Anyone who still removes screws, holes, and internal assemblies manually from a SolidWorks model before sending it to a supplier is paying a price—in terms of labor hours, the risk of errors, and tied-up engineering capacity. This process can be automated. And there’s no good reason to wait.
The problem runs deeper than the file size
The 434 MB file isn’t the real problem. The problem is the process behind it: An engineer spends hours manually cleaning up an export model. He selects parts, deletes screws, and considers for each component whether it is externally visible or internal. That isn’t design work—it’s data maintenance.
For Schwingshandl – an Austrian manufacturer of custom machinery for lifting and conveying technology, with assemblies comprising up to 8,000 individual parts – this was exactly what their daily routine entailed: manually removing screws and internal components from STEP exports, assembly by assembly, a process that was error-prone and time-consuming.
What Changes When You Automate
| Before – Manual | After – Lino® Simplify |
|---|---|
| Select and delete part by part | Configured once, executed automatically |
| No reproducible result | Reproducible, logged in a PDF report |
| Know-how not preserved in export | Feature history removed → no reverse engineering |
| 434 MB – barely transferable | 7,4 MB – ready to send in minutes |
Lino® Simplify runs directly within the SolidWorks® CAD system – no separate tool, no file format conversion. The engineer configures the simplification rules once and saves them as an LSS file. All subsequent assemblies are processed automatically, from sketches through features and components to the final assembly.
Facts, no claims
97 %
Max. reduction of default settings:
10 MB → 0.3 MB
92 %
Hot wash cycle:
9.2 → 0.7 MB in 3 min
98 %
Schwingshandl overall project:
434 → 7.4 MB
These values are not the result of compression, but rather of the deliberate removal of irrelevant geometry: toolbox components, holes, fillets, and weld surfaces. External dimensions remain unchanged. What is removed is unnecessary for the recipient—and, for reasons of trade secret protection, is none of their business.
Why this approach works, while others don’t
There are alternatives: manually cleaning up models, exporting only the outer shells, or providing customers with raw geometry. All three have the same flaw—they don’t scale or produce usable output. Lino® Simplify solves the scaling problem because configuration and process are separated: the rule is defined once, and the process can run as often as needed. That’s the difference between a workaround and a method.
Conclusion
3D model simplification is not a niche concern for those optimizing file sizes. It is a critical process for anyone who exchanges 3D data, plans layouts, or needs to protect intellectual property. Anyone who does this manually lacks a systematic approach—they have a gap in their process.
