How to Create an Inseparable Assembly (And Why You’d Want To)

Let’s say you purchased a component from a vendor that you want to include in your model. The component could be something simple, like a hex bolt. Or it could be something way more complex, like an entire engine. The purchased component isn’t expected to undergo frequent changes, but you still need to include it, reference it, place it, show/hide it, etc. in the larger assembly.

And, you don’t want it to bog down your assembly. This is especially true if your purchased component is something like a more complex engine.

An inseparable assembly is new to Creo 8. It allows you to manage multi-component assemblies more efficiently as a single file. You might have thousands of parts and subassemblies in your model. Without the support of inseparable assemblies, your assembly could become cluttered and slow.

To make an assembly (e.g., the purchased engine) inseparable:

1. Right-click the assembly in the Model Tree and select Make Inseparable. The Make Inseparable dialog box opens. All components are selected to be embedded by default.
2. If desired, click Advanced to select components to remove from the operation or uniquely embed. The Make Inseparable dialog box opens.
3. If you don't want to embed a component from the assembly, select Do not Embed in the Action column.

Then, you can perform actions like these on the inseparable assembly (the engine):

• Embed: Copies and embeds the selected components and their sub-components into their owner assembly.
• Extract: Extracts the component to a new standalone model that replaces the embedded component in the assembly.
• Make Inseparable: Embeds the lower-level components into the selected assembly.
• Make Separable: Extracts the embedded components from the selected assembly, causing the model (i.e., the engine) to become a new separate file and business objects.
• Create Embedded: Creates a new embedded component in the assembly.

Here’s a short walk-through showing how it all works:

To learn more about capabilities in Creo like inseparable assemblies, watch the replay of the Creo 8 Usability and Productivity Conference.