Offset entities in Solidworks - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

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

📋 Request: Your manager wants a report showing how offsetting entities in SolidWorks sketches affects the dimensions and area of parts.

📊 Data: You have data on original sketch entities with their dimensions and areas, and data after applying offset entities at various distances.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a dashboard that compares original and offset entity dimensions and areas, showing trends and percentage changes.

Sample Data

Entity ID	Entity Type	Original Length (mm)	Original Area (mm²)	Offset Distance (mm)	Offset Length (mm)	Offset Area (mm²)
1	Line	100	0	5	110	0
2	Circle	0	7854	2	0	11310
3	Rectangle	400	10000	3	424	11556
4	Line	150	0	4	158	0
5	Circle	0	4524	1	0	5654
6	Rectangle	300	6000	2	312	6768
7	Line	80	0	6	92	0
8	Circle	0	3141	3	0	5654

1

Step 1: Import the sample data into your BI tool as a table with columns: Entity ID, Entity Type, Original Length, Original Area, Offset Distance, Offset Length, Offset Area.

No formula needed; just import and verify data integrity.

Expected Result

Data table with 8 rows and 7 columns loaded correctly.

2

Step 2: Create calculated columns to find the percentage change in Length and Area after offsetting.

Length Change % = IF([Original Length] = 0, BLANK(), ([Offset Length] - [Original Length]) / [Original Length] * 100) Area Change % = IF([Original Area] = 0, BLANK(), ([Offset Area] - [Original Area]) / [Original Area] * 100)

Expected Result

New columns showing percentage changes; for example, Entity 1 Length Change % = 10%, Entity 2 Area Change % = 44.1%.

3

Step 3: Create a bar chart showing average Length Change % by Entity Type.

Use Entity Type as axis, average of Length Change % as values.

Expected Result

Bar chart showing Lines have ~10.1% average length increase, Rectangles ~5%, Circles blank (since length is zero).

4

Step 4: Create a bar chart showing average Area Change % by Entity Type.

Use Entity Type as axis, average of Area Change % as values.

Expected Result

Bar chart showing Circles have ~49.7% average area increase, Rectangles ~14.2%, Lines blank (area zero).

5

Step 5: Create a table visual listing each Entity ID, Entity Type, Offset Distance, Length Change %, and Area Change % for detailed review.

Table columns: Entity ID, Entity Type, Offset Distance, Length Change %, Area Change %

Expected Result

Table showing all entities with their offset distances and percentage changes.

6

Step 6: Add slicer/filter for Entity Type to allow filtering the dashboard by Lines, Circles, or Rectangles.

Add slicer on Entity Type column.

Expected Result

User can filter visuals by entity type to focus analysis.

7

Step 7: Add a card visual showing the overall average Offset Distance across all entities.

Average Offset Distance = AVERAGE([Offset Distance])

Expected Result

Card showing average offset distance of 3.375 mm.

Final Result

Dashboard: Offset Entities Analysis

+---------------------------+  +---------------------------+
| Avg Length Change % by ET |  | Avg Area Change % by ET   |
|                           |  |                           |
| Lines: 10.1%              |  | Circles: 49.7%            |
| Rectangles: 5%            |  | Rectangles: 14.2%         |
| Circles: N/A              |  | Lines: N/A                |
+---------------------------+  +---------------------------+

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Entity Details Table                                         |
| ID | Type     | Offset Dist | Length Change % | Area Change %|
| 1  | Line     | 5          | 10%             | N/A          |
| 2  | Circle   | 2          | N/A             | 44.1%        |
| ...                                                         |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

+----------------+
| Avg Offset Dist |
| 3.38 mm        |
+----------------+

✓Offsetting increases length for line and rectangle entities by about 5-15%.

✓Circle areas increase significantly (~50%) with offset distance.

✓Lines have no area change as expected.

✓Average offset distance applied is 3.38 mm.

✓Filtering by entity type helps focus on specific geometry effects.

Bonus Challenge

Add a trend line visual showing how Area Change % varies with Offset Distance for each Entity Type.

Show Hint

Use scatter plot with Offset Distance on X-axis, Area Change % on Y-axis, and color by Entity Type.