Feature detail DSTV Assistant - Cost estimation for the fabrication of steel components

Feature Detail - DSTV Assistant for SOLIDWORKS
Cost estimation for the fabrication of steel components

Estimate how expensive the production of the parts will be even before manufacturing. With the new costing module of the DSTV Assistant for SOLIDWORKS this is easily possible. After the one-time creation of the machines and tools with corresponding parameters, theproduction times and production costs of DSTV NC-compliant parts, i.e. profiles and sheets, can be accurately estimated.

DSTV Assistant for SOLIDWORKS is a tool for exporting DSTV NC data for the production of steel parts such as profiles and sheets. The origin of the CAD data does not matter - the DSTV Assistant supports SolidSteel parametric parts, SOLIDWORKS Weldments parts, SOLIDWORKS Structure System parts, but also all other imported geometries - e.g. simply exported DSTV NC data from an imported STEP file.

Before the costs and times for the production of the parts can be determined, the corresponding machines such as drilling / plasma-cutting or drilling / sawing machines with the corresponding tools such as 21mm drills, 25mm drills, milling cutters etc. must be created in the DSTV Assistant for SOLIDWORKS. The tools are given the information when they are to be used. Thus, for example, it can also be specified that holes up to 25mm are drilled and all larger diameters are milled.

In order to determine the cost of the components, the DSTV NC file is broken down into its constituent parts and the software creates a precise list of the necessary machining operations such as drilling, cutting or cutouts. This list is then compared to the created tools and a suitable tool is selected from the list. The tool in turn contains the parameters necessary for the cost calculation, such as "25mm drilling takes 3 seconds per mm cutting depth". Thus, the software determines a time component which is then multiplied by costs and other factors such as tool wear, etc.

The cost analysis is started via the familiar DSTV Assistant.

After selecting the export directory and confirming the dialog, initially only the DSTV NC file is exported as usual. In addition, a window opens for selecting the analysis parameters. Here, for example, you can select which processing types are to be included and you can also specify a general correction factor.

After confirming the dialog, an ordinary XML file is saved in the export path. This file can be read out automatically by an ERP system or manually by a human and contains all necessary information including additional information such as net and gross weights.

The costing module is included in the standard scope of the DSTV Assistant and is certainly not only interesting for users with their own machinery, but also for externally placed orders for prior cost estimation.

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Feature Detail - DSTV Assistant for SOLIDWORKSCost estimation for the fabrication of steel components

Feature Detail - DSTV Assistant for SOLIDWORKS
Cost estimation for the fabrication of steel components