Catalogues, Categories, Names, Numbers &Schema brain overload - your advice?

[PaulMunford]

It's about time I got to grips with our design libraries. My OCD is holding me back. Everytime I think I've got my head around the schema for all the information we want to record and search on I start to get dizzy and have to go for a lie down 😞

I come back to the same conclusion. If it's too complicated for me to understand, how will I explain it? How will I monitor it? How will I enforce it?

I guess I just need to not let it worry me and get on with it - but I thought that i'd ask your advice first!

• How did you come up with your system for managing the data around your standard/library bespoke iFeatures, parts, assemblies, drawings and reference data? I'm thinking, part/catalouge/inventory/drawing numbers, iProperties, metadata and so on.
• Have you had to adapt it as you go along?
• How easy has it been to add new catagories or iProperties to your backlog of data?

All thoughts welcome!

Paul

[scottmoyse]

You are NEVER going to get it right first time. Start small & simple, build it as you go. You will hit a dead end in a couple of years & have to reassess. You don't know what you don't know. Your OP broke my mind, so you are definitely over thinking it. At SMI we had 2 libraries (Note: they weren't Inventor or Vault libraries, they were just controlled folder paths), equipment & hardware library folders. Everything was grouped into logical subfolders beneath those.

You can retrospectively bulk apply iProperties with Vault. So don't get too caught up about not having that pinned down entirely.

Create an idw for each iam, not for each part. Name the idw's with exactly the same name as the iam's & keep them in the same folder as one another.

Make the folders names follow the naming structure of your parts/assemblies, so it's clear where stuff lives & obvious when it's out of place.

I always just used manufacturers part numbers for purchased stuff, sod trying to reinvent the wheel by renumbering that lot as well.

Buy iPropWiz!

[scottmoyse]

when you ask about categories are you askign about Vault Workgroup/Professional categories?

[cbenner]

My two cents worth....

We have things organized in a way that (sort of) makes sense to our business.  I've been reworking it for about the last 4 years trying make some more sense out of it.  I'm still dealing with pre-Vault folder structures set up in the previous century!

Basically, we don't make part we build machines.  Mainly from purchased parts.  So we are organized by Parts and Jobs (that's basically it).  Under parts, all of our blocks of purchased components are categorized and there can be many sub-categories.  Valves is a big one, we have those broke out by Manufacturer, then by whether it is a manual or automatic balve... fairly complex.

Our projects are stored under the Jobs folder, by Job number.  Pretty simple.  All assemblies and drawings under a job are prefixed with that job number, as are all parts generated by Tube& Pipe or Frame Generator.  Keeps down duplicates and also makes Copy Design a lot easier.

All the superfluous crap is what's got me stymied... they spread things out over kingdom come for so long, that I'm still trying to make sense of it and decide what to keep and what to trash.  We have software updates from over ten years ago!  And the one product line we have where we DO make parts here... well that's been a nightmare for years, and will takes everal more to finish cleaning up.

Sorry, as I type this I realize how little help I'm actually offering.... Good luck Paul!  (listen to Scott!)