Of what use is Reclassify in the Manufacturing module?

[KenFarley]

Let's say I brought a model into a manufacturing assembly. And, since I wasn't paying proper attention, it was just brought in as a "regular" assembled part. Now, realizing the error of my ways, I want to reclassify that part not as just a dumb component, but as a reference model. This would seem to be simple enough, There's an actual "Classify" button.

But, every time I've ever tried that button, the message is always "This component cannot be reclassified".

So, a simple question, what use is the Classify functionality? It never does anything for me. Is there some esoteric situation where it is actually useful?

I can't just redo assembly of the model, because I've got a lot of toolpaths that already use it.

[BryantMorgan]

I have never found the Classify function to be of any value.

The workflow I have adopted as a work around is to always begin my manufacturing assembly with a workpiece (which enables toolpath creation) and assembling the part I am placing toolpaths on as a general assembly component, not a manufacturing reference model. This approach works well for many of the toolpaths I use including trajectories, mill volume (with volume), cutline, surfacemill, etc. – but check surfaces must be added manually if needed. IF I need to use a toolpath using a mill window the general assembly component will not be recognized/avoided so I just assemble the same part again into the manufacturing assembly, but this time I bring it in as a reference model and assemble the parts coordinate system to coordinate system which is pretty quick to do. Less than 10% of the time do I need an actual reference model but over 50% of the time I am machining some sort of fixture/tooling to hold a part and I prefer to do so in the same manufacturing file I am cutting the part, this workflow is problematic when using reference models – an example would be softjaws for a vise, if I use a reference model and mill window it will machine the cavity in the jaws but as soon as I assemble the reference model INTO the sofjaws the toolpaths update and as mentioned, it is not as simple as reclassifying the models…

[KenFarley]

Yeah, I've been using Pro/Manufacture and then Creo Manufacturing for decades, and I always use the Reference Model/Workpiece stuff, except when I make the mistake of just assembling components like in a regular assembly. I like using them because then the NC Check simulations display the colors I'm used to. If I have a part in as a general assembly part, the material removal simulation shows what would be the reference part as white, while the workpiece is yellow. A terrible color combo to check things, unlike the purple/yellow combo I usually have when I do things "right".

I guess I could fiddle about with the simulation colors and stop worrying about it, or just be more careful.

I wish there was some sort of documentation that explained what rules I'm disobeying that make the reclassify always say "NO" to me. The information available for the manufacturing has always been kind of sparse - lots of stuff I've found out by trying all sorts of things and seeing what happens. Like a sick videogame, sometimes.