{"id":1210,"date":"2019-05-30T15:49:27","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T20:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsc3d.wpengine.com\/?p=1210"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T00:46:10","slug":"proper-engineering-practices-data-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Proper Engineering Practices &#038; Data Management"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p> Today, we&#8217;re going to explore the question,&nbsp;<strong>&#8220;What are some proper engineering practices regarding data management?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SW-PDM-Preview-Dropdown.jpg\" alt=\"SOLIDWORKS PDM Preview Dropdown\" class=\"wp-image-1211\" width=\"548\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SW-PDM-Preview-Dropdown.jpg 729w, https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SW-PDM-Preview-Dropdown-600x370.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SW-PDM-Preview-Dropdown-300x185.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 548px) 100vw, 548px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Revision vs.&nbsp;Minor Change<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Whenever a 3D model requires at least a change to its geometry, the 3D model and its drawing should receive the next revision level and this revision level should be equal. Oftentimes a minor change needs to be conducted that does not necessarily warrant an increase in the revision level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"361\" height=\"343\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/PDM-Screenshot-1.png\" alt=\"Figure 1\" class=\"wp-image-1212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/PDM-Screenshot-1.png 361w, https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/PDM-Screenshot-1-300x285.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 361px) 100vw, 361px\" \/><figcaption> A sample of a SOLIDWORKS PDM workflow<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A product data management (PDM) system, such as SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard or Professional, facilitates the process in which models and drawings require a revision or minor change. A workflow as shown above is a pathway for which engineering documents are managed in their life cycle. The blocks, such as WIP (Work in Progress) and Pending Approval, are states and the pathways connecting the states are transitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If a model and its drawing are RELEASED to production and if the drawing requires a minor change, such as adding or modifying a note, the drawing and its model are transitioned to UNDER CHANGE instead of back to WIP for the next revision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<a name=\"automate\"><\/a>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Automating &amp; Meeting CAD Standards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard and Professional uphold and automate an engineering department\u2019s CAD standards through the following means:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Custom or predefined revision schema(s) automatically controlled through product\u2019s life cycle<\/li><li>Secure file storage not only for engineering data but also CAD standards such as templates, weldment profiles, routing libraries, etc.<\/li><li>Streamline and organize processes for which engineering data is created, released to production, revised, and obsoleted through workflows and permissions<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Revision Schemas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What if my company does not currently have a revision schema?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s not too late to start implementing a revision schema for proper engineering practices and utilizing&nbsp;a product data management system. A good baseline revision schema that meets the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/owlcation.com\/humanities\/ASME-Standards-for-the-Revision-of-Engineering-Drawings\">American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)<\/a>&nbsp;standard is of a single alpha character that skips the I, O, Q, S, X, and Z letters since these letters can be synonymous with numeric characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Revision table integration built into SOLIDWORKS can be used to manually increment the revision without SOLIDWORKS PDM, but effective with the 2018 release of SOLIDWORKS PDM Standard and Professional, the control of revision table row incrementation and updating can be controlled automatically via workflow transition actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/500-px-PDM-Screenshot-2-revision-number-component-properties.png\" alt=\"Figure 2\" class=\"wp-image-1213\" width=\"385\" height=\"649\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/500-px-PDM-Screenshot-2-revision-number-component-properties.png 500w, https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/500-px-PDM-Screenshot-2-revision-number-component-properties-178x300.png 178w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 385px) 100vw, 385px\" \/><figcaption> SOLIDWORKS PDM revision schema setup per ASME standards <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Continuing Management Benefits<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ve scratched the surface when it comes to propering engineering practices and data management. If you didn&#8217;t already know, you have a PDM Standard CAD Editor license included with each seat of&nbsp;SOLIDWORKS Professional or Premium and can set up a PDM Standard vault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will be covering other PDM topics in upcoming blogs, including&nbsp;capabilities and applications that are good to know about. Stay tuned for those.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Having a workflow for engineering documents to travel through in their life cycle is not only efficient, but convenient.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":1211,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,23],"tags":[],"topic":[859,861],"class_list":["post-1210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data-management","category-software-features","topic-data-management-automation","topic-solidworks-software"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Proper Engineering Practices &amp; Data Management - GSC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read our post - Proper Engineering Practices &amp; Data Management. For the latest information, Data Management you can always trust GSC.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Proper Engineering Practices &amp; Data Management - GSC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Read our post - Proper Engineering Practices &amp; Data Management. For the latest information, Data Management you can always trust GSC.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GSC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gsc3d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-30T20:49:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-20T00:46:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SW-PDM-Preview-Dropdown.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"729\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"449\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Max Kent\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gsc3d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gsc3d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Max Kent\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Proper Engineering Practices & Data Management - GSC","description":"Read our post - Proper Engineering Practices & Data Management. For the latest information, Data Management you can always trust GSC.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Proper Engineering Practices & Data Management - GSC","og_description":"Read our post - Proper Engineering Practices & Data Management. For the latest information, Data Management you can always trust GSC.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/","og_site_name":"GSC","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gsc3d","article_published_time":"2019-05-30T20:49:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-20T00:46:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":729,"height":449,"url":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SW-PDM-Preview-Dropdown.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Max Kent","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gsc3d","twitter_site":"@gsc3d","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Max Kent","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/"},"author":{"name":"Max Kent","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/#\/schema\/person\/da493cb875b87ccfa0f60276007f0bca"},"headline":"Proper Engineering Practices &#038; Data Management","datePublished":"2019-05-30T20:49:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-20T00:46:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/"},"wordCount":478,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SW-PDM-Preview-Dropdown.jpg","articleSection":["Data Management","Software Features"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/","name":"Proper Engineering Practices & Data Management - GSC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SW-PDM-Preview-Dropdown.jpg","datePublished":"2019-05-30T20:49:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-20T00:46:10+00:00","description":"Read our post - Proper Engineering Practices & Data Management. For the latest information, Data Management you can always trust GSC.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SW-PDM-Preview-Dropdown.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SW-PDM-Preview-Dropdown.jpg","width":729,"height":449,"caption":"SOLIDWORKS PDM Preview Dropdown"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/proper-engineering-practices-data-management\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Proper Engineering Practices &#038; Data Management"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/","name":"GSC","description":"3D Engineering Solutions","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/#organization","name":"GSC | An Ellison Technologies Company","url":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gsc-ellison-header-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gsc-ellison-header-logo.png","width":404,"height":155,"caption":"GSC | An Ellison Technologies Company"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gsc3d","https:\/\/x.com\/gsc3d","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/gsc3d\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/gxsc3d"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/#\/schema\/person\/da493cb875b87ccfa0f60276007f0bca","name":"Max Kent","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Max-Kent-100x100.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Max-Kent-100x100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Max-Kent-100x100.jpg","caption":"Max Kent"},"description":"As a PDM Applications Engineer, Max focuses on SOLIDWORKS PDM and services around replication in archives and databases; software upgrades; troubleshooting and technical support; and much more. He graduated with a bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering.","url":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/blog\/author\/mkent0519\/"}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-05 23:08:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1210"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gsc-3d.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=1210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}