VIRTUAL SHOPFLOOR. High quality user experience: Instant drag & drop tools. Simple & intuitive to use. Over 20 year proven track

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1 VIRTUAL SHOPFLOOR The complete manufacturing package for the glazing industry High quality user experience: Instant drag & drop tools. Simple & intuitive to use. Over 20 year proven track Industry leading flat pack rates: Fewer mistakes. Lower labour costs. Increased productivity.

2 Virtual Shopfloor Manufacturing Introduction Production Software Technology Ltd (PST) have created Virtual Shopfloor (VS) specifically for the manufacture of conservatories and home improvement products. PST has been designing industry specific software for over 20 years and has used the knowledge gained over this period in authoring vs. Designed with manufacturing in mind, VS contains all the appropriate tools to enable conservatories to be quickly and easily designed, modified and verified before being manufactured. Using a unique on line licensing engine the use of the software can be tightly managed by the distributor without the necessity of distributing expensive dongles or liasing with PST for license allocation. In designing VS, PST firstly identified the following list of goals that would have to be met: Easy to design, create & edit home improvement products. Usable at all stages, sales, survey and manufacture. Try to achieve a 100% roof shape input. Try to achieve a 100% flat pack rate Drag & Drop enabled modifications for speed and ease of use. Constant live checking of buildability and structural rules. Optimisable bar selection from loads to give cheapest roof. Extendable to take care of other product lines i.e. windows, doors etc. Plug and play approach to modules for costing, checking, loading etc. Highly and easily customisable between distributors. Modelling VS can be set up to either support single or multiple models within a single project. In multiple model mode, each model has its own unique settings such that the models can have different profile colours or roof glazing, etc. Roof shapes can be input from a large selection of standard shapes or via a free form editor. Drag & drop tools mean any roof can also be quickly modified to include boundary interruptions such as chimneys, windows and fire walls. There is no limit to the number of alterations that the user can make and there is a full undo/redo available just in case the user makes a mistake. The building is constantly being verified that it can be fully manufactured and that it is structurally viable so removing many costly errors. The rules used to verify the roof are unique to each supplier and any components that become invalid are clearly highlighted to the user along with tips on how to rectify the problems. Production Software Technology Ltd Page 1

3 Virtual Shopfloor Manufacturing The user is allowed to work in either the stylised 2D views or the 3D view, making the expansive range of cut-out and modification tools very simple and easy to use. Modification tools are applied by using a drag and drop approach with valid drop zones being clearly highlighted in the appropriate display window. Costing All aspects of the conservatory can be costed including non modelled items relating to site conditions and additional works. Costing of the model can be on a cost plus basis using the exact cost of the materials used and any labour or via a matrix type price book analysis. The costing module is a pluggable module which can if required be programmed on a user by user basis so giving a great deal of control and flexibility. Manufacturing VS has been written to ensure that the highest flat pack yields can be delivered on all roof shapes. This means that a combination of cutting lists, drawings and numerical saw links can be generated which should ensure that all components can be picked, manufactured and made ready for immediate delivery without the need for any trial erection. Glass sizes can be relied on to be completely accurate even in the cases of box gutter cut-outs and skewed out of line roofs. Typical lists and drawings available for output are: Ancillary lists Cutting lists Packing lists Labels Small part drawings Assembly drawings Unfolding drawings for top caps Spider drawings Mark location drawings Geometry drawings Base plans Licensing The licensing model used by VS has been designed with the intention of making distributors self sufficient in the controlling of who is able to use their version of the software. Production Software Technology Ltd Page 2

4 Virtual Shopfloor Manufacturing Licences are centrally managed by an on-line database and protection is via software licences without the need for any costly dongles. Licenses are enabled on a month by month basis and reactivation is normally achieved by across the Internet communication. PST understands that this can be an issue for some computers and so there is also the possibility of enabling licenses without an Internet connection. This means that if a customer chooses to leave the distributor his version of the software will be operable for no more than an additional month and there are no expensive dongles to try and recover. The license can then be immediately reallocated to another user if required. End user benefits End user benefits associated with using VS are considerable and range from training speeds through to cost savings made by the highest of flat pack rates. The primary benefits are as follows: Easy to use so minimal end user training required. Expansive range of modification tools reducing remodelling. Dynamic checking reduces unforeseen errors. Virtually any roof shape can be input. Ability to move to 100% flat pack rate. Electronic links to saws and flat bed glass cutting machines. Conclusion VS is the software solution for roof manufacture which allows fabricators to reduce errors, improve efficiency and save money. By removing the requirement for trial erection, roofs can be made faster, with fewer man hours, materials and errors. Production Software Technology Ltd Page 3

5 Virtual Shopfloor Features Standard roof shape selection Create complete conservatories directly from a library of roof shape templates; Free form design Unusual roof shapes can be built from scratch using an array of free form Production Software Technology Ltd Page 4

6 Virtual Shopfloor Features Model error identification Build errors are automatically highlighted as the model is built; Model error help on rectifying Information shows how to rectify any problems; Production Software Technology Ltd Page 5

7 Virtual Shopfloor Features Drag & Drop tools in the 3D view, displaying the legal drop points Easily work in 3D by simply dragging modifications onto the model; Defining the size and type of the cut out You are then prompted to fill out the parameters for the modification; Production Software Technology Ltd Page 6

8 Virtual Shopfloor Features The result of applying the cut out. The full cutout is created straight away; User definable survey questions Create fully customisable survey questionnaire forms; Production Software Technology Ltd Page 7

9 Virtual Shopfloor Modelling examples 1. Continuous rafter running down to eaves 2. Skewed roof slope 3. Skewed box gutter cut out 4. Skewed chimney cut out 5. Double stepped box gutter cut out 6. Double dog legged wall bar 7. Asymmetric chimney cut out 8. Dropped valley 9. Fire wall 10. Hipped box gutter cut out Production Software Technology Ltd Page 8

10 Virtual Shopfloor Modelling examples 11. Orangery 12. Raised hipped box gutter 13. Stepped roof space 14. In line ridge and half ridge 15. Chimney cut out in half ridge 16. Fascia fix half ridge 17. In line gable 18. Partial box gutter and soffit 19. Dropped ridge mid slope 20. Fully modeled gable end Production Software Technology Ltd Page 9

11 Virtual Shopfloor Report examples Small part drawing for a hip rafter to an external half ridged corner Small part drawing for a hip rafter onto a box gutter cut out Production Software Technology Ltd Page 10

12 Virtual Shopfloor Report examples Box gutter assembly drawing for a hip cut out Box gutter assembly drawing for a raised back Edwardian Production Software Technology Ltd Page 11

13 Virtual Shopfloor Report examples Dog legged wall bar assembly drawing Spider drawing Production Software Technology Ltd Page 12

14 Virtual Shopfloor Report examples Top cap unfolding for hip rafter at external half ridge corner Top cap unfolding for a hip Production Software Technology Ltd Page 13

15 Virtual Shopfloor Report examples Glass location drawing Production Software Technology Ltd Page 14

16 Virtual Shopfloor Report examples Glass schedule Production Software Technology Ltd Page 15

17 Virtual Shopfloor Report examples Ancillary list Production Software Technology Ltd Page 16

18 Virtual Shopfloor Report examples Cutting list Production Software Technology Ltd Page 17

19 For further information and pricing related to VS, or any other queries, please contact PST. Tel: