MEAM.Design - SolidWorks - Subassemblies
Whenever you're working with more than a few parts, it's often convenient to group sets of parts into subassemblies, which can then be assembled together into a master assembly file (and you can even assemble assemblies that contain assemblies - there's really no restriction here).
Inserting a subassembly - The process for inserting a subassembly into an assembly is exactly the same as inserting a part. Begin by clicking on the Insert Component button, select the subassembly (either from the box of open files, or by clicking on the Browse.. button), then click somewhere in the model window to drop the subassembly. Defining mates between the subassembly and the main assembly is also handled in the same way as you define part mates.
Making Subassemblies Movable - By default, SolidWorks treats your subassemblies as rigid parts; however, we often want to be able to allow the various parts within a subassembly to move relative to one another. To change this behavior, right click on the subassembly in the model tree, and select Component Properties. In the dialog box that appears, find the small section labelled Solve as, and change the setting from rigid to flexible. Now you should be able to create intra-subassembly movement.