Chapter 12: Building Efficient Assemblies
Using Subassemblies
The primary tool for organizing assemblies is the subassembly. A subassembly is just a regular
assembly that is used as a component in another assembly.Best Practice
The number of levels of subassemblies is not limited to a specific number, although for different sizes and types
of assemblies, I encourage you to establish a best practice for your company. For example, establish a guideline
that suggests that subassemblies of 100 parts or less go no deeper than three levels. n
You can use several criteria to determine how subassemblies are assigned:l (^) Performance
l BOM
l (^) Relative motion
l Pre-fabricated, off-the-shelf considerations
l (^) According to assembly steps for a process drawing
l To simplify patterning
The underlying question here is based on the multiple functions of your SolidWorks assembly
model. Is the assembly intended primarily for design? For visualization? For documentation? For
process documentation? When used primarily for design, the assembly is used to determine fits,
tolerances, mechanisms, and many other things. As a visualization tool, it simply has to look good
and possibly move properly if that is part of the design. As a documentation tool, it is important
how the model relates to the BOM, and the order in which subassemblies are added. As a process
tool, you need to be able to show the assembly in various intermediate states of being assembled,
likely with configurations.
I have seen companies create multiple assembly models for different purposes. Sometimes the
requirements between the different methods are contradictory and cannot all be met at the same
time with a single set of data. Again, depending on what information you need to be able to extract
from your SolidWorks models, you may want to approach assembly modeling and organization
differently, and you may need to create multiple assembly models to accomplish everything.
Creating subassemblies from existing parts
You can create subassemblies from parts that already exist in an assembly. To do this, select the
parts that you want to add to the subassembly using Shift+, Ctrl+, or box select techniques, and
then select Form New Subassembly Here from the right mouse button (RMB) menu. You are then
prompted to assign a name or possibly select a template for the new subassembly.