Assembly Functionality and Capabilities

Anonymous · ‎03-24-2003

I'm not sure of all of the capabilities of Inventor or its functionality. I
have inquired with different vendors over the years and persons at the
design show in Chicago recently. After explaining my requirements and how
our product line is designed, I've been told it's not possible without
another add-on package.

Basically, I need the package to know to use and not use certain parts (I've
been told this is "knowledge based engineering" and no package could
automatically determine which parts to assembly based on given conditions
(load capacities or dimensional parameters).

I'm looking to have all the parts are in one huge assembly and based on
links to a spreadsheet or input of given dimensional requirements, the
assembly would be able to assemble the proper parts.

I do not know if I'm using the proper terminology and hope you can
understand my needs. I hope this newsgroup can clear up this issue and give
true and unbiased feed back and solutions.

Keith Streich
Pflow Industries, Inc.
5045 North 35th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53209

keiths@pflow.com

(414) 462-8810 x124
(414) 462-2673 FAX

www.pflow.com

Anonymous · ‎03-25-2003

I was really hoping there would be some takers on this subject!

Keith

Anonymous · ‎03-25-2003

I do recall someone else bringing this topic up before. I have never
worked in an industry where this was a necessary feature of software. I
would think that change order and configuration control would be a
nightmare with that system. For my uses (past and current) that
capability would not be necessary.

I would tend to use Configuration Management or PDM software to control
what you are describing and let the CAD software stick to design and
documentation.

--
Hal Gwin
Mechanical Designer
Xenogen

Dell Precision 650
Dual 2.66 GHz Xeon
1.5 GB DDR
Quadro4 900 XGL
nVidia 6.14.10.4201 drivers
Dell UltraSharp 19" LCD

Anonymous · ‎03-25-2003

To my knowledge there is not a package out on the market to do this. I'm
sure your preferences for what you want it to do and not do would also be
fairly custom. I'm fairly certain this could be done with a custom VB
add-on (one user has written something similar but much simpler to what you
are asking) but it's no small task.

That being said, with enough determination I think it could be done.

--
Sean Dotson, PE
http://www.sdotson.com
Check the Inventor FAQ for most common questions
www.sdotson.com/faq.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Keith Streich" wrote in message
news:f151ccd.0@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> I was really hoping there would be some takers on this subject!
>
> Keith
>
>

Anonymous · ‎03-25-2003

Keith,
May I ask you:
- Who determines if a certain part is necessary or not? and in what size?
Can this be put into an exact formula?
- How many times would you use this functionality? Would you use it on
hundreds of "configurations" or just a few ones?

There was a huge project done by a competition office here, back in the
MDT2.x days, where they did exactly what you are asking for: Some Mold
assembly (well, rather a plant), where finally you enter some parameters,
and the whole beast adjusted and assembled itself automatically.
I think, this was about 1000 men-hours of work, and would (hopefully) save
1000ds of hour of work when being reused again and again.
Not sure if it ever reached the break-even.

So, the conclusion might be: It should be possible, in either package, but
not sure if it's worth the effort.

--
Regards,
---
Leo Laimer
Bad Ischl - Austria

Anonymous · ‎03-25-2003

There are pre-existing rules to determine which parts are used, yes all can
be determined via a formula (presently we use spreadsheets to output proper
BOM's and the varying part's dimensions.

By the nature of our products, there could be hundreds of "configurations".
Our equipment varies (both size and components) by the varying requirements
of our customers load and facility requirements. If we manufacture two
identical units a year, it's because the are sold to the same customer and
the are positioned next to each other.

Keith

"Leo Laimer" wrote in message
news:51EB01235796A26F034653E43F5BE30D@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Keith,
> May I ask you:
> - Who determines if a certain part is necessary or not? and in what size?
> Can this be put into an exact formula?
> - How many times would you use this functionality? Would you use it on
> hundreds of "configurations" or just a few ones?
>
> There was a huge project done by a competition office here, back in the
> MDT2.x days, where they did exactly what you are asking for: Some Mold
> assembly (well, rather a plant), where finally you enter some parameters,
> and the whole beast adjusted and assembled itself automatically.
> I think, this was about 1000 men-hours of work, and would (hopefully) save
> 1000ds of hour of work when being reused again and again.
> Not sure if it ever reached the break-even.
>
> So, the conclusion might be: It should be possible, in either package, but
> not sure if it's worth the effort.
>
> --
> Regards,
> ---
> Leo Laimer
> Bad Ischl - Austria
>
>

Anonymous · ‎03-25-2003

I remember reading an article about Otis Elevator (who used another CAD
system) and paid a lot of money to have this setup for them. Supposedly
they could have a designer enter a some variables (weight, # of passengers,
# of floors, style etc..) and hit GO. When they came in in the AM the
prints would be generated and sitting on the plotter.

I also seems to recall (I could be remembering wrong) the cost of this
custom program being over 1 million.

--
Sean Dotson, PE
http://www.sdotson.com
Check the Inventor FAQ for most common questions
www.sdotson.com/faq.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hal Gwin" wrote in message
news:B0C99AA68E44C44DDC74CBB4FC2D7EA3@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> I do recall someone else bringing this topic up before. I have never
> worked in an industry where this was a necessary feature of software. I
> would think that change order and configuration control would be a
> nightmare with that system. For my uses (past and current) that
> capability would not be necessary.
>
> I would tend to use Configuration Management or PDM software to control
> what you are describing and let the CAD software stick to design and
> documentation.
>
> --
> Hal Gwin
> Mechanical Designer
> Xenogen
>
> Dell Precision 650
> Dual 2.66 GHz Xeon
> 1.5 GB DDR
> Quadro4 900 XGL
> nVidia 6.14.10.4201 drivers
> Dell UltraSharp 19" LCD
>

Anonymous · ‎03-25-2003

So that's what I'm worth! Now I just need to find a way to get Inventor to
do this.

Keith

"Sean Dotson" wrote in message
news:6D9E02A067B5C2B75DAD46733AE426F0@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> I remember reading an article about Otis Elevator (who used another CAD
> system) and paid a lot of money to have this setup for them. Supposedly
> they could have a designer enter a some variables (weight, # of
passengers,
> # of floors, style etc..) and hit GO. When they came in in the AM the
> prints would be generated and sitting on the plotter.
>
> I also seems to recall (I could be remembering wrong) the cost of this
> custom program being over 1 million.
>
> --
> Sean Dotson, PE
> http://www.sdotson.com
> Check the Inventor FAQ for most common questions
> www.sdotson.com/faq.html
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> "Hal Gwin" wrote in message
> news:B0C99AA68E44C44DDC74CBB4FC2D7EA3@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > I do recall someone else bringing this topic up before. I have never
> > worked in an industry where this was a necessary feature of software. I
> > would think that change order and configuration control would be a
> > nightmare with that system. For my uses (past and current) that
> > capability would not be necessary.
> >
> > I would tend to use Configuration Management or PDM software to control
> > what you are describing and let the CAD software stick to design and
> > documentation.
> >
> > --
> > Hal Gwin
> > Mechanical Designer
> > Xenogen
> >
> > Dell Precision 650
> > Dual 2.66 GHz Xeon
> > 1.5 GB DDR
> > Quadro4 900 XGL
> > nVidia 6.14.10.4201 drivers
> > Dell UltraSharp 19" LCD
> >
>
>

Anonymous · ‎03-25-2003

Keith,
Sounds very interesting (you grabbed even Sean's attention )
Suppose several of the cracks here would love to do this task for you (and
earn the million Sean mentioned)

Even if all are beating me to death now: I doubt if IV would be the "best"
platform for such a project.

Good luck!
--
Regards,
---
Leo Laimer
Bad Ischl - Austria

Anonymous · ‎03-26-2003

If I'm worth that much I don't want IV doing it, I want the million,
..... but I'll be reasonable and settle for half that.

--
Hal Gwin
Mechanical Designer
Xenogen

Dell Precision 650
Dual 2.66 GHz Xeon
1.5 GB DDR
Quadro4 900 XGL
nVidia 6.14.10.4201 drivers
Dell UltraSharp 19" LCD

Anonymous · ‎03-26-2003

No one is fighting you on this Leo! Maybe the darkside of SW with it's
instances of a configuration would suit this best.

"Leo Laimer" wrote in message
news:B8C4A52C3982669CF34A8832FBDF5939@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Keith,
> Sounds very interesting (you grabbed even Sean's attention )
> Suppose several of the cracks here would love to do this task for you (and
> earn the million Sean mentioned)
>
> Even if all are beating me to death now: I doubt if IV would be the "best"
> platform for such a project.
>
> Good luck!
> --
> Regards,
> ---
> Leo Laimer
> Bad Ischl - Austria
>
>

Anonymous · ‎03-27-2003

I sure wish someone would contradict me or Leo. I was hoping for some
insight about Inventor VS Solidwork's configurations.

"Keith Streich" wrote in message
news:1304DF2DCF39A3C253AF7DB6B078FF1B@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> No one is fighting you on this Leo! Maybe the darkside of SW with it's
> instances of a configuration would suit this best.
>
>
> "Leo Laimer" wrote in message
> news:B8C4A52C3982669CF34A8832FBDF5939@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > Keith,
> > Sounds very interesting (you grabbed even Sean's attention )
> > Suppose several of the cracks here would love to do this task for you
(and
> > earn the million Sean mentioned)
> >
> > Even if all are beating me to death now: I doubt if IV would be the
"best"
> > platform for such a project.
> >
> > Good luck!
> > --
> > Regards,
> > ---
> > Leo Laimer
> > Bad Ischl - Austria
> >
> >
>
>

Anonymous · ‎03-27-2003

Yes, this is what makes the difference between a serious CAD package and a
...
Suppose, we have to wait for this another turn!
--
Regards,
---
Leo Laimer
Bad Ischl - Austria

Anonymous · ‎03-27-2003

There is no insight as IV doesn't have configurations yet. I just recalled
there is a company that makes an add-on that "sort-of" does configurations.
Maybe this will help...

http://www.cadgems.com/

look at iViews...

--
Sean Dotson, PE
http://www.sdotson.com
Check the Inventor FAQ for most common questions
www.sdotson.com/faq.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Keith Streich" wrote in message
news:27B20144E488ACAE933ECF1F95DE1A50@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> I sure wish someone would contradict me or Leo. I was hoping for some
> insight about Inventor VS Solidwork's configurations.
>
> "Keith Streich" wrote in message
> news:1304DF2DCF39A3C253AF7DB6B078FF1B@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > No one is fighting you on this Leo! Maybe the darkside of SW with it's
> > instances of a configuration would suit this best.
> >
> >
> > "Leo Laimer" wrote in message
> > news:B8C4A52C3982669CF34A8832FBDF5939@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > > Keith,
> > > Sounds very interesting (you grabbed even Sean's attention )
> > > Suppose several of the cracks here would love to do this task for you
> (and
> > > earn the million Sean mentioned)
> > >
> > > Even if all are beating me to death now: I doubt if IV would be the
> "best"
> > > platform for such a project.
> > >
> > > Good luck!
> > > --
> > > Regards,
> > > ---
> > > Leo Laimer
> > > Bad Ischl - Austria
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Anonymous · ‎03-27-2003

There is a very powerful product developed by the Danish IV distributor -
Betech Data - It is called IV Product Configurator. It does exactly what you
have all been talking about.

you could contact: jens.pedersen@betechdata.dk

Regards

Finnur P.
"Sean Dotson" wrote in message
news:1B8167BA4A2044DFF0CB327F729B38A5@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> There is no insight as IV doesn't have configurations yet. I just
recalled
> there is a company that makes an add-on that "sort-of" does
configurations.
> Maybe this will help...
>
> http://www.cadgems.com/
>
> look at iViews...
>
>
> --
> Sean Dotson, PE
> http://www.sdotson.com
> Check the Inventor FAQ for most common questions
> www.sdotson.com/faq.html
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> "Keith Streich" wrote in message
> news:27B20144E488ACAE933ECF1F95DE1A50@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > I sure wish someone would contradict me or Leo. I was hoping for some
> > insight about Inventor VS Solidwork's configurations.
> >
> > "Keith Streich" wrote in message
> > news:1304DF2DCF39A3C253AF7DB6B078FF1B@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > > No one is fighting you on this Leo! Maybe the darkside of SW with
it's
> > > instances of a configuration would suit this best.
> > >
> > >
> > > "Leo Laimer" wrote in message
> > > news:B8C4A52C3982669CF34A8832FBDF5939@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > > > Keith,
> > > > Sounds very interesting (you grabbed even Sean's attention )
> > > > Suppose several of the cracks here would love to do this task for
you
> > (and
> > > > earn the million Sean mentioned)
> > > >
> > > > Even if all are beating me to death now: I doubt if IV would be the
> > "best"
> > > > platform for such a project.
> > > >
> > > > Good luck!
> > > > --
> > > > Regards,
> > > > ---
> > > > Leo Laimer
> > > > Bad Ischl - Austria
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Assembly Functionality and Capabilities

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