Welcome to Fall! We’ve got the colors changing, the air cooling, and fast-approaching trips to the apple orchard. It’s also the time of year when we start to think about “What’s New” with our SOLIDWORKS portfolio of software! So, let’s warm up with some of my favorite enhancements for SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023 and a few that came along later in 2022 service packs (and maybe with a warm cup of cider and a donut).  You can also view this content in video format:

SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022 SP Enhancements – #8 Refresh Process output

Our SOLIDWORKS Manage administrators can now make our processes a little more streamlined when it comes to updating fields between stages. In prior releases, users would have seen unnecessary stages that were for systems efforts that made things feel a little more clunky. Now as a user I can see my process or its stages exactly as they are with no “extra steps” for “other stuff” going on in the background.

#7 Automated timesheet categories

Previously, when a SOLIDWORKS Manage user started a timesheet, they were met with a blank canvas. This isn’t a problem if you have 1 or 2 items to enter. However, if you need to track dozens of tasks, the interface can be cumbersome. With the addition of the automatic timesheet functionality, SOLIDWORKS Manage users will see timesheets populate for all stages they are assigned to for the week they choose. This means that users will only need to apply the time and don’t need to search around for the correct task/stage to apply it to. Faster timesheet efforts are a good thing!

#6 Automatic update of linked record fields from the primary reference

Linked records are great if you stay on top of them. What do I mean? Well, there are limitations. One is that (until this update) they are a “manual push” from the PDM record to the linked record. If a SOLIDWORKS Manage user does not click the “update button”, the linked record info would remain static or most importantly NOT updated. With this automatic update setting, any changes to the PDM file (or record), will automatically update the linked record with the latest information. This is great for SOLIDWORKS Manage users, especially if they rely on the linked record as the source of truth for BOM’s, ERP, etc. Now they can trust that the BOM, our single source of truth, is indeed up to date.

Now that we’ve warmed up a bit, let’s head into SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023 What’s New

SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023 – #5 Performance Improvements

Performance improvements in many key areas. What does that mean for the SOLIDWORKS Manage users:

• When using the Plenary web client there will be faster load times for larger PDM objects
• For SOLIDWORKS Manage users heavy into Project efforts, they can expect to see faster load times for projects with high stage counts – hundreds of stages.
• For SOLIDWORKS Manage users engaging their PDM Vaults; PDM Objects now have faster sync and check-in / check-out times

#4 Updated reference interface

Until this release, you were probably familiar with a very vanilla “add” screen. But new in SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023, we have a new add button that gives our users a full user interface. This makes advanced searching a breeze while adding references.

#3 Else Condition Warning

Now during configuration, the SOLIDWORKS Manage administrator can warn users if there’s an else condition in place and what will happen via a custom message. For example, if a SOLIDWORKS Manage user were to want to not accept or approve a record going through a process, now they will be warned that not accepting would also close the record.

#2 Drag and drop custom fields

When users need something new added to their environment, we oftentimes find ourselves recognizing that it is often “the same but different”. Prior to this release “same but different” was not doable. Administrators had to rely on rebuilding that need from scratch and making sure it was truly the same but different. Now during configuration, SOLIDWORKS Manage 2023 administrators can easily re-order fields on the fly via drag and drop rather than the time-consuming up/down reorder buttons, thus making Manage configuration much faster.

#1 Copying BOM variants and process objects

When SOLIDWORKS Manage users need something new BOM variant added to their environment, we typically find ourselves recognizing that the need is as often said to be “the same as but different”. Prior to this release “same as but different” was not doable. SOLIDWORKS Manage administrators had to rely on rebuilding that need from scratch and making sure it was truly “the same as but different”. Now during configuration administrators can select “new from” to copy existing BOM variants. This not only makes the variant implementation occur faster, but SOLIDWORKS Manage users can ensure that it was truly a “same but different” as that is exactly how it was created.

But the “New From” capability doesn’t stop there in the Administration tool.

SOLIDWORKS Manage administrators can easily use the same right-click “New From” for process Objects. The right-click “New From” now works for both BOM Variants and Process Objects.

SOLIDWORKS Manage administrators and users alike are enjoying the latest improvements as the theme is all about making it easier and faster to configure and use. SOLIDWORKS Manage is clearly a tool here to stay and grow to its customer’s needs.

Now, go refill that cup of cider and sneak another donut.

I hope this part of the What’s New series gives you a better understanding of the new features and functions of SOLIDWORKS 2023. Please check back to the CATI Blog as the CATI Application Engineers will continue to break down many of the new items in SOLIDWORKS 2023. All these articles will be stored in the category of “SOLIDWORKS What’s New.” 

Joe Frank
Sr. PLM Applications Engineer
Computer Aided Technology

What is Design Innovation Month?

DESIGN INNOVATION MONTH 2022 – Live Events, Webinars, Virtual Showroom, Contests

Design Innovation Month is CATI’s “What’s New in 2023” event for SOLIDWORKS, 3DEXPERIENCE, and 3D Printing & 3D Scanning technology. This year we’re going back to the future to bring you in-person events, live and on-demand webinars, demonstrations, in-depth blog posts, and prizes! Best of all, it’s free of charge! Check the DI Month Hub for all the details and to sign up for your nearest live event.

It’s chaos without Project Management

The Project Managers are complaining about the chaos that comes with every new project. Every project has timelines, Gantt charts, numerous tasks, deliverables, timesheets, issues, possible risks, and many other items to track. Right now, everything is scattered across multiple platforms and places. The timelines might be in MS Project. We also have deliverables on a network share. Elves are writting tasks on a chalkboard. And, timesheets are floating around in some Excel document. Also, depending on the design, the timeline or stages could be unique. They need flexibility to manage projects on the fly.

Luckily, SOLIDWORKS Manage can handle every need they have listed.

Project Managers can leverage project management in SOLIDWORKS Manage to regain control over every project, while keeping all project documentation in one place. Manage has templates to standardize and automate the creation of new projects. These templates allow Project Managers to select the type of project they need.

You can customize the templates to create a timeline, along with tasks that should be done to complete project stages and achieve milestones. Additionally, you can take advantage of Manage’s custom dashboard and reports, to cut down on time wasted while gathering scattered information. You can also generate reports on-demand or based on a schedule.

Best of all, you can create a custom Dashboard that allows Santa to monitor real-time project information from one easy to use screen.

Michael King

PLM Solutions Consultant

Santa can get pretty disgruntled when he has to deal with all the complaints and requests from Elves and parents. If you don’t believe me, just listen to Weird Al’s song, “The Night Santa Went Crazy”. He has to capture the requests, turn them into change orders, and then notify the workshop about every important design change. The simple task of tracking the incoming Elf Change Requests can become a nightmare, all year long. We don’t want a disgruntled Santa, so we are introducing him to SOLIDWORKS Manage to control the various processes required to run the North Pole design department and custom dashboards to monitor the progress being made.

This year, we are helping Santa keep up with his Elf Changes by setting up his Elf Change Management process in SOLIDWORKS Manage.

Santa wants a quick and easy way to pull up information about all the existing Elf Changes (Open Requests, Technical Feasibility, Estimated Costs). Also, he wants to quickly see information about closed requests. He doesn’t have time (with all the mall visits and global travel) to take information from various systems and build custom excel reports. So, we decided he needed a customized dashboard in SOLIDWORKS Manage.

This dashboard will allow Santa to see the incoming requests including the severity and description. He can click on any of the filters to quickly see the information breakdown.  There is an Unassigned Elf Complaints section. Here, he can quickly see unassigned Elf Change Requests, and get them assigned to the responsible parties. There are many ways to visualize our existing data in the customizable Manage dashboards. From maps to grids, and gauges and charts, we can make accessing information as simple as pie.

Also, with the new Automatic Refresh options in custom dashboards, the information will be automatically refreshed with no user intervention. This way we can have community monitors displaying relevant information to the entire team.  The dashboards will automatically update within seconds after an information is revised!

Task visibility

Some users can be assigned hundreds of tasks at a time. The number of items sitting in our “to do” lists can be overwhelming. There are times we need to order our tasks based on importance as well as keep track of cancelled tasks. With the release of SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022, you now can order tasks in projects, show or hide cancelled tasks in any task list with an icon, and change the default setting for visibility on new tasks. Let’s look closer at each option:

Setting Task Order in Projects

Project Managers and users now have an easy way to reorder their tasks within projects. The task tab now includes up and down icons that allow the user to modify the tasks position within the list. This is a great way to set priority within a large list.

See Cancelled Tasks

We’ve been able to show or hide completed tasks for some time. Now, cancelled tasks can now be shown or hidden as well. This happens via a new icon that is remembered for each object, as well as in the home screen.

Also, a new icon has replaced the previous check box to show or hide completed tasks. The show or hide completed task icon and the new show or hide cancelled task icons are found right next to each other. This change has been made for all task interfaces, to streamline icon location.

Public & Private Task Controls

To help maintain company preferences when creating new tasks, a global setting has been added to control whether tasks are created as public, private, or to let the user decide. When setup as “let the user decide,” the setting defaults to the individual user’s “My Options” setting. This will help standardize how task visibility is set for all users.

Task Board

Now in SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022, tasks can easily be added through the task board feature. Under each “Group By” list within the task board, a new button labelled “New Task” has been added. This button allows us to create new tasks based on the grouping. Previously, new tasks could only be added in Group By lists that did not have any existing tasks. This is another way SOLIDWORKS Manage users can work in a way that best fits their needs.

Edit Completed Tasks

Many of us have marked a task “complete” in Manage, prematurely. It never fails, we mark the task complete, then the next day the project manager determines that it’s not actually complet Previously, there wasn’t much we could do about a completed task. Now in 2022, tasks marked as completed can be edited by the owner or an administrator via the “Mark as uncompleted” command. This feature enables additional work or information to be added to the task. It’s simple to mark a task as uncompleted. Just right click and select “Mark as uncomplete,” and the task becomes editable once again. The Complete (%) will be set back to 99%, and the action removes the setting to calculate completion from time allocated. This allows more time to be added; then the setting can be re- enabled if desired.

Creating Tasks – Auto Assignment

This next one is great if you are responsible to creating tasks for other users. In the 2022 release, tasks are automatically assigned to the user selected in the Home>Tasks module when creating a new task. This is great for streamlining the task creation process, right from the home screen. It’s always nice to cut out an extra step or two.

Tasks in SOLIDWORKS Add-in

The SOLIDWORKS Manage add-in for SOLIDWORKS CAD has gotten some extra love this release. My favorite feature on this release, is the new task tab in the SOLIDWORKS Manage add-in. I can see all the tasks assigned to me, or just the tasks that have SOLIDWORKS files as attachments. Now my drafters can see their tasks without leaving the CAD file.

Additionally, we can see Manage tasks and comments for files we have open, right from the add-in. This enhancement gives us task visibility without leaving SOLIDWORKS. With the task visibility, users will see tasks associated to any of the files in the structure. Comments are now displayed in the same section. This lets me keep my drafters informed, and make sure nothing gets missed.

Want more info about SOLIDWORKS Manage or SOLIDWORKS PDM? Give us a call or contact your account manager today!

I hope this part of the “What’s New” series gives you a better understanding of the new features and functions of SOLIDWORKS 2022. Please check back to the CATI Blog, as the CATI Application Engineers will continue to break down many of the new items in SOLIDWORKS 2022. All these articles will be stored in the category of “SOLIDWORKS What’s New.”

Michael King
PLM Solutions Architect
Computer Aided Technology

#5 – Share SOLIDWORKS Manage BOMs (Send Email and Copy Link)

Collaboration with external users can be a major hurdle for any business. But new with SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022, we can now share BOMs via a web page link or email message. These links allow users that might not have direct access to the system, to interact with bill of materials inside our SOLIDWORKS Manage environment. Sharing honors applied filters and you can edit reference columns as well. However, what do we do about security? Well, additional security options are available to allow or restrict editing, enable password protection (which can be auto generated), and set an expiration date on the link.

#4 Microsoft Office Integration

With the 2022 release, we gain additional integration to our favorite Microsoft Office applications. Now, we have integrations for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. What this does is it enables users working with office documentation to use SOLIDWORKS Manage controls, right from the Office apps. Now, there’s no need to leave Word, PowerPoint, or Excel when working with documents and SOLIDWORKS PDM objects. Notice, that many of the common SOLIDWORKS Manage commands can be found right in the Microsoft ribbon. Additionally, this integration lets you add links for the active document or another document/record.

#3 Custom HTML Notifications

SOLIDWORKS Manage 2022 introduces a convenient new way to access, share, and document your designs. New for this release is the ability to create HTML formatted notifications for Project and Process Task Notifications. Administrators can customize these notifications to highlight key information for end users. Also, new to this release is the ability to incorporate web links within the notifications. These weblinks allow users to easily access the record by using the Manage Web Portal.

#2 Weblinks within Dashboards

In addition to hyperlinks in notifications and sharable BOMs, weblinks can also be created Ad Hoc. These versatile links provide quick and easy access to records in the web portal. But the flexibility doesn’t stop there. With the 2022 release, SOLIDWORKS Manage Dashboards can also take advantage of the new weblink capabilities, making it easy for users like project managers, to access key projects while on the road.

#1 Add Manage BOM to SOLIDWORKS Drawings

This next enhancement is by far my favorite feature on the list. Now, it’s possible to add a bill of material table from a files’ linked record, directly into a SOLIDWORKS drawing. The options allow us to use BOM variants and templates defined in the linked record object. If multiple linked records are associated to a file, the user can choose which linked records is used.

There are additional enhancements to top-down bill material design within the Manage Add-in for SOLIDWORKS users. With them, items that you’ve manually added to a Manage BOM, will show up in SOLIDWORKS. Additionally, files now show up in a dedicated Tab called “Manually Added Files”. Once you open the CAD assembly in SOLIDWORKS, you can easily place items directly from the SOLIDWORKS Manage add-in.

Want more info about SOLIDWORKS Manage or SOLIDWORKS PDM? Give us a call or contact your account manager today!

I hope this part of the What’s New series gives you a better understanding of the new features and functions of SOLIDWORKS 2022. Please check back to the CATI Blog as the CATI Application Engineers will continue to break down many of the new items in SOLIDWORKS 2022. All these articles will be stored in the category of “SOLIDWORKS What’s New.”

Michael King
PLM Solutions Architect
Computer Aided Technology

What is Design Innovation Month?

DESIGN INNOVATION MONTH 2021 – Live Events, Webinars, Virtual Showroom, Contests
Design Innovation Month is CATI’s massive “What’s New in 2022” event for SOLIDWORKS, 3DEXPERIENCE, and 3D printing & 3D scanning technology.  That’s six weeks of in-person events, live and on-demand webinars, demonstrations, in-depth blog posts, and prizes!  Best of all, it’s free of charge!  Check the DI Month Hub for all the details and to sign up for your nearest live event.