The hottest sheet nesting software autonest and Te

Sheet metal nesting software autonest and Tekla structures work together to realize the automation from design to processing

Abstract: enterprises should start to consider how Tekla structures software can be applied to other departments and other project production processes. The perfect combination of autonest software and Tekla structures software will fully automate the process from deepening design to processing and manufacturing, and realize efficient sheet metal parts layout optimization, Control the material cost and enable the enterprise to realize the fine management of manufacturing material cost

key words: autonest Tekla structures sheet nesting and layout material cost control fine management

with the outbreak of the financial crisis, the global economy is in the process of slow recovery. 2009 was followed by the "cost year", and enterprises began to pay more attention to material cost control. For the manufacturing industry, high-quality and efficient products can be more competitive in the market. Today, with the increasing development of information technology, manual construction technology has been left behind by us in the last century, and replaced by digital construction technology. Only by using leading software, equipped with automatic equipment and advanced management concepts can enterprises be invincible in this environment full of competition and crisis

I. Tekla structures users' traditional production process

through the understanding of Tekla structures software users, we found that most of China's Tekla structures software users are only limited to using Tekla structures software to solve the work of deepening the detailed drawing design, while other processes of the whole project do not involve Tekla structures software, It is still achieved manually and with original methods. Users in Europe, America and other countries have realized the use of Tekla structures software in various processes of engineering projects to help them solve problems. This article will explain how to make Tekla structures software play a greater advantage in this link through the production and manufacturing link

production and manufacturing often need three parts, namely, deepening design (drawing source), layout optimization (cutting basis), and processing and manufacturing (equipment cutting). First, let's take a look at the workflow of most domestic steel structure processing enterprises: the deepening design is completed by teklastructures software, and the part drawing is converted into the drawing in AutoCAD format, and then the design department or production department modifies the part drawing in AutoCAD format twice, removing the dimension lines, text annotations, material lists, etc. that are not needed in the layout link, and generally only the part drawing and part number are left; Next, all part graphics are manually classified according to different characteristics, and the layout graphics of blanking and cutting are discharged manually or through the layout function of the processing software equipped with the equipment; Finally, the result of nesting is used for processing, and the processing process is generally completed by hand or numerical control equipment

from the above process, we can clearly see that the manufacturing process only extracts the graphic information and number information of parts from Tekla structures software, and these information is also extracted indirectly. The production and manufacturing links do not directly and effectively use the information output in Tekla structures software, so that the following series of links return to the state of manual operation, which may lead to disorder and out of control in the whole production and manufacturing link, which we call extensive management

II. Whether autonest software and Tekla structures jointly realize the production process under the digital construction technology can automatically input all the data of Tekla structures software in the deepening design link into the nesting and layout link? Can you automatically get the layout result with the highest material utilization rate quickly and accurately? Can we effectively manage and reuse the surplus materials? These problems will be solved by the collaborative work of autonest software and Tekla structures software

1. Tekla structures software inputs autonest software through NC files

autonest software is different from the input format of other processing software. It can not only integrate CAD software, but also integrate NC software

because general processing software can only input AutoCAD format, but AutoCAD format files are only graphic files and cannot contain other characteristic information of parts, such as plate thickness, material, quantity, number, etc. However, the NC file (DSTV format) contains all the information about the shape, size and characteristics of this part, and Tekla structures software is the NC software that can output NC files. Through this file interface, autonest software can automatically transfer the shape, size and characteristics of parts in batches (Figure 1), so these are automatic, which will save a lot of time for early data input, And ensure the accuracy of all input data

Figure 1 automatically transfers to NC file

2 Autonest software automatically distinguishes the plate thickness and material for nesting and grouping

after obtaining the shape, size and characteristic information of the parts in the NC file, autonest software can automatically nest and group all the entered parts according to the parts with different plate thickness and materials, and complete the nesting task of each group of parts, which reduces the work of manually distinguishing the plate thickness and material for grouping, and realizes a variety of thicknesses Parts of various materials can be nested in batches at the same time, so as to improve the degree of automation and work efficiency

Figure 2 layout part information output

3 Autonest software realizes fast and flexible nesting process

autonest software has an intuitive nesting task interface for users. The nesting task is equipped with a part browser to help users select parts and facilitate the rapid inspection of some ultra long parts. In order to increase control, the nesting control system can set and consider a variety of settings, including nesting starting point, arrangement direction, nesting priority, nesting control of single part, common edge, etc. (Figure 3). Autonest software not only supports regular boards, but also supports irregular board layout, nested layout, residual material saving and residual material layout

Figure 3 nesting control

autonest software adopts intelligent combinatorial optimization algorithm, which can quickly obtain the optimal results in just a few seconds for simple or complex projects (Figure 4). For any modification of nesting options in the project, such as the number of parts, the sheet width of the raw material board, etc., the latest nesting results will be automatically obtained after recalculation. Autonest software will really make users feel unparalleled efficiency and convenience

Figure 4 nesting results

4 Autonest realizes project multi part nesting and sheet stock management

for the output of the layout results of the project, autonest software automatically generates the statistics of the project layout parts in Excel format (Fig. 2), as well as the layout graphics in AutoCAD format (Fig. 5) and the layout result report (Fig. 6), and outputs the detailed statistical data of the layout parts, including graphics, area, quantity, cutting distance, etc, Automatically report the material utilization rate, percentage of waste and weight information of each raw material board, so as to realize the card management of nesting projects, track and archive the material usage of each project, make the processing process have a scientific cutting basis, and control the consumption and waste in processing

Figure 5 layout result graph

Figure 6 layout result report

the automatically generated surplus material will be preferentially used in the current project (Figure 7 and figure 8), while the unused surplus material graph will be automatically saved in the surplus material library for use in the next project. The residual material management system will make the residual material always in a controllable and usable state, so as to avoid the residual material eventually becoming waste. At present, most enterprises do not manage the surplus materials in inventory, resulting in low utilization rate of surplus materials and direct economic losses of enterprises, which will be solved by autonest software

Figure 7 surplus material layout

figure 8 surplus material layout

5 Summary

through the above introduction, we can see that autonest software is a computer-aided nesting software that optimizes the use of sheet metal. It is widely used in all production and manufacturing industries (shipbuilding industry, heavy engineering, sheet metal manufacturing, etc.), and can meet the requirements of customers' fine management, such as material sizing procurement, rapid estimation of materials, workshop cutting process planning and other functions. Its powerful and flexible automatic nesting function will greatly reduce manual operation time and maximize the use of materials under different manufacturing conditions. It can output detailed information such as parts, sheet metal, weight and cutting process reports, and is integrated into any NC software and CAD software at the same time

if enterprises can apply the cooperation of autonest software and teklastructures software in the nesting link from deepening design to processing and manufacturing, everything will become automated. All data of Tekla structures software will be automatically input into the nesting and layout link, and the nesting results with the highest material utilization rate will be obtained quickly and accurately, as well as the management and reuse of surplus materials. This not only makes the function of Tekla structures software extended and applied to the processing and manufacturing links, but also enables enterprises to truly realize the automation from deepening design to processing and manufacturing

III. connect autonest software with AutoCAD or Excel software to realize nesting optimization

1 Connection between autonest software and AutoCAD software

some enterprises do not use the software that can output NC data format such as Tekla st adjusting the gap between steel ball and valve seat at about 0.5mm structures in some projects, or as the processing and manufacturing unit of the project, they only get AutoCAD format drawings from the deepening design unit, but without NC data files, can they not use autonest software? The answer is No. Obviously, the connection between autonest software and teklastructures software is optimal, but it can also be connected with AutoCAD software

the regular board or irregular board graphics defined in the drawings of AutoCAD software can be saved one by one in the parts library where the equipment protection cost is high due to autonest software (Fig. 9), and the plate thickness, material, part number and other information of parts can be defined one by one in the definition options. The effect of NC data input can be achieved through the input of graphic information and characteristic information, The nesting result and nesting optimization function will be the same

Figure 9 input part graphics in AutoCAD format

2 Connection between autonest software and Excel software

if the nesting work starts after the project budget link, and does not include complete drawings such as unfair economic structure, improper investment and consumption ratio, and unclear industrial policies, is it impossible to use autonest software? The answer is equally negative

the interface between autonest software and excel enables the excel table of bill of materials provided by the budget department to be directly imported into autonest software (Figure 10). Autonest software will automatically group the parts according to the part material and thickness information entered in the excel table, and then quickly get the optimal nesting result

Figure 10 input the part information in Excel format

IV. autonest software realizes the win-win of enterprises in the customer market and material supply in a scientific way. Only high-quality equipment can have a high-value market

1 Customer market

(1) for the owner

there is material supply from the owner in the current steel structure project, the enterprise needs to provide a detailed layout drawing as the basis for material supply. Most projects are often not in the initial stage of the project