Example: Organizer for steel - manage bolts

Tekla Structures
2021
Tekla Structures

Example: Organizer for steel - manage bolts

You can use Organizer to quickly get the quantities of the bolts required for a project. In addition to the raw quantities, Object Browser lets you group and sub-total by bolt standard, diameter, and length as well as by where the bolt will be used (shop or site).

  1. To open Organizer, click Manage on the ribbon and then click Organizer.
  2. Click in the upper-right corner of Organizer to open the Settings .
  3. Click Template to create a new template. Enter Bolt summary as the template name, select the Blank template option, and click Create to create the new template.
  4. Next, select BOLT from the Group list, and from the available properties in the list drag the following properties to the Columns:
    • TYPE - The bolt standard (for example, 7990, A325, F10T).

    • DIAMETER - The nominal diameter of the bolt.

    • LENGTH - The nominal length of the bolt.

    • SITE_WORKSHOP - Where the bolt is to be used.

    • NUMBER - The number of bolts in the bolt group.

    Set the In sum row show option to - for DIAMETER and LENGTH so that the result is not shown in the sum row.

    You can also add CONTENTTYPE, which shows the type of the object that is being reported in a row. This is useful for checking the results and identifying when something other than a bolt is being reported.

  5. Click Modify to save your changes and close the Settings dialog box.
  6. Select some bolts (and optionally other objects as well) in the model.
  7. Click to reload the view in Object Browser to ensure that the latest information is shown and verify that the bolt information is correctly reported. At this point, you could edit your Bolt summary template further to add additional information, such as the main part phase, or create a custom property to calculate and report the weight of the bolts, nuts, and washers in the bolt group.

    Next, you can use Object Browser to summarize the bolt quantities in your selection.

  8. Click in Object Browser and select Group.
    1. Drag the Type column to the grouping row.

      You now have a summary of the different types of bolts used in your selection.

    2. Drag the Diameter column and then the Length column to the right side of Type in the grouping row.

      Object Browser now gives you a breakdown of the number of bolts first by type, then by diameter, and then by length.

    You could now also drag the SITE_WORKSHOP column at the end of the grouping row to further break down the bolts by location, or drag the column to the beginning of the grouping row to first break down the bolts by location, then by type, diameter, and length. Other properties could also be used to group and summarize the bolts.

  9. Customize the template and grouping to suit your needs and click Modify to save the template. Now you can use the grouping of your template to categorize all the bolts in the model.
  10. Next, create a new custom category, right-click the category and select Properties. Enter Bolts as the name of the category.
  11. Define the properties of the category as follows:
    1. Ensure that the Include the highest assembly level in the model check box is not selected.
    2. Under Automated object content, click in the rule box for categories and filters, and select the Object type - Bolt filter from the list of filters.

      Note that the Object type – Bolt filter selects all bolt group objects including the ones that create only bolt holes as well as studs.

    3. Ensure that the Update category at synchronization check box is selected.
    4. Select the Bolt summary property template from the Property template list.
    5. Click Modify.

    All bolt objects in the model are now added to the category. In Object Browser, the properties of the bolts are shown using the Bolt summary template.

    You can now automatically categorize all the bolts in the model using the same breakdown as in the bolt summary.

  12. Right-click the Bolts category and select Create automated subcategories.
  13. Click Grouping in Object Browser.
  14. Click Modify.

You now have a Bolts category which is broken down into a tree based on the grouping in your Bolt summary template. If any changes are made to the model, you can simply synchronize this category to automatically update the breakdown. New bolts will be found and added to the correct subcategories, or a new subcategory will be created if necessary. For example, if a new bolt standard or diameter is added to the model, a new subcategory for that bolt standard or diameter will automatically be created in the tree when you synchronize the Bolt category with the model.

You could now export the Bolt summary property template, as well as the Bolts category for use in other projects.

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