If you followed my previous question which was the installation of EPDM locally, it is now successful.
So now I have questions about administering EPDM, because there is very little tutorial that explains this well. This topic will also be there for other people who wish to administer EPDM.
First of all, what I managed to do: Create a safe, manage a user, save a part by modifying these revisions, switch to approved...
So I have several questions, especially thanks to flegendre 's presentation on EPDM.
How to make an automatic bill of materials
How to automate file conversion tasks (pdf, dxf...)
In terms of data cards, what can be interesting to display as information, do you have examples of maps....?
How to manage your safes, only a folder or with sub-folders (parts, assembly, MeP, PDF...) Do you make a safe for each project? (Which I did)
For standard parts that may be common to both projects (axle, electronic board, etc.), a special safe for the storage of these parts?
Any opinions, advice, mistakes not to make when managing EPDM?
Thank you for your answers which I think will not be useful only to me
So, how do you make a nomenclature... If you have an archived assembly, you have access to a "Bill of Materials" tab via the explorer. There are several possible options. On this nomenclature, you can change your columns permanently via the administration.
Automating conversions, you have to go through the dispatch or add-ins in the administration. Basically, there is a tool that allows you to set this up.
For the management of the safe, EPDM allows 2 approaches: either all in search, or via folders. You can consider "throwing" everything in a single folder and only looking for your documents by search cards, but the Windows-style folder approach still allows you to find elements that would not be perfect in their designation. Do you follow me?
For me, you have to manage everything in 1 safe. Otherwise, you lose EPDM functionality (such as tracking your assemblies even if you change folder or naming components ).
The ideal is indeed to organize folders of commercial parts. (an example of a tree structure has already been provided by @flegendre on Lynkoa).
That said, have you followed an EPDM administration training?
Edit: To come back to safes, who says several safes says as many administrative settings, and errors!
Manage users and groups (it's okay I did it this morning...)
Create the data map(s) (much more complicated, because I don't know what to put in it, and how to do them)
The display settings (I'll take a closer look at this with my different user accounts)
Workflow (I've already done things, approved the part, requested a change, archived...) I don't know if that's what you want to talk about?
@Benoit.LF
For the management of the vaults is it better to make a vault with subfolders for the projects? Because at the beginning I thought I would make a safe for each project.
I didn't take any PDM administration training, that's why I'm asking for your help:)
Yes, only one safe. A safe per affair is at first glance of no interest to you, on the contrary it complicates everything.
For business files, you have to define a tree structure for each case. (by the way, you are alone in mechanics, but aren't there other people who would like to access your data: Purchasing, Workshop, BE Elec, Automation Engineers, Sales Representatives...?) This tree structure will allow you to organize the data without asking any questions.
On the data card for SW 3D files (sldprt and sldasm), I will put the data of the cartridge of your plans (draughtsman, date, revision, material, surface treatment, weight, ...). This way, when the part is registered, you fill in everything from the data card. You can also place the status of the file there (faster to see). You can also place a comment box (motor torque, operating voltage, use case,...).
The administrator training allows you to address a lot of points. These are sometimes details, but they can ruin your life if you don't take them into account. If you could do it, it would be much better! We (me and @flegendre) had Mr. BREGEON from Axemble. He taught us everything! :) Without him, we would have been drowned from the beginning!
Well make a data map , I succeeded a little, but is it possible to put the mass, the name, the description... Automatically of the part thanks to the properties of solidworks? I couldn't do that. A bit like a drawing.
In terms of workflow, I have kept the Solidworks standard for the moment which suits me very well since I am alone
I tried to do automatic tasks but unfortunately it doesn't work yet for the moment when I switch the task to approved for example (file conversion). Is it possible to update the drawings automatically when the part is changed? I assume that I use a task to save them as pdf or dxf, so is it possible to fill in the automatic data card with the creation of the file?
For the moment I can't do any training and it's a shame I grant you. I would have liked to learn more with a trainer, but your advice is very effective and helps me a lot.
The data map is not necessarily the most complicated to set up. But you still need to understand the different possible options!
In order for the map to fill in itself, it is partly managed at the property level in the EPDM administration tool (I do this from memory!). From there, you can give equivalencies between EPDM and SolidWorks properties. So if a property exists on a SW file, you can find it in the data map. In the same way that you can fill in only the part, and find all or part of its properties in the properties of the drawing (I think it's called data mapping.). But keep in mind that for the moment, you have parts filled in from SW and you want to retrieve this data in EPDM, but afterwards, the best thing to do is to fill in the files only from the EPDM card. You will only recover SW properties from the mass and the material (or even the surface,...).
For file conversions (still from memory :) ) I wonder if it's not at the level of the "Batch" in the App-ins that it is managed. You have to create stains. But I'm not sure!
For the automatic reloading of plans, I find it a bit dangerous: maybe in most cases it will work, but in some cases, you will get into trouble, with incoherent plans!
To fill in the data map of the converted files (dxf, pdf,...), I refer you to a paragraph above: you have to map the data. You will notify the system that the files sldprt, slddrw, pdf, dxf, ... with the same name (excluding the extension of course) will have such and such a property in common.
For the information provided, it's with pleasure. This is a subject that has occupied us for quite some time in the past, and above all it is very interesting!! :)
As @BenoitLF, I'll give you the info from memory.....
To convert your files to DXF and PDF, you actually need to use the tasks. (no need for the Dispatch). I think it's quite simple.
We had the script modified (you have access to it in each task) to be able to export the PDFs and DXFs out of the vault so that all the people who didn't have access to the EPDM could consult the DXFs and PDFs.
Below is the part that was added in the script. (Attached is the complete script).
FYI:
"T:\PIECES_DUBUS\......" and "T:\ASSEMBLAGES_DE_REFERENCE\.... " are the various directories outside the EPDM.
Very interesting, I thank you for your answers, which are very valuable to me.
I'll take a closer look at that:)
I would like to come back to the tasks (especially the convert task ) I have the impression that it takes all the pieces of the file to save them in STL (for example). But is it possible to save my drawings as PDF? Because if I do the convert to pdf task it will save me all in pdf, right?
Edit:
Issue Resolved
"In terms of my data card properties, it doesn't take into account my properties with the part form that I have already created and which is related to my MeP (created before having EPDM)"
What is the difference on for the data card in the explorer between "logo part" @ and "default" Because my properties are put in "logo part" @ but not "default"
For the conversion of files, from memory, it was triggered at the workflow level, which was dissociated between 2D and 3D. So the 3Ds had for example a conversion to stl and the 2D to dxf.
For data card properties, where were the properties on your existing files populated? On the file, the configuration, the 2D,.. ? It has an influence on the behavior of the card. When you fill in your 3Ds with the data map, all the tabs will fill in together, if for each element of the map at the level of the administration tool you check the option "copy for all configurations".
If your SW file data does not go up in the map, the data mapping is not done. Either you have not acted at the property level as mentioned above (to say that such and such a property of the sldprt corresponds to such and such a property of the slddrw and such and such an EPDM,... property), or in the configuration of the map, you have not chosen the correct EPDM property.
For the @ tab, it corresponds, roughly and depending on the configuration, to the properties of the document, and "default" to the properties of the configuration. So you will have on SW files, N+1 tabs when your file will have N configurations or N folios for 2D. You can see that there are no such tabs on Excel or Word files!
Phew, what a novel!! :) We should earn points by the number of words;)
I managed to drive the conversions with the workflow, I can now save a part in step format as soon as the modification is approved...
On the other hand, for data cards , it's still not that, the @ works well to automatically put the data in the property form, but on the other hand, when making configurations, nothing happens while the form is well filled in for the configuration...
In addition to what @flegendre mentions, it seems to me that there is a subtlety in the operation when you add a configuration when the card is already filled in (who said bug?). I think that when adding a config, the values in the new tab remain empty or take the default value (depending on the setting).
Once the configuration has been created, you must return to the map.
It remains to be checked if my memory is correct and if this possible bug has not been corrected: we were working on EPDM 2011 I think.
Thank you for your answers, I'll test this as soon as I solve the following problem:)
I have a "client" who wants to connect to my safe, the PDM client installation went very well, he managed to make me a pink, found the name of my local server... However, when he puts the login credentials, it doesn't work. Even if it uses my credentials or those of the admin which are not used and which works on my pc. Apparently it would come from the field that did not create or that is not the same
