More PDMWorks questions ... 1

[killswitch]

I'm setting up PDMWorks for our office. I want to get as much of the bugs ironed out before I let everyone loose. How are others handling the following:

1. drawing title block : does the revision that appears here reflect the revision of the drawing file or the model it represents? (I feel it should be the model). These should always be the same but PDMWorks does let you rev-up a drawing and not the model.

2. Should the title block have a "printed date" field that updates to now() everytime the file is opened and saved. By just opening the file and saving it, PDMWorks identifies a difference between the local and the vault files.

3. Revision table: use the automatic revision update at check-in or have the owner update the revision table before checking in?
I can see the automatic option is useful when checking in an assembly and all of its parts. Type the revision note once and it goes onto every drawing. My guys would still need to go into each drawing and complete the revision row (Approved, Zone, etc) and then re-check in at the same revision level to make the process complete.

Thanks in advance,
Killswitch

SW 2007, PDMWorks 2007

 

[Standing]

Killswitch,
Check out FAQ Title PDM Rules to Live by: faq559-1227
1. We separated the two for revision. I am sorry we did that. Now I think the model should control both revisions.
2. We never use a printed date because our Document Control department hand stamps prints for the paper copy in the doc room. Computer printed files, you are on your own.
3. We change our revision before checking into the vault. The version is handled by the PDM.


Bradley
SolidWorks Pro 2008 x64 SP1.0
PDM Works, Dell XPS Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU
3.00 GHz, 5 GB RAM, Virtual memory 12577 MB, nVidia 3400

 

[PDMAdmin]

Killswitch,

It will depend on who you're asking. As an engineer, I prefer to keep things simple. Document control types would prefer to have a history / paper trail back as far as possible. Which is the best approach? Depends on the company; most of the time, you'll have to compromise somewhere in between.

Having gone through the process more times than I feel comfortable admitting, my $0.02 on the matter is as follows:

[ol]
[li]As you correctly pointed out, drawings can get a rev bump independently of the models. Unless you're in a very small company, these two items will probably need to be tracked separately unless you choose to bump 2D and 3D to the same rev/version every time.[/li]
[li]That strikes me as a potential source of confusion. It's better to keep track of when the document/model was last checked into the vault. As Bradley pointed out, hard copies are typically stamped by doc control anyway.[/li]
[li]I like having the automatic revision table, provided that the users have been adequately informed/trained as to how to make that work.[/li]
[/ol]

 

[killswitch]

Thanks for the feedback - very useful.

PDMAdmin - I like the automatic revision table but I haven't been successful in adding a value to any rev table column from the PDMWorks check-in window(other than the check-in NOTE going into the description column). I'd like to give the user the ability to fill in the REV BY and ZONE columns when checking in. This would be useful when we bump from initial design phase (rev A-0000) to construction phase (rev B-0000).

Either the user adds everything to each drawing's table prior to check-in (meaning he/she opens each drawings and adds the new revision row and PDMWorks revision is disabled) or it's done automatically during check-in.

I'm torn - I may just have to pick one method and adjust according to the user feedback.


Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Killswitch

 

[pdybeck]

Personally, I think the rev table was implemented in a way that most people wont use it in PDMWorks. We don't use it. I have always thought that you should fill out the rev table in SolidWorks, and then PDMWorks could read that entry. But, it works the other way around - where PDMWorks will add information to the rev table upon check-in. This seems backwards to me. Why would I want to check in a file that I have spent hours on and have PDMWorks make some additions as it is checking in? I would rather make sure the file is as I want it, print it, then check in into PDMWorks exactly as I left it. I would like PDMWorks to be able to read the table - not write to it. At least it would be nice if we had the option on how PDMWorks should function.

For rev levels of drawings and models...
I made a rule here that the drawing and its model must be on the same major version. We follow a rev scheme for models that allows minor revisions. The minor revisions are denoted by .1, .2, .3 etc.... the major revisions are -, A, B, C, D, etc... So drawings will always be on just major revisions and models may be at a combination, but their major revision levels must match. This allows us to store minor changes to the model in PDMWorks that would not affect the drawing in a way that it necessitated a major revision level change to the drawing.

 

[Cheeseburger]

There's some interesting thoughts and practices being presented here. I'd like to add my two cents to this thread.

Having been a Mechanical Designer and now a Document Control Manager ... in my opinion and what I currently have in place where I work is the drawing and part file (or assembly drawing and assembly file) should be the same revision. No Exceptions !!! Your drawing is documenting the part/assembly file. Having two separate revisions is a recipe for dissaster.

With regards to Revision Tables I agree with pdybeck. We have the revision of the drawing (in the title block) tied into the revision in our PDM Vault. The revision block is a separate entity which is updated/maintained by using SolidWorks Properties. I've linked certain text fields with certain properties so that it can handle multiple revisions.

This may seem tedious and I may have to train our Engineering personnel (i.e. friendly reminders) but it seems to work best here.

BTW ... I work for a medical device manufacturer who falls under the purview of the FDA and ISO 13485:2003 requirements. We're also running PDMWorks Workgroup ...

But that's just my opinion ...

Cheers


Brian Mazejka, CSWP
Documentation Control Manager
Microline Pentax, Inc.