best practices for naming configurations?

Hey guys,

Any recommendations for working with configurations? For example,
naming them. I started giving them the whole part name, then adding
the specific configuration name at the end, like this:

part name: support, fuel tank
configuration 1 name: support, fuel tank, short
configuration 2 name: support, fuel tank, long

then I specify in each configuration that I want to use the
configuration name in the BOM...

however when we come to the drawing, I have the drawing sheet format
fill in two things in the name block:

PART NAME
( CONFIGURATION NAME )

That way, if the part has no configurations, the part name tells what
it is. If the part has configurations, there is some duplication due
to the configuration name including the part name (for sake of making
BOMs work). A drawing title block for the first configuration above
would look like this:

support, fuel tank
(support, fuel tank, short)

How does everyone else handle the drawing/BOM naming schemes?

It seems kind of dumb IMO that I have to come up with workarounds like
this to use configurations. Am I missing something here? I'm using
solidworks 2007 BTW.

Thanks,

Mike

 

I name the default configuration the same as the filename. For me file
names are generally numbers, part numbers to be specific. This way each
configuration is a distinct part number. I then make the configuration
description, the configuration specific custom property description the
same. In a PDM system you can then search on the description for various
types of parts. In a drawing the part number becomes the filename, the
title block description the config specific description and the drawing
number may be unique and different from the part number.

TOP

 

In a drawing the part number becomes the filename, the

OK, the part number is the configuration name, as you said earlier, so
how do you get the drawing to be named after the configuration name
instead of the part name? Do you manually change the drawing name or
is there some trick?

-Mike

 

Well, if the default configuration has been renamed to the part
filename, then SW will, by default give the drawing the same name as the
part which will be the same name as the configuration. However, in a
drawing I think it is best to pull in information from configuration
specific custom properties. Therefore when starting a part you name the
default configuration to the filename which is the part number. You also
create a configuration specific custom property with the part number in
it. I do it with a macro.

TOP

 

For manufactured components, we use a suffix on the end of the part
number. By default all parts end in -00. This means default, or in
the case of sheet metal parts, the flat pattern. Then the
configurations progress from -01 to -99. -01 and -02 are left and
right for mirror folded sheet metal parts that are made from the same
default or -00 config. If the configs. are not manufactured, just
shown for modelling purposes, then we generally use descriptive names,
ie; compressed, short, etc.

I guess the point to note is that all manufactured items require a
unique way of being identified. We use sequential numbers for this to
avoid any confusion or different designers having different ideas as
to naming conventions. After using different methods, I now loath
designs that have descriptive names.

Dom.

 

Using descriptive names for parts it is too difficult to be unique.
Descriptive names for features and sketches is good though.

Bob

 

A few years back I set up PDM for my company. dbWorks had no problem
tracking our part numbering scheme. What I learned is that as soon as
you try and automate anything it has to be automation friendly which
means the exceptions that humans have no problem with are a big deal for
software to deal with. Because we were an engineering house and not a
programming house it was deemed better to have meaningless part numbers
(read sequential). Dash numbers were for sub-configurations like
simplified, fea, sheet metal flat pattern, blank, etc. Because we used
design tables top level configurations were always parts. The lesson
learned from the dbWorks people was their method of assembling
descriptions. This is where the part searches should focus. They had a
hierachical, automated system to create descriptions quickly so even
that could be automated.

TOP