Costing Task Pane

You can set the input values for determining the cost of manufacturing a sheet metal, machined, weldment, or custom part from the Costing Task Pane on the right side of the SOLIDWORKS software window.

To display this Task Pane:

  • In a part, click Costing tool_costing_tools.gif (Tools toolbar or the Evaluate tab on the CommandManager) or click Tools > SOLIDWORKS Applications > Costing.
Select a type of component for costing:
Single Body Part
Multibody Part Multibody Task Pane

Setting Model Materials

You can set the model material for a part from the material you select in the Costing Task Pane.

To set the material for a part from Costing Task Pane selections:

  1. Click Costing (Tools toolbar or the Evaluate tab on the CommandManager) or Tools > SOLIDWORKS Applications > Costing.
  2. In the Costing Task Pane, under Material, select the values for Class and Name.
  3. To set your material selections as the model material, click Set Material.
    Part material settings are automatically selected in the Costing Task Pane when the part material is also a material listed in the selected template.

Organizing and Saving Costing Data Locally

You can save Costing data. Such data includes CAD files, Costing templates, and Costing reports locally as a package, with the Costing Pack and Go tool.

To organize and save Costing data locally:

  1. Open an assembly.
  2. Click Costing (Evaluate tab on the CommandManager) or Tools > SOLIDWORKS Applications > Costing.
  3. Click Begin Cost Estimation.
  4. In the Costing Task Pane, click Generate Report .
  5. In the Report Options dialog box, choose the report options and click Publish.
  6. In the Costing Task Pane, click Costing Pack and Go .
    If a warning message prompts you to save the assembly, click OK and save the assembly.
  7. In the Costing Pack and Go dialog box:
    1. The default file name is the same as the CAD file name. You can rename the file name.
      For File name, type a name.
    2. For Save to, click and browse to the location where you want to save the report.
    3. Select Include Costing report and click to browse to the location of the report to include.
    4. Click Save.

Costing Pack and Go

To save Costing data locally, click Costing Pack and Go at the bottom of the Costing Task Pane.

File name Lets you name the zipped folder.
Save to Lets you save the zipped folder to a location.
Include Costing report Lets you include the Costing report in the zipped folder.
Save Let's you save the zipped folder at the specified location with the defined name.
Cancel Cancels the operation.