I am looking at changing the file structure/drawing depot and wanted to see some examples of other people’s ideas.
What is the general consensus of folders? Do you separate out according to product type or dump all files in one big folder, and let pdm systems control it?
My current thought is to separate out into following folders:
01 - Customer Specific
02 - Common subassemblies
03 - Manufactured Components
04 - Purchased parts
05 - Electrical Assemblies
06 - Electrical Components
07 - Consumables
08 - Fastenings
09 - Spares
Just to clarify, I would not be separating parts/assemblies and drawings. Its separated according to our MRP system.
An example would be a Plate we are getting manufactured. It would have product code of PL0001A and the part/drawing would be found in
\03 - Manufactured Components\PL0001A\PL0001A-1.sldpart
We are trialling WPDM as a precursor for EPDM later this year.
Would be interesting to see how you all do it.
David,
The beauty of PDM is that you can arrange your structure for what best fits your company's needs. You can even REarrange at a later date. However, that is a slow and tedious process with WPDM. I know, because I am doing some of that right now.
Review the section in the help file on WPDM Best Practices. PDM performance is best when you have your files broken into more project folders. The help file suggests a maximum of around 1000 files per folder.
In the example of your plate, would you have other files in the PL0001A folder? If not, you might forego that level of folder. However, if you were to have the part file and attached drawing, a PDF of the drawing, an Excel file with some sort of data, a Word document with specs or manufacturing instructions, a copy of an ECO, etc, all of these would be right at home in the the PL0001A folder or a Supporting Documents subfolder.
My only other suggestion is to try to balance your organization structure and the number of clicks it takes to mine down to the actual files. If one of your team needs to pull a plate, a fastener, and a consumable from the vault, it will become tedious if they need to click down five or six levels for every item - that's 15 clicks plus the clicks to actually drive the checkout box.
Daen