Imagine nearing the deadline of a very important design project. The job has been challenging because the main assembly was constructed long ago, by other employees. You have just enough time to finish. At the last possible minute, your boss tells you to swap a bracket. Using Component, Adv Utils, Replace, you easily swap the bracket for a new one, but the assembly structure fails. The completion deadline arrives, frustration mounts, and all you can think is that there’s got to be a better tool.

This crisis is only one of many constantly played out across the Pro/ENGINEER® user community. The frustration level remains especially high in companies that only react to problems as they come up. Pro/ENGINEER is a far better CAD solution than many have experienced. The key, however, is to combine this new technology with new methodology—to implement for success!

The Stage Is Set – A Typical Assembly

Figures 1 and 2 depict a simple status quo assembly structure. The top level ABC assembly is made up of four subassemblies. The shelf subassemblies (i.e., A, B, and C) are constrained by mating and aligning their ABC brackets to the post brackets in the cabinet assembly.

Figure 1. ABC assembly with A.ASM displaced to reveal BRACKET_ABC.PRT and BRACKET_POST.PRT.		Figure 2. ABC assembly model tree showing the CABINET, A, B and C subassemblies.

To make sure the dynamics of the assembly are clear, answer this question: if the A subassembly must move up or down, how would you do it? Don’t just read the answer. Think about it! You would modify, in the CABINET subassembly, the position of the appropriate BRACKET_POST part. For example, if the upper post bracket moves down, then the ABC bracket assembled to it moves down, resulting in the A subassembly moving down.

Encountering the Problem

Now it’s time to add the conflict. You’ve been working diligently on A.ASM with just enough time to finish before your deadline. It is then that your boss announces that you must swap the upper bracket in the cabinet sub-assembly with the new one shown in Figure 3.

	Figure 3. NEW_POST-BKT part and the BRACKET_POST part.

Selecting the upper BRACKET_POST part, holding down the right mouse button, and choosing Replace, you use the Manual option to replace the old post bracket with the new one. The task is simple. The system reports that the new part is fully constrained. You’re home free!

Then, with a single click to finish your task, disaster strikes. The Failure Diagnostics window (Fig. 4) appears, along with the Resolve Feat menu (Fig. 5). The inexperienced select Undo Changes. The apathetic select Quick Fix, Freeze, ignoring the failure as if nothing happened. Although you want to find a solution, your manager says, “You’re out of time.”

	Figure 4. The Failure Diagnostics window indicates that A.ASM has failed.		Figure 5. Resolve Feat menu revealing the Undo Changes and Quick Fix, Freeze options.