CADLink

Engineers are focused on building and revising products in order to stay competitive, but often are disconnected from the inventory and production data in an ERP system.

The Made2Manage CADLink Interface for SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor is intended to streamline the product development process. CADLink allows the design engineer to have an immediate and positive effect on the manufacturing operations of the organization by eliminating the time and headaches caused by dealing with disparate systems.

CADLink is automatically added to the SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor menus and the toolbar. Once launched, it analyzes the CAD model’s BOM and compares it to the BOM in Made2Manage. Built in flexible interface allows engineers to decide whether to create/update Standard, Sales Order, Quote or Job Bills of Material within Made2Manage. When linking to the Job BOM within Made2Manage, CADLink will automatically generate sub-job and ensure that their picklists are accurate and include all parts as per the CAD model.

If there are any items that are missing from Made2Manage (newly designed parts, sub-assemblies and finished goods), CADLink will immediately identify them and help users to add them by creating new part master records. The use of pre-set “templates” allows engineers to rapidly auto-populate new item masters with data common to a particular product category without being burdened by repetitive data entry.

Push item revisions from SolidWorks or Autodesk Inventor directly into Made2Manage and easily view BOM and/or item level discrepancies between CAD models and ERP data. CADLink helps engineers to quickly synchronize BOM information between SolidWorks / Autodesk Inventor and Made2Manage. Store and synchronize key item master properties within Made2Manage directly inside the CAD model custom properties, thereby ensuring the information displayed in Drawings always matches the Made2Manage system data.

Add vendor part numbers and information to the purchased items directly from within the CAD environment. Also, you can add, view and edit non-CAD items on the bill of material, to account for such items as consumables, packaging or paint allowing the engineer to review the entire bill, not just the components designed in the CAD tool.

Easily review all of the item and BOM changes and, if necessary, export them to an Excel spreadsheet or a PDF report to be used in the internal engineering change order flow.

Quickly search the Made2Manage database for existing part numbers and then access them. Manipulate the SolidWorks model from a BOM point of view – decide which parts need to be ignored from the Made2Manage BOM. Perform engineering design related functions and have control over the effects on MRP.

The Made2Manage CADLink interface allows control over how part quantities are calculated for a given BOM. It can determine the BOM quantity from the number of model instances, or the user can assign a raw material type (such as sheet metal, or tubing) to the model, and have the needed quantity calculated from the part dimensions found in the CAD model.

• Easily modify the user interface to desired view.
• Keep both the CAD model and the ERP database up to date.
• Automate new part creation and BOM updates.
• Streamline the product development process by having an integrated product interface.