Back To Workorder Mode or Quote Mode, See Also:
The Parts Area is populated with the parts referenced by the line items of the Active workorder being edited or viewed in the Workorder Editor or Quote Editor; it is common to both Workorder and Quote editing. Its focus is on the parts themselves rather than the line items; use this pane to make changes to the parts. Doing so may create new part revisions, and may affect other workorders or quotes referencing these parts.
The following applies as well to quotes as to workorders:
When a workorder is opened from the Workorder Selector, the parts are loaded unlocked, as it is assumed you may not be making changes to them. You must double-click parts to edit them, or to change their properties via the Properties Pane.
When creating a workorder and adding parts from DXF, DWG or other files, then the parts are locked (
) and immediately editable.
The order in which the parts are listed is the same order as the workorder line items referencing them are listed in to make navigation back and forth easier. You can also Right Click and choose select line Item to jump to the corresponding Line item in the Workorder editor.
Parts Area Toolbar
TIP The buttons across the top of this toolbar are the primary means to add parts to workorders or quotes:
This opens the 2D Shapes wizard allowing you to select a shape type from the library and parametrically describe it. See 2D Shapes Tutorial . After decsribing your shape it is added to the Parts ASrtea and a Line Item referencing it is added to the Workorder as well.
This opens the 3D Developments wizard, which provides a range of developable 3D shapes (cones, lobster backs, pipe transitions, boxes etc). Most of these shapes are designed for thin plate, ie they do not account for bend allowance, however some such as the thick walled pipe shapes do. Some of these shapes are useful for Pipe cutting also.
This creates a "pseudo-part": a representation of something similar to what is to be cut, without having to draw the part up or specify it exactly. It is mostly useful in quoting- see this tutorial. Sketch parts must be converted to Approved "real" parts before they can be nested on stock plates, but they can be nested on dummy plates during quoting.
This is the most common way parts are brought into PrimeCut: loaded from a file or files.
TIP You can also simply drag part files directly onto the Workorder and Quote editors.
File types supported include:
•STEP (generic 3D solid models)
•Proprietary 3D CAD models (Solidworks, CATIA, Inventor, UniGraphics, Pro-E, ACIS, SolidEdge etc)
•Generic BOM from CSV file- lists of drawings with quantities (BOM) can be imported
•NC files ("G-Code" programs for which there is a postprocessor installed so we can read them, extensions vary)
•Primecut3 Parts and workspaces
Every part ever loaded into PrimeCut is stored in the database and can be reused at a later date. This button brings up the parts database browser allowing you to select the parts you wish to reuse in the current workorder or quote.
Load Database Parts from Database BOM
This loads a database BOM, useful in manufacturing businesses with part libraries.
Save Workorder Parts to Database BOM
This saves a database BOM from the active workorder, useful in manufacturing businesses with part libraries.
Reload Part From Changed Source File
Part File Checking must be activated in Global Settings for this to be available.
When this is active, PrimeCut checks the last modified date of the source file, assuming is in an accessible location, to see if it is newer than when the part was loaded into PrimeCut. If it is, there may have been changes made to the original part which PrimeCut is unaware of. This reload part button enables to indicate that this is the case, and clicking it will reload the selected part from the source file. Any changes made in PrimeCut will be lost, but a new revision is made so the previous revision is still available.
Unlock Part (Stop Editing Part)
While editing the part is locked. This prevents other users accessing it, or any of its revisions. When we have finished making changes to the part we can unlock it (closing the Workorder Editor will of course unlock all locked parts anyway). If changes have been made you will be prompted whether to save them or not. If you answer yes the new revision will be saved, if possible the line items in the workorder will be updated to use the new revision- however if some line items have already been nested this cannot be done automatically, and some manual updating of the line items may be needed.
If a part has just been added to a workorder from a file or shape, and is unlocked without saving, then the part and associated line item are simply discarded.
Use this to apply processing to multiple parts at once. Options are presented if the parts selected for processing already contain processing- whether to reprocess all geometry or just to process the unprocessed geometry.
Use this to optimize the sequence of multiple parts at once. Sequencing options are presented, which are then applied to all selected parts. For each selected part, the Sequencing Editor will animate the sequencing process. Holding the ESCAPE key will cancel the operation.
Use to apply labeling to selected parts. This will also open the labeling dialog window.
Time Analysis for Selected Parts
Performs a time study on the selected parts, presenting the combined results of all selected parts when finished.
Parts Area Context Menu
Change Material/Thickness Allows the setting of grade and thickness across multiple parts at once. Will attempt to lock and open the parts on the fly if needed.
Quantity- is a shortcut on the part for adjusting the associated Line Item quantity
Export Part- allows the part to be exported as a DXF, DWG or NEPrt (PrimeCut proprietary format, includes processing etc)
Analyse Table Support- Does a simple statistical analysis of how likely the part is to tip on the table. You must configure the Plate support System for the machine in the Machines section.