“Hey Engineering Data Specialist Man, when working in SolidWorks Enterprise PDM how often should I check in a file?”

Well little Johnny, how much can you afford? Let’s do a little math: Let’s say the burden rate in your company for engineering is $100/hour. (Burden rate isn’t how much you make, but how much it costs for your company to keep you from quitting your job and moving in with Celine Dion. Salary, sick time, vacation, insurance, electricity, computers, not to mention the company Lexus they let you drive around in.)

Now imagine your computer’s hard drive dies. -Deadski. No data is coming off that newly created doorstop! If you weren’t checking in your file, you have no backups. So one day not checking in your file could cost the company $800, go a week and your company loses $4,000.

This is just lost time, we aren’t even considering the fact that others in your design team aren’t kept up to date with the latest designs.

If your IT department complains of all the versions that are created with each check in, show them the cold storage option, and remind them with every week of lost productivity $4000 could buy them a whole new server!