With a little guidance, it's easy to optimize your CAD modeling.

Competitive advantage is crucial in society today. By optimizing your CAD modeling, you can gain a competitive advantage and become better, faster, and more efficient. Here are some tips to assist you in growing into an improved CAD engineer.

1. Displaying Missing References

When a reference that a feature needs is removed/deleted - features usually fail, resulting in a missing reference. To combat this, you can use the Reference Viewer or redefine a failing feature - which will highlight the missing reference in the graphics window. When you highlight the missing reference, it helps you select an applicable replacement.

2. Capture Sketcher Design Intent

In a sketch, design intent can be captured in a few ways - both in how you dimension the sketch and in how you constrain the sketch. When using Creo Parametric, it can help you capture your design intent by creating weak dimensions automatically, in order to maintain a fully dimensioned and constrained sketch. Always convert weak dimensions to strong dimensions so that you're aware of how your sketch will update if and when changes are made.

3. Construction Geometry

An underrated, but highly recommended tip is to keep your sketches simple. Use construction geometry in a sketch in order to constrain it and make otherwise difficult dimensioning easy. A majority of sketching tools can create construction geometry in the same manner as regular or solid geometry.

Creo 7.0

4. Intent Edges

On a part model, you can select multiple edges and round them. However, what happens if the model shape changes? Did you know that you can use intent edges to select references quicker and make them more robust - preventing failure when changes to the model are made? This can help you out a lot with your CAD model.

5. Simplified Representations

By utilizing simplified representations, you are able to remove components from the graphics window and system memory - without regard for any parent/child relationships.

6. Assembly Connections

Many CAD experts use constraints to assemble components. However, there is another method to assemble components that allows you to simulate mechanism movements. With assembly connections, you're able to assemble the components together while still retaining movement in desired degrees of freedom. This feature allows you to move your assembly in Creo just as it would move in the real-world, really showing you your product.

7. Sheetmetal

Manufacturing conventional parts tends to be significantly different than manufacturing sheetmetal parts. When using Creo Parametric's Sheetmetal module, you're able to Rip, Bend, Punch, Form, and more to your sheetmetal parts.

All in all, competitive advantage is essential in modern-day organizations. Gain a competitive advantage by becoming significantly better, faster, and more efficient. Interested in learning more about Mechanical Design and CAD? Find out more program information here: