I'm trying to determine the best way to move forward in our file management and I have a question about Large Assemblies (>150-200 Mb). The way the models are currently being done is they have one assembly file with upwards of 35 or more configurations which are either the step by step assembly instructions or showing were a sub assembly attaches to the main component. (They will just suppress parts they don't want to show for the configuration and as the configuration expands they unsuppress the parts)

I'm not a huge fan of this current system cause we have multiple drawings (35 or more) referencing one assembly file and I might not be certain but I feel having multiple configurations adds to the file size.

I guess the question I have is it better to make smaller sub assemblies that we build upon to reach our final assembly, each sub assembly would be one of the configurations that would be saved as an independent assembly and then just built upon or is it better to leave everything in one assembly file and make different configurations (suppressing parts until needed)?