As Michael Scott’s philosophies unfold in his New York Times best-seller “Somehow I Manage,” the self-proclaimed “World’s Best Boss” spends several pages on the most important aspect of any company. Not the cash flow, or inventory…it’s the people. The PEOPLE.
Just like The Office, your users are the most important piece to your SOLIDWORKS Electrical environment. We may have several users with varying needs and profiles interacting with the projects, configurations, settings, and libraries. You don’t want Pam at the front desk handling the accounting or Stanley handling HR decisions. Or Toby handling…well…anything. Let’s hope you don’t have a Toby on your team.
Given the various roles in your user base, you may find it appropriate to give your users specific roles and permissions within SOLIDWORKS Electrical. This capability is built into SWE in the Tools > Interface, Configuration > User Rights section.
The initial login and setup require creating the administrator(s) who then establish and set up roles and users. Keep this password safe, as losing it will require high-level resets!
But maybe steer clear of Michael’s advice on this one…
While there are pre-defined roles out of the box, most admins are interested in better customizing both the names and abilities of each role.
As of 2021, we set our own parameters defining profiles (green for user-created), groups within those profiles, and users in each group. Each profile can have a custom Feature grid allowing full control over what each profile’s groups and users can access.
Perhaps as a manager, you want to clearly differentiate the other managers on your team with an “Assistant Regional Manager” and an “Assistant to the Regional Manager.” Maybe you’re worried about Dwight’s downsizing? Using the Feature grid, we can disable “Delete Projects.”
Dwight will see this changed access when he works in SWE with his assigned username and password.
If you want to ensure the right people are handling the Library, you can establish a gatekeeper and only allow certain users access to the various sections of the Library. Establishing Library administrators will help you stay current with standards and maintain a clean information environment.
As new users are added to the organization, we can avoid the potential for a mess on the level of Kevin’s chili spill. Set new user roles to ensure they are only working on approved tasks until they are fully trained and capable of handling Library additions of parts or symbols.
…Easy enough, set up the Feature grid until they’re ready!
As time goes on and users become more comfortable and capable, it’s also easy to change their group’s Feature grid to open their options…or promote them to a higher level. Maybe Kevin gets trained up on part and symbol standards! Or Dwight reaches “perfectenschlag” on the day he is promoted to the Office Manager. Just go to the User’s properties and select ANY of your User-defined profiles.
If you are still a little unsure, go ahead and review the “User Rights Management” section of the help file, or, of course, contact us at GSC.
Contact Us
Have a question? We’re always available to talk over the phone at 262-790-1080, for you to leave a message, or for you to submit a request – just contact us.
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If you’re interested in learning more SOLIDWORKS Electrical tips and tricks, check out these resources below:
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