PDMWorks organization?

[SoilentG]

Hi, we're about to implement PDMWorks and I understand that you organize the basic structure by project files. I'm new to this company and they like having subfolders for each sub-assembly so you end up with a layered document tree. I prefer a flat directory structure (everything in one place) but I want to make a choice for the company that makes the most sense.

What would you recommend so far as a folder structure in PDMWorks?

 

[ctopher]

I don't like having subfolders for subassy's. It makes each user think more than they need to, in addition to thinking about the checkin/checkout process. Some users will get mixed up and accidently checkin the subassy's into the part folder. I prefer having everything in one folder. PDMW knows where everything is, let it do the work for you.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 05
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[kcarpenter]

I would agree that everything in one folder is the way....even though we use SMARTEAM (please no boos or hisses). Our projects tree is broken down by year and then the project number with all the documents associated linked. Besides, I know in ST if you have something in a folder within the documentation tree and you do a search on the tree for a number it won't find it.

Kevin Carpenter
CAD Systems Specialist
Invacare Corp.

 

[CADGemini]

We decided to structure our PDM works by Catagory. We have 5 main catagories that parts/assemblies would fall into for prototypes and released. It looks somewhat like this:

Prototypes
Cat 1-Prototype
Cat 2-Prototype
Cat 3-Prototype
Cat 4-Prototype
Cat 5-Prototype

Released
Cat 1-Released
Cat 2-Released
Cat 3-Released
Cat 4-Released
Cat 5-Released

This also makes it easy to find a part or assembly in either prototype or release state.

Hope all this makes sense

Best Regards,
Jon

Challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Solidworks 2006 SP0.0

 

[RawheadRex]

In practical terms I encourage keeping the folder structure as flat as possible. The software will certainly support the "layered" approach but my opinion is that each level of complexity (while conceptually simple) will introduce another path for errors to introduce themselves. Even the most diligent and disciplined individual will have the occasional errant mouse-click now and again. And unfortunately PDM is often unforgiving when that happens or at best offers little in the way of simple paths to recovery in those situations.

In short I recommend keeping things as simple as is practical for your organization. You can always fairly easily tweak your scheme upward as time goes by. Untangling complexity is another matter altogether I've found.

Best of luck to you!



Chris Gervais
Application Engineeer
CADD Edge

 

[Olid]

Having just switched to PDMworks from SmarTeam, going on 4 weeks, and still learning the in's and out's of PDMWorks I would have to agree with everyone else. The flatter you keep your project levels the better. It is less work for you, you won't have to keep creating new projects and less work for the users, they won't have many choices to choose from when they put their work into the system.

For example, here at my office we have a total of five project folders. One is the called Bulk because that was the bulk migration from SmarTeam, we have 3 more for company divisions and the last one is called Trash.

A tip about deleting files from PDMWorks, don't do it. Once you delete something it is gone and so is all of its history. Unfortunately that is one of the first things I learned. After that I created the Trash project and hid it from other users, which is where I now move things that need to be deleted. There is a good section on the use of a trash project in the PDMWorks help files.

Good luck and welcome to PDMWorks.

Regards,
Dan Olid
SW2006 SP3.4
PDMW 3.0
Cad Designer/PDMW Admin

 

[SoilentG]

All, thanks for the responses! Dan, good idea, TRASH. Thank you!

 

[yanceman]

We use a 5-digit (non-intelligent) part numbering scheme and our PDM folders hold 100 drawing each:

10000
10100
10200

...and so on. Drawings are sorted by part number, so part and assembly drawings are mixed together. Searches are easy as well. Model files are in a separate set of project folders under a similar folder structure.

Yanceman