If you have just installed a new version of Inventor, or perhaps you have installed Inventor CAM and found that the add in is missing. This can be caused by a few different factors, and in this blog, I would like to take you through a few tips to resolve this.

The second and most common reason for the add in not showing is that you have installed the base software after the add in. This happens because as part of the installation of the add in, your machine will automatically pick up the related products installed on your machine and only install the add ins for those products. Thereby leaving the add ins for any future products left uninstalled as they would have nothing to attach to.

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Within the Add in Manager, you can load and unload any Add Ins, as well as changing their individual settings. If your add in is listed here, you can load it from within this list and it will display within Inventor.

The term “chips,” when used in the context of manufacturing, refers to excess material that’s created as a byproduct from a manufacturing machine or process. When performing a manufacturing process on a workpiece, chips are often created as a byproduct. Using a lathe to cut a metal workpiece, for instance, will create chips in the form of metal shavings. Even sanding a wooden workpiece will create chips in the form of sawdust. While metal shavings are obviously very different than sawdust, they are both considered chips because they are a byproduct of manufacturing processes.

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This should solve most causes of the add in missing. If you are still having issues with this, please contact either your account manager or our support desk and we can assist you with this.

Unfortunately, chips don’t serve any real function or purpose — they are simply a byproduct of manufacturing processes. With that said, manufacturing companies can oftentimes recycle their chips rather than discarding them as waste. Metal chips, whether made of steel, aluminum, copper or any other metal, can be melted down for use in other manufacturing processes. Depending on how the chips were created, though, they may require decontamination beforehand. If metal chips are covered in lubricant or oil, they may be placed in a centrifuge where the contaminant liquid or liquids is separated from the metal.

If the add in is still not showing despite being installed, there is an Add In Manager within Inventor, this can be access through the Tools tab, under the Options panel.

This can quickly be rectified by navigating to Programs and Features within the Control Panel and scrolling to the product that is missing (in this example Inventor CAM Ultimate) and right click on it to select Uninstall/Change.

There are three primary classifications of chips, as described by American engineer Dr. Norman Franz, who conducted several studies on chips in the manufacturing industry during the mid-1900s. According to Franz, most chips fall under one of the three following classifications:

There are even companies that purchase chips from manufacturing factories and machine shops. Known as scrap collectors, they typically sell their purchased chips to recycling companies. Using the services of a scrap collector allows manufacturing companies to recoup some of the money spent on their raw materials.

You can then run through a Repair of the install. If this does not work, try Reinstall. A Repair is generally quicker and will keep all your setup, a Reinstall will run through the uninstall and then reinstall the software.

Also known as swarf, chips are a common byproduct of many manufacturing processes. Whether a manufacturing company is cutting, turning, knurling or sanding a workpiece, it will probably produce chips. But what are these chips exactly, and what purpose (if any) do they serve?

The first reason may be that the add in has not properly installed on your machine, the best way to check this would be to search for it in your Programs and Features, Control Panel>Programs>Programs and Features. If it is not listed here, you may need to reinstall it. Also ensure that the correct version of the software is installed which matches your installation of Inventor.