Through IMPACT Cast Planning module, elements can be assigned to cast units (beds, tables or pallets). The configuration of the cast module is done in the Resource Manager and includes settings in:

• Working Calendar
• Factories
• Divisions
• Cast Units
• Status

Simple example

We have created a simple example, this example illustrated the basic functionality of the cast planning module.

Figure 1, concrete elements, marked ready for production.

Casting an element can be divided into three steps:

1. Selecting the element/elements that we wish to put on a cast unit.
2. Positioning the elements, optimizing the area used for casting.
3. Marking the cast unit (bed, table or pallet) as Produced.
   • This also changes the status type of the elements on that cast unit, from planned to produced.

Cast Planning Access Rights

Selecting elements to cast

Selecting elements for cast can be done both in the Project Manager and in the Resource Manager.

There are two main differences when working with one or the other:

1. In the Project Manager, marking an element can be done both in the model view and in the element ID grid. But only from one project at a time.
2. In the Resource Manager, marking an element can be done only in the element ID grid. However, it can be done for several projects at the same time.

Positioning the elements on cast

Now, we are in the cast module. The element has been selected for a cast, either from the Project Manager or the Resource Manager.

There are two different views where we can insert the element:

• Calendar view

Figure 2, Cast planning - calendar view

Also, double-clicking on a cast in the calendar view will send the user to the detailed view for that cast.

• Detailed view

Figure 3, Cast planning - detailed view

We may now rotate and modify the position of the elements so that an optimum fit and area usage can be achieved.

There is also a third view, the Cast view, where we can mark our tables and see the elements that are on that table, please see figure 4.

Figure 4, Cast planning - Cast view

In this view, A filter may be utilized to get an overview of the cast planning, please see figure 5.

Figure 5, Cast planning - Cast view

By modifying the filter, the user may show the desired casts.

When planning an element the table checks so that the element fits on the bed. The dimensions that are checked are length, width & height. 

These can be seen in the calendar view.

These are set up in the settings menu.

Marking the cast unit as Produced

When the cast is done and the elements are ready to be either delivered or sent to storage, the cast unit should be marked as Produced. This can be accomplished in all three views of the cast module:

• Calendar view
• Detailed view
• Cast view (don't forget to use the filter)

If the user wishes the elements that have been positioned on a cast unit to change status, this needs to be set in the Resource Manager settings.

Exporting from the cast planning module

Exports from the cast planning module can be done directly on the cast unit/units. The following exports are available:

• Pallet Queue
• Unitechnik
• BVBS
• PXML
• STL

Element Control System

A user can add controls to elements from Cast Planning, to be able to add a control the element must be planned for production. As displayed below you can see an icon for going to the controls.

Figure 6, Opening element control system from calendar

When the user clicks on the icon a new window will appear. From the you can add controls to the element.

Figure 7, Opening the dialog for adding new controls

This will yet again open a new window where controls can be selected and added to the element, these controls have been defined under settings in Resource Manager.

Figure 8, Adding a new control to an element

Once done the controls will be added. As can be seen in the image below, each controls have sub-controls and images attached to them. There are two kinds of sub controls, simple and measure.

The measured controls may also have images attached to them. The status of each control tells the user if the control is check or not. If using the status machine the status of an element will change to planned and approved or produced and approved depending on what kind of status type the control has.

Figure 9, Viewing and editing a control attached to an element

There are three kinds of status types, No status, Planned and Approved, Produced and Approved. In the calendar, in Cast you can turn on Element Colors to see what elements have passed their checks and which haven't. 

Inspection Images are also available for every control. This allows the user to attach images as proof or guarantee that the element has been inspected correctly before checking the control. Here it's possible to upload images or view and delete existing images. To be able to directly upload Inspection Images with a timestamp this is available with Impact Go.

Figure 10, Viewing and editing a control attached to an element, Inspection Images

Element Control Dialog Rules

In order to make the element control dialog (see figure 10 above) user friendly a set of rules are applied on simple/measurement check tabs.

Color Rules

The following color rules are applied:

1. If the tab is empty a gray circular image is shown next to the tab name.
2. If the tab contains items that are not approved a red circular image is shown next to the tab name.
3. If all the tab items are approved a green circular image is shown next to the tab name. 

Activation Rules

The following tab activation rules are applied when selecting a control on the left side list:    

1. The tab that contains items is activated. 
2. If both tabs contain items then the tab with items that are still not approved (red) is activated. 

Cast Calendar Settings

The cast calendar settings dialog is accessed from the Cast Planning/Cast Calendar view.

Figure 11, Enabling colors

Now the cell in the calendar will change color if they to red if they have planned/produced elements where at least one of the elements have a control of the type "planned and approved" that has not been passed.

If there are elements that are produced but have a control of the type "produced and approved" that haven't passed the cell will also be red.

However, if the controls have passed then the cell will be green.

Figure 12, Viewing the calender with control colors

Add controls for multiple elements in the calendar view

This feature enables the user to select multiple elements at the same time in the calendar view. The user can then add element controls for the selected elements, see figure 12.

Figure 13, Resource Manager - Cast Planning, Calendar View - Adding element control

After selecting <Add Element Control...>, available element controls for the selected elements will be displayed, see figure 13.

Figure 14, Add element control dialogue, four-element controls selected

The user may then select the desired controls that are to be used for the selected elements.

Editing controls for multiple cast elements

It is possible to edit element controls of multiple elements planned on one or more casts.

Editing controls for multiple casts

Element Strand Patterns on Standard Bed

Element strand patterns on a standard bed with strand type bed can now be displayed, even if the strand pattern has not been specified directly.

Figure 15, Element Strand Pattern

Cast planning basics, and how to work with it

Cast Filter

The different options in the filter will be described below:

Production Date: Loads the Cast Units between the chosen dates. 

Cast Number: Loads the Cast unit with the chosen Cast Number. 

Shift: Loads only the chosen shift.

Cast Unit: Loads the chosen Cast Units or All of them.

Status: Loads the Planned\Produced or both Cast Units.

Division: Loads the Cast Units according to the chosen Division.

Cast Unit: The available Cast Units are Table, Pallet, and Bed. Each one can be chosen and loaded. 

Delete Cast: Deleting a planned cast unit can be done, deleting a produced cast unit can not be done and will make a warning message appear. 

Right-clicking and editing a cast show a dialog with several fields.

Below the edit dialog can be seen. 

When editing a Planned Cast Unit, one of the fields is Shift. 

More Shifts can be added in Resource Manager: Settings\Cast Units -> Change the Shift number -> Restart Resource Manager or Project Manager.

Note: Name in the cast units is the same as Cast Unit in cast planning. Another thing to focus on is being in the correct Production Division.

A Produced Cast Unit can not be edited.

Moving a cast when the space is insufficient will show a message as seen below. 

Set Status on the left side of the cast planning allows the user to switch the status between Planned and Produced. 

On the right side, there are four different Set Status functions that can be selected. These are:

• Set Status
• Set Status (BVBS)
• Set Status (PXML)
• Set Status (Bending Schedule)

How the Status is shown is also different. On the left side, a color and a text are shown. The text could be either Produced or Planned.

On the right side, a number and a color are shown.

Set Status (BVBS) 

For the above to work, BVBS Settings in Resource Manager need to be filled.

With all the settings filled in, an export to BVBS can be done. 

Note: If the source file does not exist a message will show. This is needed for the export to be done. To solve this any file can be created in the correct path and renamed exactly as the message is stating. In the example below a file in the path could be created by the user with the name "34-5654.abs"

If the export is not successful a message will show up and show that. The reason could be that the element is already exported. To read the full message the error log can be opened. Below is an example of how a message like this can look. The "0 (1)" means that zero exports have been done out of one.

If the export is successful then another message will show. The message will also include that for example "1 (1)", which means that one out of one export is completed. 

Set Status (PXML)

For the above to work, PXML Settings in Resource Manager need to be filled.

With all the settings filled in, an export to PXML can be done.

Note: If the source file does not exist a message will show. This is needed for the export to be done. To solve this, any file can be created in the correct path and renamed exactly as the message is stating. (See the BVBS image)

If the export is not successful a message will show up and show that. The reason could be that the element is already exported. To read the full message the error log can be opened. Below is an example of how a message like this can look. The "0 (1)" means that zero exports have been done out of one.

Set Status Bending Schedule

The changes are visible in the Bending Schedule column.

Print allows the user to print several reports related to the cast.

To be able to print, some settings need to be set up. To read about this, click here

There is also a print option on the right side with three reports to choose from as seen in the picture below. 

These reports can be downloaded from the wiki page by clicking here.

Element Control

Controls for elements can be added from the Cast Planning. To be able to add a control, the element must be planned for production. 

The information of a cast can be copied and pasted for example to an excel sheet. Note, multiple casts can be selected at once when copying.

There are two different copy functions when right-clicking, one is Copy with Header and as the name implies, the header followed by the information will be copied. 

The other function is called Copy and it will only take the information from the cast.

Show Element Properties shows information about the element.

Open Drawings

You have to possibility to open drawings as dwg and pdf.

Which program that should open dwg-drawings is set up in server connect. 

If there is no CAD software chosen then an error message appears.

If the CAD software is chosen then the drawing will be open with for example AutoCAD or BricsCAD.

For the PDF you can choose between the internal and external viewer.

Queue

Queue allows the user to move the tables with three alternatives.

An example of how this can be used is shown below.
Note: For this to work the table must be filled fully.

Detailed view example with a form slab strand

1. Create a new Division in Resource Manager\ Settings\ Divisions.
   
2. Go to Cast Units in Settings and choose your previously created Division. Add a new Cast Unit and add Strands to it. Tick the “Used” checkboxes.
   
3. Go to Planning\ Cast Planning \ Detailed View and load a project that includes a Form Slab element.
   
4. Choose the created Division in Cast Planning. Go to Settings in Cast Planning\Detailed view. Tick all the checkboxes for the headers Strands and Girders.
   
5. Select a bed in the Detailed View and click on Auto Bed Management (form slab element). 
   
6. As seen in the picture below, the strands are now shown.
   
7. The strands can be edited. 
   
8. When the box "Used" is ticked, the strand is activated and the line showing the strand is green. When the box "Used"  is unticked, the strand is deactivated and the line showing the strand is grey.
   

Open Drawing - IFC (Released 2023-Q4)

In Cast Planning it is possible to open an IFC drawing. See the figure below.

Open Drawing - IFC Configurations

The following configuration is required in Resource Manager/Settings/Open Drawings

An option from the red rectangle is required, see the figure below.

Open Drawing - IFC Path

The path of the IFC file is as follows:

<Project path> from Server Connect (see the figure below) +

<Standard> + <Project> +  "\components\elements\" + <ElementMark>.IFC

Here is an example

C:\IMPACT\Project\CC01\REVIT_IFC\components\elements\SANDWICH.IFC

Open Drawing - IFC External Viewer

As an external IFC viewer the following free version is tested:

BIM Vision

Cast Detailed View/Insert Selected Elements

This function is available for pallet system.

Start with selecting unplanned element(s), right click on cast tag then press Insert Selected Element(s)...

In the dialog select Before or After and the reference element from the list of elements already planned on the cast unit.

The following settings are required.

The column Insert Count Limit contains the max element count allowed after the selected element.

Export Unitechnik file for Welding Machine (Q2/2024)

A new unitechnik export option called "To Unitechnik - Welding Machine" have been added to the cast exports. This export allows the user to move the generated unitechnik files from the design folder to the specified machine folder. 

Unitechnik Settings - Cast Welding Machine

It should be configured to what folder the Unitechnik file should be moved into. This is done under "Automation" where it is also possible to get the file renamed when moved from the design folder.

Save File Location - Sets where the file should be saved.

Fixed Path - Sets the path for where the files should be moved to if "Fixed Path" is used in "Save File Location".

SubFolder - Sets the name of the SubFolder if the SubFolder is used in "Save File Location"

Renaming of Files - Sets if the file should be renamed when moved.

Factory Unitechnik Code

In the Factories/Locations is it possible to add a Unitechnik Code. This Unitechnik code is used if the "Save File Location" is set to "Fixed Path + Factory Unitechnik Code". 

This "Unitechnik code" will define where the Unitechik files will be moved to if "Save File Location" is set to "Fixed Path + Factory Unitechnik Code". There will be created a folder for each Unitechnik code if the "Fixed Path folder". Each Unitechnik file will then be placed in the folder based on the factory where it is produced.

Unitechnik file changes

The following data is added in the unitechnik file when moved to the folder:

• Factory name (SLABDATE -> INFO 1 in the Unitechnik File).
• Planned division (SLABDATE -> INFO 2 in the Unitechnik File).
• Planned cast (SLABDATE -> INFO 3 in the Unitechnik File).
• Planned cast date (SLABDATE -> INFO 4 in the Unitechnik File).