First Article Inspection (FAI) Reports Created in Minutes with SOLIDWORKS Inspection
The inspection process is an often overlooked, but vital step in the manufacturing process. It is essential and if something goes wrong, the consequences can be severe. But if you are creating inspection reports manually, it can be a tedious and time-consuming task.
Whether you are currently inspecting SOLIDWORKS drawings or are being provided drawings from your customers in other formats, SOLIDWORKS Inspection will help reduce the time it takes you to generate First Article Inspection reports and help eliminate human error. The software pulls data directly from SOLIDWORKS and CATIA drawings, but it can also pull data from semantic PDFs and other drawing formats without translation. SOLIDWORKS Inspection is also able to scan older drawings to extract dimensions, notes, and properties using the latest OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology.
Use the standalone application or the SOLIDWORKS add-in to quickly
balloon and create inspection reports from 2D and 3D CAD, PDF, and
TIFF files.
Automatic Ballooning
Automatically extract and balloon inspection dimensions from 2D
and 3D CAD files, and specific PDF documents. Filter out
specifications by anyone on design and inspection teams.
Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
When working with a PDF file or TIFF image, SOLIDWORKS Inspection
can leverage Optical Character Recognition to read and identify
the nominal dimensions, plus and minus tolerances, and the type of
dimension (such as diametric or linear), helping to virtually
eliminate manual input and reduce errors. It works with horizontal
and vertical dimensions, split dimensions, notes, hole callouts,
finish symbols, and Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T)
symbols.
PDF Drawing Comparison and 2D/3D Revision
Management
Compare drawings and 2D or 3D CAD file revisions to quickly
identify changes and update your quality project.
Enter and Import Measurements from CMM and
Other Digital Measurement Devices
Enter measured values for each characteristic directly into a
project either manually or by using a digital caliper. Coordinate
Measuring Machine (CMM) results can also be imported.
Critical Dimension Highlighting
Critical Dimension Highlighting Description: Highlight dimensions
in green, red, or yellow to easily identify which dimensions are
in tolerance, out of tolerance, or marginally within tolerance
based on the values entered.
HOW CAN HAWK RIDGE SYSTEMS HELP?
The Hawk Ridge Team wants to help you succeed. Sometimes, when it comes to inspection reports, you are forced to work with older PDF drawings. These can be hard to read because they must be scanned or were made with non-standard industry fonts. We have assisted many companies like yours with developing custom OCR dictionaries to successfully read in these drawings and develop their inspection documentation.
SERVICES
MORE THAN JUST A PROVIDER
If you ever need assistance with creating custom templates for
SOLIDWORKS Inspection, our experienced service engineers have
your back and stand ready to assist.
TRAINING
IMPROVE PERFORMANCE THROUGH TAILORED LEARNING
We will get you fully trained and ready to create First
Article Inspection (FAI) reports in a single half-day training
course.
We have been supporting SOLIDWORKS Inspection since the
software was launched back in 2014 and employ the most
knowledgeable technical team in the business, ready to help
with all your software questions.
Whether you are looking for on-demand training, access to the
latest software releases, exclusive resources and offers, or
just needing expert support – there's a subscription option
for you.
Do I need SOLIDWORKS to use
SOLIDWORKS Inspection?
No, but it does work directly with SOLIDWORKS drawings. Inspection is
unique in that it installs as both an add-in for SOLIDWORKS and a
standalone program. You get both with your Inspection purchase. The add-in
inspects directly to your SOLIDWORKS drawings, and the standalone can
inspect multiple drawing types such as PDF, DWG, DXF, and even CATIA
drawings.
Can SOLIDWORKS Inspection import
coordinate measuring machine (CMM) results? If so, what is it compatible
with?
Yes. Once your First Article Inspection is ready, the standalone version
of Inspection by default will import most CMM export variations. If you
have any doubt, let us know and we will verify it works, or create a
template so it will work before purchase.
Can Inspection licenses be
networked like SOLIDWORKS?
Yes, and it runs on the same network license manager so you can have
multiple people using the same license, one at a time.
What file types does SOLIDWORKS
Inspection export?
Once Inspection is done gathering all bill of characteristics, CMM data,
form 1, 2, and 3 info, along with any notes, tables, and page properties,
it then exports as an editable Excel document and a PDF ballooned drawing.
Since the FAI is an Excel document, data can be added, extracted, and the
template format can be easily customized.
Can I use Inspection to program my
CMM?
No. Inspection imports the results from the CMM, it does not program it.
Which inspection standards are
supported?
Inspection is fully AS9102 and PPAP compliant.
Can drawings be automatically
ballooned?
Yes, they can. The add-in for SOLIDWORKS will auto-balloon the entire
drawing and the standalone has what is called SmartExtract, which works
with most semantic drawing formats. SmartExtract can analyze groups of
dimensions and extract metadata from the drawing. This makes inspection
reports fast and resistant to error.