Evaluating the Cost of a Weldment

  1. In a weldment, click Costing tool_costing_tools.gif (Tools toolbar or the Evaluate tab on the CommandManager) or Tools > SOLIDWORKS Applications > Costing.
    If there is enough information in the template, and if the part has a material assigned to it that matches the template, a cost estimate is performed and the Costing Task Pane displays the Estimated Cost Per Part. If there is not enough information in the template, or if you want to edit the Costing input values, follow the steps below.
  2. In the Costing Task Pane:
    1. Under Template, select a template. Default templates are available or you can create templates to use custom manufacturing data.
      Single-body weldments (structural members) use the machining templates and multibody weldments use the multibody templates.
    2. Under Material, make selections for Class and Name if they are not populated. The Class and Name are populated if the material in the part matches a class and name in the machining template.
      If you want custom classes and materials to appear in the Costing Task Pane, create a template with material information and information about how the materials will be machined.
      The Material cost is the cost in the template for the selected Class and Name combination. You can override Material cost without editing the template. Overrides affect only the part that is open, not the template. If you override Material cost, the text box appears in yellow.
    3. In a single-body structural member, under Stock Body, select a Standard, Profile, and Size for the stock body.
      The selection of stock body is critical. It determines the types of machining operations used to remove material from parts.
    4. Under Method of Costing, select Cost per length or Cost per stock length. Select Preview stock to display a preview of the stock body in the graphics area.
      Preview stock shows the structural member based on the profile used to create it. If the profile selected in the Costing Task Pane does not match the profile of the structural member itself, then no preview is shown.
    5. Under Quantity, set the Total number of parts and Lot size.
    6. Optionally, under Shop Rate, set a cost per hour to determine the cost of all manufacturing operations regardless of what machine is used.
    7. Optionally, under Markup/Discount, adjust the material cost or the total cost using a percentage factor.
      The software extracts material information from the material set in the part and performs a cost estimate. The CostingManager displays manufacturing features such as milling and hole operations that were recognized in the part. The Costing Task Pane displays the Estimated Cost Per Part.
  3. Optionally, in the CostingManager, add custom operations, and edit and override existing operations.