Tekla PowerFab 2023 release notes

Tekla PowerFab
2023
Tekla PowerFab Tekla PowerFab GO

Tekla PowerFab 2023 release notes

Welcome to Tekla PowerFab 2023!

Tekla PowerFab introduces functionalities that help you manage changes in your projects efficiently to minimize the chance of something going wrong. You will also have better insights into your workflows. Supporting sustainability goals, we have added improved ways of tracking the origin of raw materials.

New time-saving functionalities are now also available in the mobile tool Tekla PowerFab Go.

The Product Guides have also undergone some major changes to provide more a consistent structure and content.

Manage changes to a production control job

The new change management functionality allows you to easily see and understand the impact of changes when importing a new bill of materials into a production control job.

If you are uncertain of a particular change, you can save it for later so that the relevant person can review and implement the change. Then the associated drawings are placed on hold to prevent any further work being carried out while the change is pending.

Changes that would have previously been ignored, are now added to the revision queue so that the necessary action can be taken to make the change.

For more information, see Manage changes to a production control job

Add inventory to load

You can now add items to shipment directly from inventory.

In doing so, the inventory is taken from stock, and the weight of the materials is included in the overall weight of the load. The shipping ticket report then displays the additional inventory items.

The ability to add inventory to load has been added to both Tekla PowerFab and Tekla PowerFab Go. For more information, see:

Quick access to dashboards

You can now launch the production dashboard and the shipping calendar from the desktop version of Tekla PowerFab. This eliminates the need to log into Tekla PowerFab Go to view and manage production productivity and to manage the shipping schedule.

You can navigate and customize the dashboards as if you were using Tekla PowerFab Go in a browser. To access other functionalities of Tekla PowerFab Go, you have to open Tekla PowerFab Go in a browser.

For more information, see View the production dashboard.

Set mill of origin for material

To achieve greater material traceability, you can define individual mill locations in the address book.

When material is received from a purchase order or added to inventory, you can specify the mill of origin for each item. This will also be a key element of sustainability reporting in the future.

You can utilize the mill of origin both in the desktop version of Tekla PowerFab and in Tekla PowerFab Go.

Tekla PowerFab Office

First, you need to identify the firms that should be classed as a mill, and define their locations. In the Address Book, if a firm is designated as a Supplier in the firm type, there is an additional Is Mill checkbox on the Addresses tab. If selected, the firm is classed as a mill and the address registered as a mill location.

Within the same firm, it is possible to have some addresses that are mills and others that are not, as mills often have service centers and distribution centers that do not produce new material. You can also set a default mill location.

Next, you must select the Mill of Origin checkbox in Maintenance > Purchase Orders > Company Standards to show the Mill of Origin checkbox in the Receive dialog box in Purchasing.

When you have defined the mill locations, these can be applied to materials, both when receiving from a purchase order and when adding or editing inventory.

In the Receive dialog box in Purchasing, you find a Mill of Origin drop-down list, which lists all suppliers in the address book that have at least one address that has the Is Mill checkbox selected.

If the selected supplier in the Mill of Origin list has more than one address with the Is Mill checkbox selected, a second drop-down list appears to allow you to select the appropriate mill location.

Once the material is received, the inventory record is updated to display the mill of origin, which can be viewed by including the Mill of Origin column on the Inventory grid.

For existing inventory, the mill of origin value can be updated, either by enabling the Mill of Origin input field, or via the global edit window.

Tekla PowerFab Go

In Tekla PowerFab Go, you can select the appropriate mill of origin when receiving material from a purchase order, both for individual lines and using batch edit.

It is possible to filter inventory by the Mill of Origin field, and it can also be displayed as a column throughout the Inventory area.

For more information, see:

Swap bars in Tekla PowerFab Go

You can now swap bars (and sheets) on a cut list to another suitable bar. This is particularly useful when the intended bar either cannot be found, has failed quality control, or is simply at the bottom of a stack of bars.

You can swap material from both the Pick List and the Cut Lists view in Tekla PowerFab Go. This allows both the inventory foreman and the machine operator to update the list of bars to be used before they are cut.

Unlike the existing exchange bar tool when processing an individual cut, with the swap bar function, the new bar can have a different length and grade, but only if it still satisfies the nest.

In the Cut Lists view, you can click the Swap Material icon against a bar or sheet to open the Swap Material view.

At the top of the view, you can see the allocated bar on the cut list, and the list at the bottom of the view contains all suitable alternatives.

The search field allows you to search for a bar or sheet using values like Location, Supplier, PO #, and Heat #. This is particularly useful when the list of suitable alternatives is extensive.

The list of suitable alternatives that can fulfill the cut list includes any bar or sheet that is in inventory (not on order) and allocated to the same job, or is unreserved. This includes both longer and shorter bars. Any properties of the suitable alternatives that are different from the allocated bar are highlighted and are in bold italic text.

In the example above, the allocated bar is 10 meters long, but the list of suitable alternatives lists an 8 meter bar, as this would be able to produce all of parts due to be cut from the allocated bar.

When the Use Grade Substitutions checkbox is selected, the list of suitable alternatives will also include bars of a higher grade, determined by the Substitutions for grades defined in Maintenance > Shapes/Grades/Sizes for the given shape.

In the example below, the allocated bar is grade S355JR, but the list of suitable alternatives lists a bar with a grade S355J2, as this is specified as a higher quality.

To complete the swap, you must select the checkbox alongside the bar or sheet to be used, ensure the Qty to swap is set correctly, and click Swap Material. This returns you to the Cut Lists view, which now reflects the new bar or sheet.

The swap material icon can also be found on the Pick List interface for a cut list when you first click on the View icon alongside the corresponding material. From here, the process is the same as described above.

The same functionality was introduced in the 2022i desktop version of Tekla PowerFab.

For more information, see View cut lists and process items.

View next station and route in Tekla PowerFab Go

You now have now have greater visibility of a part's or assembly's journey through the fabrication process.

You can enable a new Next Station column to show in the Cut Lists and Production Tracking views. This column indicates the next station where the item needs to go for its next operation. If the TFS station is the last station on the item's route, it will display the station after the main assembly's TFS station.

In Production Tracking, you can see the next station in both the Add and Add Batch views.

The view that shows the next station for single items when accessed via Add:

The view that shows the next station for multiple items when accessed via Add Batch:

A new Status icon has been added in the Assemblies and Inspections views. This allows you to see the item's full route and current progress.

When you click the Status icon in the Assemblies view, it opens a pop-up view that displays the overall route progress.

For more information, see View and modify production tracking statuses.

Timer for piece tracking in Tekla PowerFab Go

In Tekla PowerFab Go, you can mark a part or assembly as completed and enter the time that it took to complete it. You can use a timer that you can start, pause, resume, or finish, and use the accumulated time as the labor time to complete a station for one or several assemblies.

When you use the timer, you do not have to record or remember a start time for each assembly. The timer is helpful also when you have to take a pauses, as you can just log off and resume the timer when you log in again.

You can either use a general clock or a clock for each assembly or part in the process.

Each timer is independent from each other, which means that clocks can be started at different times for individual parts. If you prefer a batch timer, it can also be split to run for different parts or assemblies.

When you tap Stop, the clock displays the options to resume, reset, or finish the time.

If you use the batch timer, you need to select the assemblies that were fabricated and then tap Finish. This divides the time equally by quantity between the assemblies.

For more information, see View and modify production tracking statuses

Other changes

As of 2023 SP11, in Trimble Connect Settings, it is now possible to restrict the regions that communicates with. This is helpful when a firewall is in use that has geoblocking in place that prevents communication with one or more of those regions.

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