SolidWorks Routing & Harnessing:

Positioning, Selling and Demonstrating

Eric Leafquist
Product Manager, SolidWorks Corporation
Who needs routed system design?

25%

20%
Machinery
Consumer
15% Medical
Electrical
Mold
10% Automotive
Aerospace
Process & Power
5% Other

0%
Industry
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SolidWorks Confidential
How do Engineers Design Routes
Today?

• Mix of ECAD and MCAD tools

• Measure off hardware prototypes
• Often use 2D for route design
• Engineers “compete for space”
• Design routes during manufacturing
• Limited use 3D CAD methods for routes

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Common Aspect of Electrical
Applications

ECAD tools MCAD tools

?
No-tech
tools!

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Problems with current approaches?

• BOMs often incomplete

• Incomplete design and analysis–
“competing for space”
• Expense and delay
for hard prototypes
• Problems not found until
production
• Complex, expensive 3D CAD
• Delays in time to market!

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SolidWorks Confidential
SolidWorks 2004 —
New Add-ins
• SolidWorks® Routing
- 3D modeling of tube,
pipe, cable and harness
routes
• SolidWorks Harnessing
- add-in product for
harness and cable
detailing; complements
SolidWorks Routing

Design data courtesy of

WABO Transit Division of
the WABTEC Corporation
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SolidWorks Confidential
SolidWorks Routing—
Overview
Add-in product for modeling:
• Tubing– flexible & rigid
• Piping– fabricated & bent
• Cabling, harness & wires–

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SolidWorks Routing — Tubing

• Mixed route types

• Bent & flexible tubing
• Cut length with end treatments
(on BOM)
• Bend table for Mfg
• Tubing content with connection
points
• Auto-route of tubes
• Auto-route through clips
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SolidWorks Routing — Piping

• Piping assemblies from

Feature Palette
• Bends or elbows in routes
• Bend table for Mfg
• Property Manager-based UI
• Targeting new content for
DIN, ISO, ANSI, etc
• Auto-route of pipe segments

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SolidWorks Routing – Wires,
Cables, Harnesses
• Create the geometry then
add electrical details
• Auto-routing technology for
wires, cables & harnesses
• Uses familiar CP and RP
technology
• Routes from connector to
connector—branching
functionality included
• Cable cut lengths for BOM

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New Product-
SolidWorks Harnessing
• Add-in product for:
– Enables electrical data import
– Harness flattening
– Cable/Harness detailing
– Wire lists/Parts lists
– Harness mfg
documentation

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Interface to Third party tools

• Improve design
workflow by importing:
– Components
– Wires/Cables
– ‘From-To’
connections
– Excel format
– XML format

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Sample 3D Route Workflow: Add Major
Components Into Your Design

Click and drag to position components

into the assembly the adjust as needed

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Intelligent Parts and
Interconnections
• Auto-route to connect your
components using a few
clicks to add pneumatic,
hydraulic, electrical routes
• Click and edit as design
changes are needed:
connections are
maintained

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Routing Through Assemblies

• Route from existing

connections (electrical or
tubing) through mounting
points to end connection
• Create electrical branches
from main trunk electrical
harnesses
• Add electrical properties
after generating route

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Competition –
for SolidWorks Routing
• Inventor Professional 8 – tubes, pipes, cables
• Solid Edge - bundles with XpressRoute
• PTC - Pro/Cable & Pro-Piping
• SolidWorks Customers: generate simple sweeps
• AutoCAD users with add-ins—need to upgrade to 3D—
which product?

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Competition –
inventor Pro 8
• Inventor Professional 8
– tubes, pipes, cables,
IDF
• Cabling/harnessing –
must start from
individual wires
• No harness flattener/no
detail part additions/no
nail board
• No critical BOM details:
covers, terminals, plugs,
etc.

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SolidWorks Confidential
Selling – Tips

• 2D is common; 2D is very limited!

• Find out how people work: show them easy 3D CAD for
Routing!
• Show an integrated example of workflow (concurrent
engineering)
• Routing/Harnessing can help sell more SolidWorks!
• Routing/Harnessing can help keep Inventor and other
competitors out

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Demo tips – for routing

• Lots of 2D now used--show a real, complex example

• Show how easy it is to create 3D routes!
• Show how adding routes can complete the BOM
• Show an integrated example of concurrent engineering

SolidWorks SolidWorks
Routing Harnessing
Refer to
Electrical
schematic or
sketch

ECAD
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Summary —New Add-ins

• Easy 3D route design

• Create routes then import
electrical data
• Targeted at mainstream SW
users
• Helps complete the BOM
• Harness detailing and
manufacturing tool
• Concurrent engineering!

Design data courtesy of

WABO Transit Division of
the WABTEC Corporation
© Copyright SolidWorks Corporation
SolidWorks Confidential