Title: Automation of technical documentation creation
Title: Apokrifi – Autodesk Revit to PREFAB
Client: BG Reklam - Barajevo, Srbija
Client: Apokrifi - Niš, Serbia
Project Duration (days): 90
Project Duration (days): 90
Project Description: POS industry, engineering, POS products and POS materials as well as advertising are the foundations of BG Reklam's corporate business. Since the beginning of 2001, the company has been constantly striving to perfect the production process from concept to store. By uniting management, creativity and production, the company achieves full efficiency and keeps up with the times and the accelerated introduction of new technologies and materials.
In order to increase productivity, BG Reklam wanted to automate the process of creating technical documentation for the production of parts from sheet material.
Project Description: The company Apokrifi from Nis, Serbia, produces project documentation for the PREFAB industry in the Netherlands and Belgium.
"Our biggest challenge was the desire to be no longer dependent on large customers, to find new projects, and to transform and adapt to improved production in factories," says Dušan Milošević, co-owner of Apokrifi.
To find new customers, a new team was formed and considerable funds were invested, being aware of the risk that the investment might not be returned.
But the investment was justified, and so the idea was born - AUTODESK REVIT in PREFAB!
"The motive was not to depend on just one customer, but we wanted other engineers and offices from the Netherlands to start using Autodesk REVIT in PREFAB when they see the benefits it offers."
Especially when you add Autodesk DYNAMO, which changes repetitive movements and saves time."
During this time, the other team worked on more projects, mostly single-family homes in the Netherlands, averaging 100 per year.
Project Challenge: POS industry, engineering, POS products and POS materials as well as advertising are the foundations of BG Reklam's corporate business. Since the beginning of 2001, the company has been constantly striving to perfect the production process from concept to store. By uniting management, creativity and production, the company achieves full efficiency and keeps up with the times and the accelerated introduction of new technologies and materials.
In order to increase productivity, BG Reklam wanted to automate the process of creating technical documentation for the production of parts from sheet material.
Project Challenge: The project aimed to adapt Autodesk REVIT to the PREFAB industry and to match the printed drawing to the drawing created in the Dutch program.
These are prefabricated concrete elements, mainly mezzanine slabs, produced in the factory and delivered to the construction site where they are assembled. These elements are heavily reinforced according to the same principle, so it was possible to automate this part of the process in the design part.
"Vuk Vukanić, the technical director of TeamCAD, understood our needs and step by step we revised the drawing so that it was applicable for customers from the Netherlands. The key to the solution was to understand the needs of the Apokrifi and for Vuk to see the whole process through to the end," says Dušan Milošević.What was the main challenge during the project? What were other challenges?
Project Solution: Inventor parts and assemblies are filled with information that is often the same and taken from the assembly they belong to. The automation developed an interface to enter and copy data for the assembly to the parts. Each subsequent part added to the assembly downloads the required data, and the user only adds the specific part data. Material data is selected from drop-down menus to prevent incorrect entries. Once the data is entered, the part is automatically saved in a specific location with a standardized name for easy search. CNC machines use the sketch contours from which the individual features in Inventor parts are created. An interface was created to change the feature names to correspond to the manufacturing process. The add-on by TeamCAD adjusts the sketch colors to the company standard, making it easier for CNC machine implementation. Next, the application of Autodesk Inventor Nesting and part arrangement by board should be exported in dxf format to create dxf files for CNC machines. TeamCAD also developed a plug-in for Autodesk AutoCAD to process dxf drawings generated by Autodesk Inventor. The "NESTPROFILE" command arranges the parts by copying the layout specified by the nesting and creates a dxf file containing the positions, quantities, and color representation for the machine to understand dxf contour meshes.
Project Solution: "When we started training with TeamCAD, Autodesk Revit opened the door to new customers and allowed us to keep up with the use of modern software. But in my opinion, the most important thing is that I found a partner on the other side who understood my problems and solved them," says Dušan Milošević.
The advantages of the solution we have received are better documentation, the use of Autodesk DYNAMO scripts and quick responses to customers. The employees have accepted the solution very well and every new team member can master Autodesk REVIT in PREFAB in a month by working on real projects.
Project Outcome: Two types of documentation had to be produced in the BG Reklam. The first is the idw standard documentation, which is automated so that the plugin collects all parts from the board for the selected assembly and creates a front view for each part.
If the part is made of sheet metal, the development status is also displayed. The documentation is generated as an idw file and as a pdf. Each drawing is stored in a separate folder in accordance with the BG Reklam standard for filing and labeling the documentation.
Another type of documentation is informative for machine operators. It contains a layout of the circuit board with the arrangement of the parts and a QR code that links to the dxf file to be loaded into the machine.
In this way, more than 80% of the time spent on production documentation could be saved. With each subsequent production of a new product series, it is sufficient to set new parameters for nesting, save the newly created arrangement of parts by plates on the hard disk and start creating the documentation.
In addition, the user no longer has to enter the names of the technologies used in production using the keyboard, which ensures the accuracy and consistency of the data entered.
Project Outcome: "We have gained a lot from this project with TeamCAD. We have found new, smaller customers and reduced our dependence on our largest customer."
The solution brought a new way of designing and stimulated fresh ideas for the further development of Autodesk Revit. New business opportunities opened up, because after 6 months of work, the drawing was seen by a Dutch office, which invited Apokrifi to carry out a new project.
The result was a new, more modern product that can serve as an example of how knowledge and experience can be used to create new value.
"I would advise companies facing similar challenges not to work in 2D, but to transfer their knowledge from their fields to Autodesk REVIT, because it is the present and the future," says Dušan Milošević.
"The cooperation with TeamCAD led to a general improvement in the atmosphere at Apokrifi. The influence of the main client was reduced by 30%, and working in Autodeksk Revit software opened up new possibilities and opportunities for a different way of designing."
Autodesk Revit has become a natural environment, so we no longer have to start from scratch on new projects and can jump into new business with new clients without fear of failure.
"Working with TeamCAD has taught me that new ideas are possible and can be realised. I would recommend working with them to any company," concludes Dušan Milošević.
