Change the coordinate system on an imported part to something logical

Most of the time we receive parts from customers that have the coordinate system off in space someplace, or the Z is not facing up like it would be in the die, or it is just not where we’d like it to be on the part. (Often I want to change this origin so that the Z is facing up and in a logical place for doing forming simulation / forming analysis.) There is an easy way to change this to put the coordinate system exactly where we want it and I’ve been using this method for the past 10 years.

Create a sketch someplace on the part with that new sketch being on the plane of where you want the new XY plane to be. Draw one line whose endpoint is where you want the new origin of the part to be, and extend that line in the direction that you want for the positive X direction. Then draw another line perpendicular to the first one, with the start point where you want the new origin of the part, and draw this line in the positive Y direction. Then create a new origin on the part (Insert, Reference Geometry, Coordinate System…) by selecting the intersection point of where you want the new origin point and the correct X and Y lines for their desired direction.

Now start the process of saving the part as a Parasolid file, but before clicking Save, click on Options and then at the bottom of the Export Options window select the new coordinate system you just created from the Output coordinate system drop down list. Save the Parasolid file and then open the newly saved Parasolid file and your coordinate system is now in a logical place.