What is the Makersite Add-on in Autodesk?

The Makersite Add-on is a direct link to the Makersite platform from Fusion 360.

The core of Makersite is its digital twin technology. By directly connecting to your product's Bill Of Materials (BOM), Makersite's AI maps your product data against more than 140 external databases connected to our system. This generates an automated, live, digital twin of your products and their supply chains.

The power of Makersite facilitates agile product development, with full visibility of your product's impact, from both an environmental & cost perspective.

Today, supply chain and material databases sit in silos. Made for and used mostly by experts in specific fields. As the world’s most extensive supply chain database, Makersite brings these databases together into one simple-to-use tool, linked directly to your 3D design models & design development process.

Our 3rd party data contains information about product costing, sustainability, compliance, and more. It is what makes your comprehensive product data analysis possible.

Link to additional instructions on the Makersite application: https://cad01.support.makersite.io/

"The plugin supports single authentication using Autodesk credentials only. Make sure you log in with the same credentials which you used for login in Fusion 360."

Getting started with the Makersite Add-on for Fusion 360

Step 1:

Launch Fusion 360, load a model then navigate to the Utilities Tab in the Design Section. 

Step 2:

Click on the Connect button. 

Step 3: 

A palette will then open. 

A Sign In page will be shown the first time the tool is accessed. 

Note: After signing in the first time, if the user closes and reopens the plugin, no sign-in will be required and the user will be directed to the Send BOM Page. 

Step 4:

Sign In using the same credentials as used for Fusion 360. 

Note: If sign-in credentials for any other Autodesk account are used, the user will be able to load a BOM in the Makersite Tool, however, the History and Heatmap functions will not be available. 

Step 5: 

On successful sign in, the Send BOM Page will load. 

Step 6:

Click on the Send new BOM button. 

Select a BOM file. 

Step 6.1:

Once the BOM file has successfully loaded, you will be redirected to the Response Page, where the results for the connected BOM will be shown. 

Step 6.2:

If an error occurs, an error message will appear describing the problem. 

Step 7:

On the Response Page, to apply a Replacement material, click on a drop-down arrow in the Replacement column, in the Environmental Calculation tab. 

Select an alternative material from the drop-down. 

Once selected, the CO2 Savings(%) column will update to reflect the change. The change will also be seen in the Total Saving Card on the left. 

Step 8:

To view the costing details of the BOM, switch to the Cost tab, located above the results list. 

Step 9:

To see a Heatmap for environment or costing: Select the cube icon located to the right of the tab headings, above the results list. 

Step 10: 

To see the History of loaded BOMs: Select See History in the toolbar, above the tab headings.  

Step 11:

To Export the results to CSV file: Select Export in the toolbar, above the tab headings.  

Step 12:

If any changes are made to the Fusion 360 model, the Makersite Tool must be updated. 

To update the BOM, select Update from source in the toolbar, above the tab headings. 

This will update the results to reflect any changes made to the model. 

Step 13: 

To access help for the Makersite tool for Fusion 360, open the options menu (3 dots icon), in the toolbar above the tab headings, and select Help from the list. 

This will open the Makersite tool for the Fusion 360 FAQ website. 

Help via email is also available using the Support Email Address, please see the Makersite tool for Fusion 360 Support Process article for further information. 

Step 14:

To find out more about the Makersite tool for Fusion 360, open the options menu (3 dots icon), in the toolbar above the tab headings, and select About from the list.  

Step 15:

To provide feedback or report an issue please open the options menu (3 dots icon), in the toolbar above the tab headings, and select Feedback from the list.

Install:
The installer that ran when you downloaded this app/plug-in from Autodesk App Store, will start installing the app/plug-in.
                                                             OR
Simply double-click the downloaded installer to install the app/plugin.

Unload:
        1. You can unload the add-in without uninstalling it by clicking the "Stop" button when the add-in is selected in the list box on the "Add-Ins" tab of the "Scripts and Add-Ins" dialog.
        2. Unchecking "Run on Startup" causes the add-in not to be loaded in future sessions of Fusion 360.

Uninstall:
To uninstall this plug-in, exit the Autodesk product if you are currently running it. Simply rerun the installer and select the "Uninstall" button.
                                                                              OR 
You can uninstall it from 'Control Panel/Programs and Features' (Windows 10/11), just as you would uninstall any other application from your system.

Note: After Installation restart Fusion 360 to see the changes.

Is there any size limit for BOMs that can be handled by Makersite Addon-on?

The Makersite plugin can handle a maximum BOM size of 150 components. 

The Makersite cloud platform can handle BOMs of any size, from a few tens of lines to tens of thousands.

Can I have multiple versions of my results?

The Makersite plugin stores up to 3 versions in the History View.

The Makersite cloud platform has full version control for both your data and our background databases. That means that you can always compare updated results to the original to understand the cause of the differences.

Link to more information: https://cad01.support.makersite.io/