Thank you all who attended my "Master Model Best Practices" session at SWW2017 on Monday at 4:30.  I've come across a new discovery this week that validates my conclusion that the Save-Bodies technique is more robust than Insert-Part method. Don't get me wrong, Insert-Part is necessary when you want to bring along other geo besides solids, but while working on a client model this week, that is using the Insert-part method - all my derived parts (14 of them) were suddenly failing big-time. Upon further discovery, every insert part feature was failing to bring in the solid body. I did some debugging by creating a new blank part and inserting the master into it; SW let me select the file and I checked all the options I wanted, including Solids, but when okaying the feature, it failed to insert nothing.

What turned out to be the issue was that earlier that day I created some features (you guessed it - a fillet in just the right place with just the right value) which cause a general Fault in one of the bodies. This general fault (even with VOB on) was not evident until I did a model check.

What I learned from this is if you do a Save-Bodies, the derived part/s do not fail like they do when you use the Insert-Part Method even with a General fault in the the master part. What is deviating about this is that it was only one feature of one body of the 14 that failed all 14 derived parts (because insert part brings in all bodies even if that one is not used for the derived part.)  First glance at my assembly was quite a panic.

This experience shows that the Save-Bodies method of inserting just the Stock Feature in the derive is a lot safer than Insert Part. Now, I know what your saying "Mark, the Insert Part method showed you a general fault that you would not have seen if you'd used Save-Bodies" - yes, there is merit in that, but I probably would have discovered that if I had continued modeling that any simple modeling op on that body would have not worked (which is something that you should know if you don't - that if you are doing a cut or extrude that is failing, and you are scratching your head as to why on earth this doesn't work? - go check the model.)

I've attached a reproduced example file of the master (sorry can't show actual client data) and you can play with it yourself by suppressing and unsuppressing the labeled fillet feature and try to insert the master into a new part. This is a SW2015 part/s (since that is what my client is using) I haven't verified this on SW2016 or SW2017.

Mark