my manger is really nice. But its Friday so only the poor souls
who are working now will read this anyway.



Hi all,

I created an extrude when what I actually wanted was a sketch. I thought there was a way to remove a sketch from the extrude turning it from an internal sketch to an external sketch. I like to lose the extrude and keep the sketch.

Is this possible? WF2 (no need to comment on the WF2 part, we’re working on it).

Thanks,
Stefan
GavinBRumble
5-Regular Member
(To:cdspk)

Stefan,



In any version of Pro (WF2 shown here) you can save the sketch (while in the sketch) by simply pressing SAVE. You will be presented with this dialog...







You can then retrieve that section file into a new external sketch not part of an extrude feature.



Hope this helps,



Gavin B. Rumble, PE

Solid Engineering

336-224-2312


Ctrl+C in the sketch for the unwanted extrude and then start a new sketch, Ctrl+V (you can also drag and scale if you choose).

Then delete the original extrude, Boom! Done!

Michael Ohlrich, Design Engineer
Benchmade Knife Company
mohlrich@benchmade.com<">mailto:mohlrich@benchmade.com>
(503) 655-6004 x122

[cid:image001.jpg@01CD3503.7CA0CF20]
www.benchmade.com<">http://www.benchmade.com>

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients. If you are not the intended recipient, (or authorized to receive for the recipient) you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please destroy all copies of this communication and any attachments and contact the sender by reply e-mail or telephone (503) 655-6004).
DeanLong
10-Marble
(To:cdspk)

Another hijacked thread!



Please "create" a new thread instead of "replying"...just sayin.

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