Atek Steel Solutions Integration

Setup Tekla PowerFab/Atek Steel Solutions Integration

See also Mult and nest materials with ATek Steel Solutions in Tekla PowerFab Product Guide.

Set up in Tekla PowerFab

To enable the Tekla PowerFab/Steel Solutions integration, in Tekla PowerFab, go to Maintenance→Integration Settings → Atek Steel Solutions.

In the settings window, select Enable Atek Steel Solutions.

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Permissions

You can set up a user in Tekla PowerFab specifically for Steel Solutions, in either of these ways:

• as a Tekla PowerFab user with a 'local' connection to PowerFab:
  Tekla PowerFab must be installed on the same computer as Steel Solutions with a connection through a local port (the default is 3306)
• as an External User
  Tekla PowerFab installation is not required.
  Steel Solutions connects through a remote port (the default is 9154).

The permissions required are Allow Tekla PowerFab Login and the permissions selected in the examples in Define permissions for external multing and nesting integrations. 

Setup in Steel Solutions

1. In Steel Solutions, click Settings then GENERAL.

2. Go to the Tekla PowerFab tab at the top right.

3. Select Allow feedback, and fill out the information in the Tekla PowerFab Login info area.

Local Tekla PowerFab Path is the directory for your local PowerFab installation. This is not required for the recommended Remote connection.

The other settings are there so that Steel Solutions can connect to your PowerFab server. 

4. Click the Test Connection button to make sure it's set up correctly.

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Sending a Work Order

A work order is a request for nesting and/or multing that includes the CNC files to be cut, as well as the available and orderable stock on which to nest or mult. To have Steel Solutions perform the nest, export your Combining run to Steel Solutions.

1. To create this work order from PowerFab, open Combining from the Combining, Estimating, Production Control, Requisition, or Purchase Order modules.

2. Click Combine on the Module ribbon tab menu. 

3. Click Nest then click Optimizations on the bottom left of the Combining Run Filters dialog box..

4. Set the Plate Nesting Software on the Plate Nesting Settings tab to SteelSolutions.

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When the Combining Run Results opens, all parts show as Not Combined.

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5. Save the combining run.

6. To export these parts and the stock available for combining to Steel Solutions, choose Combining Run-->Export Parts for Nesting-->Export to Steel Solutions.

The following is an example workflow in Steel Solutions illustrating the basics of creating a nest.

In Steel Solutions, under Integration → Tekla PowerFab,  select Load Files.

When prompted select and open the .xml file created by Tekla PowerFab.

Once the import is complete, select the Nesting tab.

Plates to cut are displayed on the left. The available inventory is on the right.

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Click the one of the Auto Nest  buttons.

Set the Nesting Options as desired and click Auto-Nest.

Note: Steel Solutions has automatically generated a crop line to create a remnant to send back to Tekla PowerFab.

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To save the project go to File → Save Project.

Select a Path and enter a Project Name for the export.

To send to Tekla PowerFab, go back to Integration → Tekla PowerFab and select Send all nest data to Tekla PowerFab.

Back in TeklaPowerFab, close and reopen your combining run.

If everything ran, it should be empty.