Ok, the company I work for is building a new shop. The concrete has been poured. I now have been given the task of placing all the equipment. I have it on a dxf. now. The owner would like to be able to do a 3D walk thru. Has anyone ever done this on Solidworks? When you have designed the layout of your shop did you use your 3D modeling software or did you just to it in 2D? Thanks for your input.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Largest Manufacturing Technology Community on the Web
Stay Connected:
CAD 3D Layout for New Shop
- Thread starter munruh
- Start date
- Replies 17
- Views 4,253
SDConcepts
Stainless
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2007
- Location
- warren, mi
we just did a 2d. 3d would be nice but its not worth the expense of modeling all the machinery you have.
El Mustachio
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2010
- Location
- Eastern Washington, USA
Call your VAR. I just went to the SW 2012 release meeting a couple weeks ago. One of the things they were showing off was a 3D building fly through, multi level. It was something like a factory or power plant. Point being yes, it can be done. If you're support is current, use it and call up your tech, they should be able help you with it pretty quickly.
Doesn't Google SketchUp do stuff like that pretty easily? I haven't used it but I've seen people use it for buildings and houses.
Doesn't Google SketchUp do stuff like that pretty easily? I haven't used it but I've seen people use it for buildings and houses.
kwmachine
Aluminum
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2011
- Location
- Duvall, WA, USA
A friend used Google Sketchup to develop the layout for his new building. Seemed to work okay. If I had to do it, I'd use SolidWorks, as I'm very comfortable using it.
Mark
Mark
BadBeta
Stainless
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2006
- Location
- Northern Europe
Do you have 3D models (with realistic materials) for all that is going into the shop? Making the rooms is the quick and easy part - making 3D models of big and small stuff is very time consuming. If you don't have that there is little point in having a fly through.
So sure, it can be done, but as a tool for placing equipment it is quite costly overkill. (Unless you really need to exploit every last inch of space, including height). As a gimmicky presentation thing on the other hand it might draw some crowds at trade shows, conferences or investor presentations. (In the last case it would likely state: We have either too much money or time, so don't invest).
I did a fly through for an industrial project once in the 90s, back then with SolidEdge as the customer used for modelling. If I remember correctly that took about two-three weeks with most of it spent modelling interior details. (Granted, computers and especially rendering times has come a long way since then).
So sure, it can be done, but as a tool for placing equipment it is quite costly overkill. (Unless you really need to exploit every last inch of space, including height). As a gimmicky presentation thing on the other hand it might draw some crowds at trade shows, conferences or investor presentations. (In the last case it would likely state: We have either too much money or time, so don't invest).
I did a fly through for an industrial project once in the 90s, back then with SolidEdge as the customer used for modelling. If I remember correctly that took about two-three weeks with most of it spent modelling interior details. (Granted, computers and especially rendering times has come a long way since then).
charlie gary
Stainless
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2009
- Location
- near Seattle, Washington, USA
I did it a couple of years ago before rearranging my space. Instead of drawing detailed machines I just measured them to see what the max floor spaced used would be (don't forget things like table travel on un-enclosed machines) and drew cubes for each one. Then I was able to place everything and move stuff around to see how it all fit before doing it for real. Even then the final result was different than the plan.
Adam_Demuth
Aluminum
- Joined
- May 14, 2008
- Location
- New Philadelphia, Ohio
I used Google sketch-up. its a limited program but there is a directory of pre modeled items. I found Bridgeports, an okuma mill, romi lathes. None where the machines we had but you can skew the dimension of the model until it is the same size as your machine. I even found a delivery truck to put in the building to make sure nothing would be in the way when unloading. I had about 2 hours to place 8 machines and benches. It wasn't exact but it was quick and did what I needed it to.
Chazsani
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2007
- Location
- Virtual, SF Bay Area, Tampa Area
Google Sketchup
++++1 for Google Sketchup
To do something quick at low cost, Google Sketch Up can not be beat.
Chazsani
++++1 for Google Sketchup
To do something quick at low cost, Google Sketch Up can not be beat.
Chazsani
Punkinhead
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2010
- Location
- IN, USA
Sounds like a lot of work for not much gain. For my home metal and woodworking shops I've done 2D sketches (simple rectangles) showing the work envelope of various machines to get an idea of where to put stuff. That's how our Industrial Engineers do it at work too. I don't know what a 3D model really buys you other than wow factor.
If your boss it determined, there are some machine tools on 3Dcontentcentral.com for Solidworks (Bridgeports, lathes, etc) and you could probably also find things like windows, sinks, etc. If the boss really wants it and you've given him a realistic estimate for number of hours then what the heck. I would think he'd want to use your time more wisely...
Sketchup seems more tailored to architectural type stuff like this versus Solidworks, but I've been frustrated every time I've tried to use it. It looks like you can create stuff like buildings pretty fast in Sketchup, but a couple futile attempts to learn it left me with the impression that modifying things is a real pain. Or maybe I just gave up too fast. I can work faster in Solidworks.
If your boss it determined, there are some machine tools on 3Dcontentcentral.com for Solidworks (Bridgeports, lathes, etc) and you could probably also find things like windows, sinks, etc. If the boss really wants it and you've given him a realistic estimate for number of hours then what the heck. I would think he'd want to use your time more wisely...
Sketchup seems more tailored to architectural type stuff like this versus Solidworks, but I've been frustrated every time I've tried to use it. It looks like you can create stuff like buildings pretty fast in Sketchup, but a couple futile attempts to learn it left me with the impression that modifying things is a real pain. Or maybe I just gave up too fast. I can work faster in Solidworks.
DMF_TomB
Diamond
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2008
- Location
- Rochester, NY, USA
3d model of a shop
my experience modeling large multi story machines in Solidworks is the larger the model especially if over 500 parts and subassemblies things slow down
.
when the model gets up over 1000 parts it can take 5 or more minutes to open or change and save a model.
.
when model get over 10,000 parts most people will agree it is to big to handle. it helps to lower screen resolution lower than 1600 x 1200. the bigger the screen resolution the bigger the drain on the graphics cpu.
.
you can lower image quality so cylinders appear 8 or fewer sides and this helps. you can load model in large assembly mode
my experience modeling large multi story machines in Solidworks is the larger the model especially if over 500 parts and subassemblies things slow down
.
when the model gets up over 1000 parts it can take 5 or more minutes to open or change and save a model.
.
when model get over 10,000 parts most people will agree it is to big to handle. it helps to lower screen resolution lower than 1600 x 1200. the bigger the screen resolution the bigger the drain on the graphics cpu.
.
you can lower image quality so cylinders appear 8 or fewer sides and this helps. you can load model in large assembly mode
Your a bit late, should have it all designed, and hashed out before the concrete
was poured.
2-d will probably suffice just fine. If you have overhead cranes, indicate where they can
go on a separate layer, shown as dotted lines. Crane coverage to the vital parts
of machines is where I ussually start from.
TurboFabSupply
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2009
- Location
- Orlando, FL, USA
Loner Industries
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2010
- Location
- Vancouver, WA
Can you export a 3D pdf for the deliverable. Then the end user can pan, zoom, and rotate the model without needing to deal with any kind of video.
GM
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2004
- Location
- Californias Central Coast
What ever happened to the tried a true method of using a large sheet of grid paper and scale cutouts of your eqiupment...you can then play musical chairs till you get a layout that works for you. 
Could save some time and you could always draw it in Solidworks afterwords. 
Could save some time and you could always draw it in Solidworks afterwords. What ever happened to the tried a true method of using a large sheet of grid paper and scale cutouts of your eqiupment...you can then play musical chairs till you get a layout that works for you.
I've done that one here, use cut up sticky notes of different colors for tables, machines, etc. It works great to sit there and play the shuffle game without moving a single piece of equipment. I have also laid out our woodshop in 2d Autocad with footprints of machinery. The computer model is nice especially when coming back to reference it later down the road, but paper still is pretty darn handy.
This works good, so no worker complains later.
I would add into the cad model of each machine to include the electrical panel
(swung open) so that proper clearance can be allowed for.
