msaine wrote:You totally miss the point. S3D is one of the pay for slicers, one would assume it is designed for a production environment. In a production environment you need control over processes to be repeatable. People are careless, that is one of the reasons computers are so great, they don't forget. Imagine you are building a part that takes 12 Hours to print and you discover a flaw that requires a different setting in the setup. You fix it and save a new process and or factory file and all is great. Then another member of the development team goes to print the part again and neglects (or is not told) to load the updated factory file. Bingo you have another bad part and it's 12 hours later on a short schedule. All because the software cannot be set to load the latest files from a production repository.
Now do you understand the real problem? Yes you can save files but you cannot rely on the power of computers to automatically load the correct parameters because the current software doesn't do it. People are sloppy and will forget!
That is a workflow/quality issue. Who ever on the production floor that finds a flaw should track down and delete any "non conforming" files, or otherwise isolate them so they aren't used. The flaw is fixed then updated files posted to production. In an ISO shop that is actually a procedure to follow.
I found process files to be kind of neat, but not needed, however I wouldn't want the feature removed. When I go to slice a new part I look in my library of similar factory files with the same type of plastic, ABS, PETG, etc. Open factory file and save as a new factory file, then import the new parts. Change any settings specific to that part, adjust supports if needed, orient, step and repeat etc. It is just what works for me. The process and all my settings are stored in the factory file so it is all I have a library of. I've found all my ABS prints about the same even from different manufacturers and with the same filament diameter of 1.73 average. I consider almost all of my ABS factory files pretty much interchangeable unless they are really old. I just use the newest ABS factory file and go from there.
If someone wanted to make a custom process for every filament type, color, manufacturer and it improves their quality and repeat ability, then go for it. I think it is a little too much trouble for most things though.