My Top 3 New Microvellum Features

Over the last couple of years, Microvellum has been rolling out updates with some great features that have improved workflows and opened up a lot of new possibilities for users. In this post, I’m going to summarize some of my favorite new features:

1. Modify Work Order Interface
For many years, users have been begging for the ability to edit materials from within a work order, but instead we had been forced to go back and make our changes, and then reprocess the work order. This was a nightmare for efficiency, especially if you were anything like me, and constantly finding mistakes or things that needed to be changed, forcing you to reprocess a work order many times over just to get it all right!

But alas! Microvellum has heard the screeches of engineers the world over, and given us the Modify Work Order Interface. From within any work order, you can now access this from the General menu, and you are presented with a beautiful interface that allows you to edit all of the materials, or even add new materials!

In addition to being able to edit, add or subtract materials, you can edit the properties of the Work Order, including Work Order Number, Status, Estimate, Comments, and even the Batches.

You can read all of the documentation from Microvellum’s open Knowledge Base here: Modify Work Order Interface

2. Report Groups
Another new feature that greatly increases efficiency is batch printing using Report Groups. This feature is not as new, being made available as of build 15.6.2201, however is is one that I am still extremely pumped about having!

Prior to this feature, when printing reports, users had to individually select each report to send to printer, every time you processed a work order. Even worse, if you needed to save the report to a specific file type instead of just sending to a printer, you would have to open each individual report, and then save from there. This took forever, as each report could take time to open, load and render all of the data, and then the time to make the selections nd enter a file name, etc.

Now with Report Groups, this can all be automated, and set to run automatically when processing your work orders. You can even setup multiple report groups and trigger specific reports to only run based on the Processing Stations you have selected, so if you have a CNC report, you can have it run automatically only when you’ve processed to your CNC Processing Stations.

Additional features allow you to specify the output location for the entire Report Group, or by report, as well as to create dynamic file names for the reports.

You can read all of the documentation on this feature from Microvellum’s open Knowledge Base here: Report Groups (Overview)

3. Parts List Review
This feature is a hidden gem that I accidentally stumbled upon recently, but it is phenomenal.

Previously, to get a consolidated list of parts from your products to verify materials, edgebanding, part sizes, etc. you would have to create a work order, and process to get the parts list. This was a very inefficient and time consuming way to find out something is wrong with your products or parts!

Now, there is a feature in the Product List that you can use to select multiple products, and then right click, and select Parts List Review, and you get get a full consolidated list of parts, that you can sort, group, and filter to verify everything in those products as it will be when processing.

partslistreview.png

That’s my list for now, I hope you learned something new from it. If you’ve got other new features you think should have been on this list, post them below in the comments!

Moving earth and Change Management

Moving earth is hard work.

I've got this hill in my backyard, with a retaining wall and stone steps to get up it. The contractor who built it brought in tractors and equipment to break the res clay and roots to move the dirt just where it needed to be. It was extremely difficult and time consuming work (or so it seemed from what I could see through my window).

But when it rains, something extremely frustrating happens. As the rains pours down, and reaches peak volume, and the water begins sheeting across that hill, that same dirt that was labored intensely to break through with machinery just to free, suddenly begins washing away with the water. It washes over those stone steps, and down, collecting in each one exactly where we don't want it.

Each time it rains I watch, and observe just where the water is going, and how it gets there. Because that water will always make it down the hill, across my yard and to the sewer, no matter what I do. But if I'm patient and and able to learn from the water, I can direct the flow to a path that won't wash dirt down the stairs, and still allows the water to make it to it's destination.

Sometimes I think change management is like this. I try to stubbornly use my shovel and work alone to move the 'dirt' of legacy processes, shaping it myself just how I want it. But when the rainfall comes of the work needing to be done, that change gets eroded away, often back to how it was, where the water wants it to stay.

Or, if I spend time observing, where is the work coming from, and where is it going, what path is it taking to get there; perhaps I'll discover an alternate path, away from the ‘stairs’, but still leading where it needs to go. Then let the ‘water’ of the people doing the work move the 'dirt' of the old processes.

It sure does save my back at least.

Top 5 Reasons Why I Use Microvellum

I’ve been actively using Microvellum Toolbox, and their various other applications for the better part of the last decade, and while I have researched many alternative solutions over the years, I still firmly believe it is the best solution for my team of 40+ Millwork Engineers. That is not to say that it is without flaws or shortcomings, or that other packages don’t have any advantages over it, however for my money, and my employer’s money, it is the best singular solution, and here are my top 5 reasons why.

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Everyone needs a trash can

While driving to work this morning I passed a nice looking bench with a matching trash can next to it along the side walk. This wasn't at a place of business, or even a park. It was simply a public bench and trash can.

My first thought was "I wonder who empties that trash can?". Then I thought, "it's probably the same entity that would be picking up any trash along the road."  

Then it occurred to me, a trash can is not an ideal solution, it's a necessary solution. The most ideal solution would be for everyone to throw their garbage directly into the landfill. This, however, is not realistic. As a result, we have services, and government funded entities created, as a provision, to fill the void and to ensure that all of our waste ends up in the right place.

If you have children, you know what it is like to constantly be collecting garbage from the ground around your house, in your car, under furniture. It becomes a mission to teach your toddler to put all of their garbage into the trash can, any trash can, and you provide a lot of them. This is not because anyone finds it ideal to have to empty multiple little trash cans from every room and bathroom around your house on a weekly, or possibly daily basis, however it is far easier than collecting trash from every last spot your toddler decided to drop them.

This same concept applies to your work within your organization. If you find you are constantly having to hunt for information, or your inbox is filled with little bits of it in varying formats and degrees of importance, create a "trash can". Your organization needs designated drop locations for important things. The great thing is you can sub-divide this however you need. Just like having a trash can, next to a recycle bin, you can create multiple drop locations.

Once you do this, you will find that individuals in your organization will appreciate the structure and knowing they have a defined path to what they seek, as well as a place to return to for updates and additional information. You will find it streamlines your workflow in triaging all of this information and putting it to work.

Now these can take many forms, from a literal "inbox" on a desk, to a form tied to a spreadsheet, or a shared email address. Anyway you do it, you must do four things for it to be successful.

Define it - you must define it's purpose and the workflow associated with it.

Name it - you must give it a name for everyone in your organization to call it.

 Sell it - you must sell it's name and purpose to your organization and get their buy in.

Use it - you must set the example and use it accordingly, and not work around it.

 With these four steps, you can implement any number of solutions to streamline the processes in your organization.

 

Dynamic Global List from LookUpTables

One of the things that I find to be a pain is that once you add your new pull to the LookUpTablePullType, you then still have to go to the Global List_Pull_Types_Inch or List_Pull_Types_Metric and add that pull to that list, exactly as you formatted the name in the LookUpTable, before you can select your new pull in the Project Wizard or in your product.

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Microvellum Best Practices: Working in the Spreadsheet

I find it helpful to try to develop some rules of thumb, or best practices over time as I work and learn from my mistakes. Eventually I find myself circling back to one of these rules and second guessing the reason I ever felt the need for it, so in an effort to better document the rules as well as the reasoning for their existence, I am going to make an effort to post them in a series of posts.

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Microvellum Formula Editor & Builder

Below is an overview of some of the features and tools available through the spreadsheet formula editor and builder in Microvellum Toolbox. It is a very powerful and useful tool once you understand some of its quirks. I recommend all users become familiar with this and incorporate it into your workflow, as it really speeds up the process of creating and editing complex formulas.

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Introduction to the RangeToString() Function in Microvellum

The basic function of RangeToString() is to join several cell values into one text string, delimited by a specified character. In plain English, it allows us to take a range of cells, and join their values into a single string of text, but separated by a character of our choosing.

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Formatting Trick for PLINE Vector Lists

I use a lot of parametric PLINE tokens in die walls and other custom products, and I often will have pretty lengthy vector lists comprised of a lot of formulas and variables. This can get pretty cumbersome, even drilling into it with the formula editor. I just figured out a way that is working well for me to organize and simplify this process a little better that also makes going back and editing the vector list a lot easier.

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Scrap Wood Hamper

When my wife and I first got married, we had one of those 3 part laundry organizers that we used to divide up our dirty laundry. It was a cheaper one with a plastic pipe type frame, and mesh bags for the divided hamper sections. It was very practical and functional having our laundry pre-sorted before washing, but it eventually succumbed to our daily use (and also doubling as a cat nap hammock), and we had to trash it.

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