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Integrating Design to Fabrication Workflows for Industrial Projects Geoff Butt, BA, CET Lead Civil Designer, Gemini Engineered Solutions Adam Travis Sr. Civil Designer, Gemini Engineered Solutions Join us on Twitter: #AU2014
Class summary The fast-paced Design-Build part of the oil and gas industry has typically used two types of design software: one for producing civil engineering 3D models & drawings and a different one for steel fabrication 3D models & drawings This session will present a mid-sized engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) company s experience-based case for using only Advance Steel to successfully produce both sets of drawings.
Class summary The presentation will describe: The business case for the decision The transition process Lessons learned Recommended path for success We ll conclude with about 5-10 minutes of questions and answers.
Key learning objectives At the end of this class, you will be able to: Understand the business case for using Advance Steel to produce both civil engineering and steel fabrication drawings from the same model. Know the transitional steps for a civil drafting department to become a successful contributor in a Design-Build company. Use valuable lessons learned to leap frog straight to success in integrating drafting with fabrication. Measure success.
Gemini Corporation GEMINI Corporation GEMINI Engineering Solutions LP (GES) GEMINI Field Solutions LP (GFS) GEMINI Environmental Solutions LTD (GEN)
Corporate Overview Public company: GKX-V Operating for more than 32 years Professional services firm Engineering, Fabrication, Construction & Sustaining Projects, Land, Environmental, Regulatory, Reclamation & Remediation Currently employ over 800 people
Gemini Head office in Calgary, Alberta Satellite engineering office in Sherwood Park, Alberta Fabrication facilities in Ponoka & Fort Saskatchewan Project management office in Fort St. John, BC
Gemini Midsize oil and gas EPCM Midstream client base Transportation, storage, and wholesale marketers of crude or refined petroleum and gas products Primarily Western Canada Some projects into the US part of the Bakken Formation (Montana and the Dakotas).
Bakken Formation
Civil Design Department general role and deliverables Work with other disciplines, mainly Plant Layout & Piping (PL&P) and Electrical to produce engineering drawings. Our civil engineering deliverables include earthworks/roadworks, piling and foundations, concrete, steel, and buildings. Work with our steel fabrication shops to produce steel fabrication drawings. We usually receive Engineering Issued For Construction (IFC) drawings from our own department, or from other Engineering consultants. Then we produce steel Issued For Fabrication (IFF) shop drawings. Distinction between engineering and fabrication drawings Sincere apologies to those of you who already know!
Main distinction between engineering and fabrication drawings Engineering drawings: direct the fabricator in all design aspects, materials, coatings, specifications, and governing codes. specify delegated connection engineering loading. provide just enough dimensions for the fabricator (minimize duplicated dimensions). packages vary greatly in the amount of detail provided. almost never contain Mark Numbers. identify temporary members. identify erection and assembly constraints.
Engineering drawings: identify temporary members.
Engineering drawings: identify erection and assembly constraints.
Fabrication drawings: always contain Mark Numbers. set includes erection, assembly, single parts, and Bill Of Materials (BOM). show every dimension (includes tolerances, and adjust to field measurements). should stand alone. The fabrication personnel should not have to refer back to the engineering drawings. (This is more important on large projects, but the rule is sometimes broken on small projects to save drafting duplication and cost). package can include numerical control (NC) files that are used by a machine s software to cut steel.
PythonX
Fabrication drawings: always contain Mark Numbers. set includes erection, assembly, single parts, and Bill Of Materials (BOM). show every dimension (includes tolerances, and adjusted to field measurements). should stand alone. The fabrication personnel should not have to refer back to the engineering drawings. (This is more important on large projects, but the rule is sometimes broken on small projects to save drafting duplication and cost). package can include numerical control (NC) files that are used by a machine s software to cut steel. alert the Engineer Of Record (EOR) of any proposed deviation from their specified design. The clouded note usually states Approver confirm or Approver provide. The Canadian translation of that is Approver please confirm or Approver please provide.
Business Case for why we use Advance Steel to produce both engineering and steel fabrication models and drawings
is primarily based on improvements in: Schedule Quality Cost
Business Case for Advance Steel SCHEDULE improvements: We produce one model to produce both engineering and fabrication drawings. The advantages are that we: can advance the model to a fabrication level detail during the engineering modeling stage when the designers have any kind of downtime. can engage our fabrication checkers to check the model earlier. do not have to take time to export the engineering model and import into the fabrication software. don t have to wait for the IFC drawings bid period, bids review and selection, and award. Sometimes we can actually start slightly before IFC is issued as long as the Engineering model is deemed to be complete and released to the fab team.
Business Case for Advance Steel QUALITY is better because we: lower any chance of a discrepancy between the engineering model and the fabrication model, because it s the same model. have standardized the 3 types of fabrication drawings and BOMs using drawing templates, so that each designer s drawings have the same presentation. Library include standard assemblies and settings. Erection drawings are currently built by the designers, however assembly and single part drawings are automatically generated. spend less time checking the drawings and more time making sure that the model is perfectly correct. The checkers know which drawing items are automatically generated, and therefore should be correct if the model is correct.
Business Case for Advance Steel COST is lower because we: do not have to create 2 models. do not have to take time to export the engineering model and import into the fabrication software. have improved the automated standardization. spend less time checking.
Business Case for Advance Steel
Transitioning the Civil Design Department to the new workflow
Transitioning the Civil Design Department to the new workflow Brief Description of our previous workflow Brief Description of the new workflow Working with other disciplines Working with our two remote fabrication shops Designer training Creating Advance Steel 3D blocks Customizing and automating drawing production
Transitioning the Civil Design Department to the new workflow Brief Description of our previous workflow: Produced the model in CADWorx and then IFC drawings also in CADWorx Recreated the model in Advance Steel and then produced IFF drawings also in Advance Steel BOMs required substantial checking time We did not have a beam profiler
Transitioning the Civil Design Department to the new workflow Brief Description of the new workflow: Produce engineering model and drawings using Advance Steel. Make a copy of the same model to produce fabrication drawings using Advance Steel. Automatically generate BOMs and nc files for the fab shop
Transitioning the Civil Design Department to the new workflow Working with other disciplines: The other disciplines are currently using CADWorx. Our Advance Steel Model is xreffed in to the full model.
Transitioning the Civil Design Department to the new workflow Working with our two remote fabrication shops: Fab shop representatives are invited to model reviews to verify constructability and cost efficiency. Fabrication drawings are sent through our Document Control to the fab shops. nc files are sent up to the Fort Saskatchewan shop to feed the PythonX robotic computer numerical control (CNC) plasma cutting system. Cut steel is also assembled and welded there, or trucked to our Ponoka fab shop. We have one designer on site in Fort Saskatchewan who: takes care of drafting standard products (ex. pipe shoes) adds heat numbers to the nc files (scribed on to the individual steel parts when required) trouble shoots any nc file issues at the PythonX.
PythonX
Transitioning the Civil Design Department to the new workflow Designer training: We used a 30 hour Advance Steel basic course put on by Graitec (www.graitec.com). It is offered online 3 hours/day over 10 days, which worked best for most users. They had Advance Steel actual projects to work on for the remainder of the day. We have also tried using Graitec s trainer at Gemini over 3 full days. Users found this more difficult to absorb. We had a half day course for the checkers using the Advance Steel read-only version. We selected one designer for advanced training in order to be able to customize and create templates. This consisted of 2 full days at Gemini. More courses are available, but the above is what we used.
Transitioning the Civil Design Department to the new workflow Customizing and automating drawing production: Creating a block library of Advance Steel 3D objects Using templates to automate drawing production Erection drawing example Assembly drawing example Single Part drawing example BOM example
Creating a block library of Advance Steel 3D objects Block models are thoroughly checked for future use.
Example of automated drawing production:
Customizing and automating drawing production
Customizing and automating drawing production Erection drawing example:
Customizing and automating drawing production Assembly drawing example:
Customizing and automating drawing production Single part drawing example:
Customizing and automating drawing production Bill Of Materials example:
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned: Advance Steel PythonX From the fabrication shops Designer training
Lessons Learned Advance Steel: Research the available software options and get first-hand accounts of the implementation process. Train and transition a spearhead team first in order to work through any issues. Put your best customizer through advanced training. Begin customization of blocks and templates. When the workflow and drafting system is proven to be more efficient than the current system, then train the remainder of the operators. Put click by click instructions in a CAD Manual. Keep on top of any Advance Steel fixes and versions. Unfortunately it takes time to switch all the software versions over to 2015, especially if some of them are not previously tested for compatibility by Autodesk.
Lessons Learned PythonX: See the CNC machine in action and know what issues crop up. Visit a fab shop that is using the brand of CNC machine you want, and that has its own fab drafting department. Ask the manager, machine operator, and designer(s) what issues they had to face and how they overcame them. Train each designer regarding what each line of nc code does. If you cannot resolve a file, send it to the machine s help desk. In our case, Burlington Automation We get back redmarked files with an email explanation of what was wrong.
Lessons Learned PythonX: See the CNC machine in action and know what issues crop up. Visit a fab shop that is using the brand of CNC machine you want, and that has its own fab drafting department. Ask the manager, machine operator, and designer(s) what issues they had to face and how they overcame them. Train each designer regarding what each line of nc code does. If you cannot resolve a file, send it to the machine s help desk; in our case, Burlington Automation. We get back redmarked files with an explanation of what was wrong. Document every problem and its resolution. Start a file structure for storing repeatable standard products (ex. pipe shoes). Categorize by product, and by client for client-specific requirements.
Lessons Learned From the fabrication shops: Know their workflow and drawing requirements. Every shop is different; for example: Crane capacity affects size of assembly that can be flipped for welding from above. Rat holes can be drafted and nc sent to the PythonX, or cut at the fab shop. What do they prefer? Visit the shop floor and ask what they like and do not like about the fab drawings. Where they have a choice of handrail type, what connections are the most costeffective and best? For example they prefer flat plate midrail versus an angle. Advance Steel renumbers Mark Numbers (ex. for re-issue of revised items). This can cause the fab shop a lot of confusion and extra work. Lock down any part numbers that have been issued.
Measuring success
If you have integrated the new workflow correctly, what does that success look like?
Measuring success Satisfied internal and external clients Schedule Quality Cost Designers morale
Measuring success Satisfied internal and external clients: Usually on time, error-free, and under budget does the trick! Let it be known up front that feedback is requested Track Lessons Learned along the way and conduct a Lessons Learned review at the end. Action any improvements needed for the next project(s). Communicate any improvements learned for the next project(s) with the fab shops and the client as needed.
Measuring success Schedule: Start an IFF drawing deliverables schedule before the IFC engineering drawings are even provided, and keep it up to date. Communicate any IFC potential date slippage with all concerned.
Measuring success Quality: Drafting memos are distributed to all so that not just one designer learns. New items get put into the Civil Department s CAD Manual. Quality concerns are also discussed for resolution at monthly civil designers meetings. Regular checkers meeting to resolve any differences in checkers redmarks. We escalate any problem issues Important to have an escalation path that every designer knows Our own CAD Support Advance Steel issues go to our in-house guru, then to Graitec and Autodesk PythonX issues go to Burlington Automation (24 hr hotline, or email for less time-sensitive)
Measuring success Cost: We track all fab project drafting hours with kg of steel per hour of drafting. Steel can be categorized into light, medium, heavy, and extra heavy.
Measuring success Cost: We keep standard estimating spreadsheets with typical hours per unit (ex. a tank base). We multiply that by both a complexity factor and quantity of tank base types.
Measuring success Designers morale: Standardization and bug removal (or work-arounds) is key.
Measuring success Designers morale: Must communicate expectations Show estimates to the designers and obtain agreement that they are achievable. The above results in quick communication when anything slows down a designer. Must communicate bigger picture and how designers are an integral part of success Project drivers are important (ex. Schedule versus Quality versus Cost) Communicate the why for any change in priorities. Tracking productivity gives everyone a goal and purpose for improving. Provides proof of success.
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