We are just getting NC up and running here, and are trying to decide how to set things up. I thought I would touch base with you guys to see what everyone is doing.

• What are others doing for data management?
  • Stored files (CATProcess, .apt files, And G-code files)
  • Tools
  • NC data (Stock, Table, and Clamps)
• What is the best practice to validate the G-code that is created from the post processor?

I am struggling to decide how to save the files into smarteam. We currently would typically have our products, and parts saved, now we will have an extra product that contains the existing part (or product) a "stock" part, and machine data (i.e. table and clamps).

Any information you all are willing to share would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Aaron

Good question, and nice gif. That's awesome.

I don't use Smart team here for NC data, even though I have the license. Rather, I use an organized filing system and naming convention outlined in a DPD manual. I have just 33 customers to track, and it works for me. I don't keep my files in the standard Catia startup directory, because if I were to reinstall Catia, I'd lose them. Rather, I keep them in a seperate place, and tell Catia where to look in my CatSettings. I also backup 3 ways. 2nd internal harddrive, external harddrive, and network. Backups are performed daily. I also keep a BAK folder in each nc folder so that I can do a quick send-to in case I want to go backwards later.

Best practice for validating G-Code, if you require a list of errors, and not just colors on screen, is to use Vericut or Predator software. Predator is less than half the price of Vericut, but is not widely accepted as Vericut. Vericut is widely held to be the best. Some people use Catia machine simulation, but I believe that it is not powerful enough to trust on an expensive part, and it does not give you a full gouge and excess report. You only see colors on screen representing excess and gouge, so it is error-prone. It also runs slow from what I've seen, though it is much easier to set-up and build machines. It also costs much more money.

There are also contractors that will verify your G-code for you, if you supply tool list, NC program, and any models of part, stock, and tooling. They will do a full machine simulation and provide you with reports.

Aaron,

Very interesting topic as we have just begun to implement SmarTeam here too. One of the key points I picked up from the ENOVIA training is customization based on customer needs and administration/administrator dependence. The whole poiint or added advantage of SmarTeam is obviously data management but more importantly is revision control. Any time a "document" is checked out it is reved up. Any CATIA "document" .CATPart, .CATProduct, .CATDrawing, .CATProcess can be managed fairly straightforward. It also has add ins for 2 microsoft office formats: Word and Excel.

I am instested on how to manage (in our case) .NCD G&M code data with revision control. Now we can only manage it as a "dumb" document and SmartTeam does not give it a new revision number. So how then do we manage our Vericut files? .TLS, .vcproject, .ip, .stl, .mch, etc?

Naming convention is very important in setting up SmarTeam correctly. Bryan, can you explain what you mean by a DCP manual? I am very interested in seeing what others use for naming conventions.

What I have personally been using to back up and manage my files is a free program called allwaysync. It detects differences in files and updates accordingly. I use it across my 3 computers, external harddrive and our network. For an army of one it works fine but if you are trying to collaborate between many users then it is probably not enough.