Introducing Onshape to External Collaborators

Theo_R

Introducing Onshape to others can be challenging. Especially for external collaborators and vendors. Change is hard!

What has worked for you?
We've encountered some responses along the lines of
1. We don't want to break it (delete something... not an issue)
2. This is unfamiliar, it will take too long to learn, I'd better not try it.

I've loved the book Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
Also this summary - https://agileleanlife.com/switch-how-to-implement-change/

Was wondering what is working for others out there?

@Evan_Reese you made a great youtube intro...

EvanReese

Here's the video which is a 6.5 minute overview on tools and navigation for people who don't use Onshape regularly (and may not even use CAD regularly). It covers how people with view-only access can use:

• basic navigation
• exploded views
• section views
• Bill of Materials
• the measure tool
• draft analysis
• mass properties

It's mostly about the "how" and not the more emotional "why" parts that the article above is talking about. I'd love to hear strategies on that part. We've had some clients who love having access to an assembly, and check it all the time for updates, and we've had others who are always asking us for things they could check themselves, because the value or purpose of a shared Onshape document never clicked for them. I can't blame them either. It's daunting to have to learn a new software when all you want to do is check some measurements real quick.

john_mcclary

Change is hard, I've been slowly pushing Onshape into our company and the shop over the last few years.

Even though models are interacted with very similar to eDrawings from the shop's perspective. They just can't come to terms with something new.

Only way I have been successful in integrating Onshape was to trick people into using it without realizing it.

I started deleting Adobe Reader from peoples computer and setting Edge as the default viewer. (I'm the I.T. guy so I can get away with that )
Then I started uploading all the active job PDFs onto a single managed Onshape document.
Then I dragged a link to each PDF and put that link in the job folder on our server and it appears as any other PDF except with an extra "Onshape" border...

Same with eDrawings, people want to browse into a folder on the network to open an eDrawing, but when it's an Onshape job, I'm not about to translate it into solidworks and then into eDrawings.
So I do the same trick of creating a shortcut link in that folder and call it eDrawings... I still get a bunch of flak about "how do I measure/section' etc. even though there are gigantic buttons on the bottom on the screen.

I also created everyone's account for them and logged them into their computers and saved the password, so they don't have to worry about logging in.

Theo_R

@john_mcclary  
Not exactly dragging them kicking and screaming... but dragging them gently. It's very subtle and very clever.

Showing a clear path forward certainly helps! Great tips.

john_mcclary

Theo_R said:

@john_mcclary  
Not exactly dragging them kicking and screaming... but dragging them gently. It's very subtle and very clever.

Showing a clear path forward certainly helps! Great tips.

tim_hess427

One issue I've run into with external users is not understanding permissions. I sent some stuff to one vendor, and they created a new document (which was public because they had a free account) to send some updated models that had changes made outside of onshape. 

EvanReese

@john_mcclary
we need more of this kind of everyday heroism.

EvanReese

tim_hess427 said:

One issue I've run into with external users is not understanding permissions. I sent some stuff to one vendor, and they created a new document (which was public because they had a free account) to send some updated models that had changes made outside of onshape. 

oh bummer! couldn't you prevent them from being able to copy it in the first place?

tim_hess427

I was having them make some changes with a lattice design tool. So, I needed them to download and then re-upload. 

I was pretty new to onshape myself, so I didn't think to emphasize the need to re-upload to the same document. Live and learn!