The SolidWorks Costing tool helps you calculate how much it costs to manufacture sheet metal and machined parts by automating the cost estimation and quotation process.
The tool helps designers make decisions based on the cost to manufacture and helps manufacturers create quotes for customers. Whenever you change a design, you can see the new, updated cost immediately, along with a detailed cost breakdown. Additionally, you can generate automatic cost reports.
Manufacturing and material information in templates drives the Costing tool to determine the manufacturing cost. In the templates, you can specify the material used to create the part, the manufacturing processes (such as laser cutting, bending, or milling), and the associated costs of these materials and manufacturing operations. The templates also let you create custom operations such as packaging, ERP entry, painting, or cleaning.
The Costing tool serves different audiences:
- Designers: Costing provides estimates of how much parts should cost to manufacture. Costing can compare models so you can make decisions based on cost earlier in the design process. You can try "what if" scenarios such as removing features, changing materials, and using different manufacturing processes to see how these affect the cost. The cost estimates are repeatable because the results are based on data in the templates, so you always use the same template information to calculate costs.
- Manufacturers: Costing creates accurate quotes based on the materials, processes, and other associated costs that are required to manufacture parts. Costing creates a faster quote process than manual methods such as using spreadsheets, counting features, or estimating material removed. Costing helps eliminate errors and provides an accurate, repeatable quoting system that you can update whenever material or labor costs need revision.
The Costing tool is divided into two capabilities:
- Sheet Metal Costing
- Use the Sheet Metal Costing
tool for parts that are manufactured from sheet metal. This tool covers:
- Flattened sheet cutting operations (such as laser, water jet, and plasma cutting)
- Library features (such as punches and forming tools)
- Bends
- Custom operations (such as painting, anodizing, and heat treat)
- Machine or process setup operations (such as brake setup costs)
To use this tool, the part must contain sheet metal features such as flanges, bends, or forming tools. Features such as holes and cuts are recognized as manufacturing cut paths for operations such as laser, water jet, and plasma cutting.
- Machining Costing
- Use the Machining Costing
tool for parts that are machined from solid block and plate stock material. Machined parts use machining as part of or all of their manufacturing processes. Machining Costing refers to parts that start as a block of material or a plate of material (such as a metal plate) and are milled or drilled, and cut using waterjet or plasma to create the final shape. Parts made from blocks use manufacturing techniques such as milling and drilling. This tool covers parts that start out as block-shaped stock and use:
- Milling operations (such as face, flat end, or ball end milling, and chamfering)
- Drilling operations (such as blind and through drilling, reaming, and tapping)
- Library features
- Custom operations (such as painting, anodizing, and heat treat)
- Machine or process setup operations (such as milling machine setup costs)
Parts made from plates use manufacturing techniques such as laser, water jet, and plasma cutting, in addition to milling and drilling. This tool covers parts that start out as flat plate stock and use:
- Milling operations (such as face, flat end, or ball end milling, and chamfering)
- Drilling operations (such as blind and through drilling, reaming, and tapping)
- Library features
- Custom operations (such as painting, anodizing, and heat treat)
- Machine or process setup operations (such as milling machine setup costs)
- Cutting operations (such as laser, water jet, and plasma cutting)
Currently, SolidWorks Costing does not cover parts made by turning, 3-axis continuous milling, or injection molding. It also does not support multibody parts.
The costs calculated by the Costing tool are as accurate as the data in your templates. Although SolidWorks provides pre-populated templates, it is best to create custom templates based on your manufacturer's costs. It is recommended that you work with your in-house manufacturing departments and external manufacturing vendors to create custom templates that reflect actual costs.