Product / Assemble
Components located by intent, not by typed coordinates.
An assembly starts from one fixed component and grows through mates. Every other part is positioned by a relationship you can read and revise, so the structure survives the change that arrives after release.
Structure
Begin with one fixed component.
Insert the component that defines the product's frame or base and fix it at the assembly origin. Everything else is located through mates, which is what makes a later dimension change propagate instead of scattering parts.
Add only the mates you need. Stop once the intended degrees of freedom are controlled: extra mates do not make an assembly more correct, they make revisions brittle and conflicts harder to read.
Mate selection
Pick the mate that matches the joint.
The mate type is a statement about the physical interface. Choosing it deliberately is the difference between an assembly that updates and one that has to be rebuilt.
| Mate | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Concentric | Aligned shafts and holes, bearing bores, fastener stacks |
| Coincident | Touching planar faces, seating surfaces, mounting flanges |
| Distance | Interfaces where a controlled gap or travel must remain |
| Angle | Interfaces where a controlled orientation must remain |
Before release
Inspect the assembly, then keep its identity stable.
Two habits do most of the work: check what actually collides, and never solve a revision by inserting a renamed copy.
Do this
Revise through project history
Replace or revise a component in place. Stable component identity keeps mates, bill-of-material rows, and downstream references connected to the same part.
Run Interference to find overlapping solids, then inspect clearances at moving and manufactured interfaces before anything is released.
Not this
Insert a renamed copy
A duplicate named housing_rev_b is a new component as far as the assembly is concerned. Mates point at the old one, the bill of materials splits, and references quietly go stale.
An exploded view is useful for assembly sequence and communication, but it is a presentation state. It does not change any mate definition.
Interference is a check, not a verdict
Interference detection reports overlapping solids and lets you measure clearances. Fit, tolerance stack, and whether a clearance is adequate for the process remain engineering decisions you make.
Next
Take the assembly to the shop floor.
Manufacturing jobs are built from the same documents, so the plan stays attached to the design.