Mirror entities in sketch in Solidworks - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are a product design analyst working with the engineering team.

📋 Request: Your manager wants you to analyze how using the 'Mirror Entities' feature in SolidWorks sketches can speed up design time and reduce errors.

📊 Data: You have data on design times and error counts for sketches created with and without using the 'Mirror Entities' feature across 10 projects.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a report showing the average design time and error count for sketches with and without mirrored entities, including a visualization comparing both.

Sample Data

Project	Used Mirror Entities	Design Time (hours)	Error Count
1	Yes	3.5	1
2	No	5.0	3
3	Yes	4.0	2
4	No	6.0	4
5	Yes	3.0	1
6	No	5.5	3
7	Yes	3.8	1
8	No	6.2	5
9	Yes	3.6	2
10	No	5.8	4

1

Step 1: Organize the data by grouping projects into two categories: 'Used Mirror Entities' = Yes and No.

Group data by 'Used Mirror Entities' column.

Expected Result

Two groups: Yes (5 projects), No (5 projects).

2

Step 2: Calculate the average design time for each group.

Average Design Time = SUM(Design Time) / COUNT(Projects) for each group.

Expected Result

Yes group average design time = (3.5+4.0+3.0+3.8+3.6)/5 = 3.58 hours; No group average design time = (5.0+6.0+5.5+6.2+5.8)/5 = 5.7 hours.

3

Step 3: Calculate the average error count for each group.

Average Error Count = SUM(Error Count) / COUNT(Projects) for each group.

Expected Result

Yes group average error count = (1+2+1+1+2)/5 = 1.4 errors; No group average error count = (3+4+3+5+4)/5 = 3.8 errors.

4

Step 4: Create a bar chart comparing average design time for 'Yes' and 'No' groups.

X-axis: 'Used Mirror Entities' (Yes, No); Y-axis: Average Design Time (hours).

Expected Result

Bar chart showing 3.58 hours for Yes and 5.7 hours for No.

5

Step 5: Create a bar chart comparing average error count for 'Yes' and 'No' groups.

X-axis: 'Used Mirror Entities' (Yes, No); Y-axis: Average Error Count.

Expected Result

Bar chart showing 1.4 errors for Yes and 3.8 errors for No.

6

Step 6: Summarize findings in a report highlighting the time saved and error reduction when using 'Mirror Entities' in sketches.

Write summary text based on calculated averages and charts.

Expected Result

Report states that using 'Mirror Entities' reduces design time by about 2.1 hours and errors by 2.4 on average.

Final Result

Design Time and Error Count Comparison

Used Mirror Entities | Avg Design Time (hrs) | Avg Error Count
-------------------------------------------------------------
Yes                  | *******************   | ********
No                   | ******************************* | ***********************

* = 0.2 hours or 0.1 errors approx.

✓Using 'Mirror Entities' in sketches reduces average design time from 5.7 to 3.58 hours.

✓Error count decreases from 3.8 to 1.4 on average when using 'Mirror Entities'.

✓This feature helps speed up design and improve accuracy.

Bonus Challenge

Analyze if the time and error improvements vary by project complexity by adding a 'Complexity' column (Low, Medium, High) and comparing results.

Show Hint

Group data by both 'Used Mirror Entities' and 'Complexity' columns, then calculate averages for each subgroup.