The 30 or 40 characters of text used to describe solutions and products are often not sufficient to be reused later. Often the solutions or products are named imprecisely, for example plate, shaft, or bolt. Thus they cannot be queried and picked out from a PDM system feature information like holes and form patterns are missing. To allow precise queries, classification information has to be added, but the manual maintenance of classification/object parameters is a time-consuming and error-prone process. However, reusing existing parts has fundamental cost-effectiveness for design solutions. classmate CAD automatically interprets and recognizes the classification of 3D CAD models and adds the feature information to the object parameter list. Manual errors are prevented and high-quality data/information is guaranteed. The time taken to manually add information can be reduced to a minimum. classmate CAD is different from the commonly used modeling methodology. Even STEP models can be processed for computing classification results. Batch and/or interactive processes are now possible. Thus only minimal business process changes have to be done to establish an automatic classification within a company. classmate CAD computes both geometric and functional classification. These are the classes and object parameters in the standard classification: classes (abstract): rotational parts, bending parts (sheet metal), flat parts, sections, etc; object parameters (abstract): slots, notches, holes, and their patterns, shaft shoulders, number of bending blades, etc. classmate CAD is compatible with SOLIDWORKS 2012 and older versions.
