Hi Guys,

After joining the SolidWorks Costing team a few months back, I noticed that there is a general excitement about the Costing tool, but some have expressed a need for more guidance with its many features. There are a couple basic tutorials in the Help for Costing, but it has proven to be a challenge for some to sculpt it to represent their own manufacturing processes. My aim is to make this tool easy to use for both designers AND manufacturers, but with the complex nature of manufacturing and the various strategies available to machine a part, this is not a simple task. As I work to make this tool great for all users, I want to help you all get acquainted with it the best that I can.

I gave a couple hands-ons at SolidWorks World 2013 on Costing to give a more in-depth overview of the tool and emphasize some key points to consider. Many people said that this was very useful for them and I thought it might be something to share with everyone interested on the forums. In the attached ZIP file you will find some sample files and a "Costing Manual" which I cooked up. This manual has some custom tutorials I’ve made, along with some exercises taking you through the tool.

Please feel free to share this with your colleagues and let me know how it works for you. I have a lot on my plate here, but if I get a chance I will try to make some more of these to get you the info you need. If you have some specific areas of costing that you would like to know more about, please let me know and I will do my best to focus on those areas as well. If you have some specific issues to your own Costing experience, please feel free to email me at blake.reeves (at) 3ds.com and we can work together to make this tool meet your needs.

Looking forward to working with all of you,

-Blake