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3D Printing Task Pane

Set the input values for determining the cost of manufacturing a single-body 3D printed part from the Costing Task Pane.

Method

3D Printing

Template

You can choose default templates for the part type.

Machining template Sets an existing machining template.
Launch Template Editor Opens the Costing Template Editor for creating or editing Costing templates.

Material

Class Sets the class of material based on the material that was set for the part. This is automatically selected if the part has a material already applied.
Name Sets the material based on the material of the part. This is automatically selected if the part has a material already applied.
Set Material Sets the SOLIDWORKS material properties of the part from your material Class and Name selections.
Material cost Displays the cost defined for the material at the selected thickness in the template. If you override Material cost, the text box appears in yellow and you can click Reset to Template Default.

Printing Properties

Orientation plane Select the orientation position of the part in the 3D printer for running the cost analysis:
  • XY
  • XZ
  • YZ

Select Flip direction to reverse the direction.
Bounding box sizes
  • Model
  • Printer
The dimension highlights if the part is too large for the printer.
Structural material The Costing tool does not calculate the cost of additional support material. Use Structural material to include a cost for additional support material.
Wall thickness Sets the thickness of the outer walls of the part and is used to determine the minimum volume of an object if there is zero infill material.
Percent infill Sets the percent of body volume that is waste.
Total Volume  
Show printer bounding box Select to display the bounding box in the graphics area.

Quantity

Total number of parts Quantity of parts to be manufactured.
Lot size Quantity of parts to be manufactured per run.

Shop Rate

Shop rate Sets a cost per hour to determine the cost of all manufacturing operations regardless of what machine is used. This value overrides all costs related to machines and labor in the machining template.
Use Shop Rate if all you have is a shop rate for manufacturing processes. For example, a manufacturing vendor may tell you that their shop rate is $100/hour instead of telling you their rates for individual processes, such as milling and drilling. You can also set the Shop Rate as a default value in the machining template.

Markup/Discount

Cost adjustment Adjusts the material cost or the total cost using a percentage factor. A negative value creates a discount, and a positive value creates a markup. For example, you can increase the cost by 15% of the material cost which gets added to the total cost. The 15% will reduce the cost with a negative percentage. Select one of the following:

% of Total Cost

Increases the cost of manufacturing based on a percentage of the total cost.

% of Material Cost

Increases the cost of manufacturing based on a percentage of the material cost.
Use this option if you get a discount on material or the total cost of a manufactured part. If you are a manufacturer, use this option to set your profit margin over your actual costs.

Estimated Cost Per Part

  Cost Displays the total estimated cost of manufacturing the part. The cost is constantly updated based on any changes you make.
  Comparison Displays a bar chart for the Current and Previous costs or the Current and Baseline costs. If changes to the part decrease the cost, the Current bar is green and the % difference is negative. If changes to the part increase the cost, the Current bar is red and the % difference is positive.

Click Set Baseline to set a baseline cost for comparison. If you change the design later on, the cost is compared to the baseline cost. When you set a baseline cost, any changes to the part are considered Current and the difference is displayed. While the baseline price is set, the part is rotated, flattened, and refolded because the software is capturing images for the Costing report.
  Breakdown Displays the cost and percentage distributions for the major contributors of the total cost:

Material

Cost of the material based on the weight of the material used.

Manufacturing

Total processing cost, including cuts, bends, forming tools, and additional operations.

Markup or Discount

Adjustment specified in Markup/Discount.
Generate Report Opens the Report Options dialog box where you can customize a report and export it as a Word document or as an Excel spreadsheet.


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