SOLIDWORKS Inspection can reduce the time to create First Article Inspection packages by up to 90%

Article by Rod Mackay updated May 22, 2014

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Traditional method of creating Inspection Documents

Traditional method of creating inspection documents

Company quality departments are tasked with carrying out the quality inspection process. This often involves the creation of documents such as drawings with balloon callouts, reports for use during inspection, or additional deliverables required with parts. This time consuming burden is usually the responsibility of designers, engineers, and quality inspectors who can spend hours every day manually creating all these documents.

Create documents more effectively with SOLIDWORKS Inspection

The new SOLIDWORKS Inspection software will help to streamline the creation of documents with balloon callouts and specifications by leveraging existing 2D legacy data regardless of file type—SOLIDWORKS files, PDFs, or TIFFs—and automating a manual and tedious process. Measured inspection values can be entered directly, either manually or automatically, using a digital measuring instrument (such as a USB caliper). SOLIDWORKS Inspection helps designers and quality inspectors virtually eliminate errors, improve time-to-market, and ensure parts are within specifications for improved quality and optimized fit and function.

SOLIDWORKS Inspection

SOLIDWORKS Inspection

SOLIDWORKS Inspection Demonstration

Watch the video below to see the software in action and gain a better understanding of how it can save your business time and money.

Comparison with traditional document creation methods

 Traditional Inspection SOLIDWORKS Inspection
Manual process can mean hundreds of characteristics, dimensions, tolerances, and notes have to be manually entered into a Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheet.Streamlined Process automate the creation of balloons on engineering drawings, and the creation of inspection data sheets and reports.
Time Consuming creation of documents such as drawings with balloon callouts, reports for use during inspection, or additional deliverables required with parts.Fast & easy with SOLIDWORKS Inspection, companies have reduced the time to create First Article Inspection packages by up to 90 percent.
Error Prone redundant process is can result in human transcription error that is costly over time or even jeopardize your quality commitments and certifications.Accurate bubbled prints and inspection sheets are generated in just minutes with SOLIDWORKS Inspection templates.
Costly process if changes to the model by an engineer or customer are required, this can cause drawing revisions that require quality inspectors to redo the work and input all the characteristics again.Automated document creation can help your company significantly improve its manufacturing processes, reduce scrap, cut time-to-market, and improve product quality and reliability.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

In many companies, engineering drawings arrive in PDF or TIFF formats. SOLIDWORKS Inspection uses optical character recognition (OCR) to read and identify the nominal dimension, plus and minus tolerances, and the type of dimension (such as diametric or linear), helping to virtually eliminate manual input and reduce errors. It works with horizontal and vertical dimensions, split dimensions, notes, hole callouts, finish symbols, and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) symbols.

SOLIDWORKS Inspection

Working with a PDF document

In addition, with the standalone SOLIDWORKS Inspection application, you can create your inspection documents regardless of your existing CAD system.

Part Inspection

Part Inspection using a digital measuring instrument

Help Improve Product Quality and Save Money

Inspection documents can help your company significantly improve its manufacturing processes, reduce scrap, cut time-to-market, and improve product quality and reliability. Because the software is easy to use, integrated with SOLIDWORKS CAD, and available as a standalone application to work with your existing CAD system, you can easily deploy it, train your quality department, and start to optimize your inspection and quality processes.
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Rod Mackay

Rod has been using 3D CAD software for over 25 years and has trained thousands of designers to use their CAD systems more effectively. Rod is the Javelin Webmaster and is based in Ottawa, ON., Canada.