Introduction

Activate the Cast Planning Module.

We are going to look at the 3D Cast Planning Detailed view.

Filter out all of your sandwich walls from the 1st floor on the model view.

If possible (not necessary if you do not have an extra screen), undock the Cast Planner and open it to a second screen next to your Project Manager. It should look like the below picture.

Note: You can undock any tab by dragging the header away from the Project Manager.

The basic functions of the Cast Planning Detailed view are listed below:

1. Division. If you are using the StruSoft trials database then use the StruSoft factory 1, Sandwich Panels

2. Table, Bed or Pallete. A table is usually referred to vertical elements and beam moulds. A bed is usually used for flooring (HC, prestressed slabs, slabs, etc.) and a palette is referred to a circulation (carousel) factory's tables.

3. Auto Bed Management. The main function that allows us to plan multiple elements on the tables/beds.

4. Date. This is where we set the date for the division. The tables below will show the elements that are planned for this specific day.

5. Snapshot function. Creates an image of your tables/beds that you can print out and forward to your factory.

6. Drag and Drop button. It also shows you how many of the selected elements from the model are plannable.

7. Settings (of the detailed View). This will be explained further below.

8. This is the actual open space that we cast elements on. A table is not only a mould. It is the space where we put the moulds on and create our elements. We can either use it for 1 element or multiple elements with tolerance (shuttering) in between.

Auto Bed Management

We are going filter the elements by planned Production date in the Element Ids tab, select a few, and then find the corresponding date in the Detailed view.

Now we press the button “Auto Bed Management” and the following window pops up.

Element Alignment on Cast: How the elements populate the table.  We can use both the upper and lower parts (or both of them together), or we can use the unrestricted and fill out as much space as possible.

Multi Cast: Very important and always needs to be activated, if we want to plan all selected elements. This ensures that the elements we have selected will be cast also in the following days if the bed space is filled out.

Specific Number of Elements per Cast Unit: This is self-explanatory. You can select the maximum elements that you want to cast on every table.

Cast order: We want our elements to be cast on. It can be dependent on the dimensions or the erection sequence of the elements.

Cast time:  If we select more than 1 day, then the beds will be blocked (not available) for the days that we will select for the element to be produced.

Select/Deselect tables/beds: Select or deselect the table that you want your selected elements to be cast on.

We need to mark the Multi-cast box, select the tables that we want to use and press "Start".

The elements are planned in the detailed view ss shown below.

It is important to notice the status change for the elements that are "planned for production".

The detailed view can be manipulated in the same way as the model view can. You can rotate the beds and move the view in any direction.

Detailed View Settings

Open the settings and the following window will pop up.

There are multiple sub-windows that are responsible for different visibility options.

If you would like to see the dimensions of the elements (1) on the table or see 1 table for multiple days ahead (2), then adjust the following settings.

You can always try different settings before you find the best set-up for you. The detailed view settings are saved locally on your computer and are personalised for you.

Extra Functionality

1. A table/bed can be selected only by selecting the header of the table (in the detailed view).

2.: Select a table and right-click to see the different options. You can rearrange your table or print out your element labels and open your PDF drawings (if you have some). You can also "Edit..." the elements, which means that you can quickly move the whole table to another day or division.

If you press "Edit..." the following window will pop up.

3: You can select elements directly from the model and drag and drop them to a specific table. If you select too many that do not fit in one table then only some of the elements will be planned.

Therefore, the Auto Bed Management with the possibility to "Multi Cast" is proposed.

4. If you select a table and then right-click, you can set the availability. Occupied for Maintenance, Occupied for Element or Vacant. That feature helps a lot when many elements need more than 1 day to be produced!

Continue to the next part of the training here.