Import and Export > Tekla EPM (PowerFab) Integration

Open Tools->ERP->Tekla EPM Settings and select the Datastore Settings tab.

Unlike the other tabs, whose values live in this computer's TeklaEPM.ini, these settings are stored in the datastore and apply to every PrimeCut NE that logs into it, including the STP service. Change them once, on any client.

Setting	Meaning
This datastore works with Tekla EPM / PowerFab	Shows the PowerFab menu. It is ticked automatically the first time PowerFab launches PrimeCut NE with a nest request against this datastore; a site that starts PrimeCut NE normally ticks it here. It does not turn the integration itself on or off - a plate that came from PowerFab is reported back to PowerFab either way.
Track PowerFab inventory as individual stock plates	Hold PowerFab inventory as real stock plates, one per item quantity, instead of unlimited plate templates. Quantities are brought back into line with PowerFab by Sync with PowerFab and after each schedule and cut.
Scope plates to Tekla EPM job numbers	Parts nest only on plates reserved to their job or to no job, and PrimeCut NE holds only plates for jobs it knows. Off by default. See Tekla EPM Job Scoping.
SaveNest: refuse the nest if PowerFab cannot use the named item	Ask PowerFab to refuse a nest rather than substitute a different inventory item for the one PrimeCut NE named. Off by default: PowerFab also refuses material it holds but cannot consume yet, such as stock on a draft purchase order, so leaving this off is normal. Turn it on where a wrong-heat substitution matters more than a failed nest.
SaveNest: include the Combining Run ID	Include PowerFab's combining run id in the nest sent to PowerFab, binding the nest to its combining run so PowerFab can update that run. Off by default.

There is no setting for combining runs: a later combining run always takes over the parts that earlier runs have still to nest. See Combining Runs: Parts Moving Between Runs.

Autonest of PowerFab nest requests

These controls on the Datastore Settings tab decide how a PowerFab nest request is nested when it opens.

Setting	Meaning
Autonest PowerFab nest requests when they open	On (the default): the nest request is autonested as soon as it opens. Off: PrimeCut NE loads the workorders and opens the plates, and the operator nests the parts by hand. The two settings below apply only when this is on.
Plates nested before the request opened	What the autonest does with a plate that already had parts nested on it before the nest request opened it: •Fill them first (the default) - use these plates before empty ones. •No preference - use plates in the order they were opened, nested or not. •Use them last - use these plates only after the empty ones. •Use them last, ask before nesting onto one manually - as Use them last, and when the operator drops parts onto one of these plates by hand, PrimeCut NE asks first, once per plate. •Leave them alone - the autonest does not use these plates at all. Nesting by hand is never refused, whatever the choice.
Use plates in this order (first at the top)	The kinds of plate the autonest tries, in order. Select one and click Up or Down to move it. The kinds are: •Remnants - remnants from PrimeCut NE or PowerFab. •PowerFab plates in stock - PowerFab inventory plates in stock. •PowerFab plates on order - PowerFab inventory plates on order. •Orderable sizes - PowerFab raises a requisition - the plate sizes the nest request says can be ordered. PowerFab holds no plate for these, so when a plate made from one is scheduled PowerFab raises a requisition for it - see Requisitioned Plates. The default order is Remnants, PowerFab plates in stock, Orderable sizes, PowerFab plates on order. Within one kind, plates nested before the request come first or last as chosen above. If you move PowerFab plates on order above Orderable sizes, the on-order plates are fetched from PowerFab before the autonest starts, instead of only when it runs out of plates.

Names of PowerFab plates

These controls on the Datastore Settings tab set how plates from PowerFab are named.

Setting	Meaning
Name plates from	The formula a PowerFab plate's name is built from. Text in [brackets] is replaced by the plate's value; the rest is kept as typed. The tokens are: [ID] [Shape] [Thickness] [Grade] [Width] [Length] [Job] [PONumber] [POItemNumber] [HeatNo] [HeatSerialNo] [Supplier] [BillOfLadingNo] [CountryOfOrigin] [MillOfOrigin] [CostCode] [Location] [SecondaryLocation] [RemnantName] [DeliveryDate] [OnOrder] [PlateID] [CombinationRunID] [RequisitionNumber] The tokens are named after PowerFab's inventory fields. A value is taken from PowerFab's inventory record, else from the nest request, else from what the plate already stored. [RequisitionNumber] is the requisition PowerFab raised for a plate nested on an orderable size. An unknown or empty token is left out without leaving a double space, and a name is cut to 50 characters. The Example line below the formula shows the name it gives. The default, Tekla EPM plate, names plates as earlier versions did. When you save a changed formula, PrimeCut NE offers to rename the plates already in the datastore. For example, [Grade] [Thickness] Heat [HeatNo] gives a name made of the grade, the thickness and the heat number.
Rename now...	Renames the live PowerFab plates in the datastore from the formula shown, even before it is saved. It first shows how many plates were checked and how many would be renamed, with some examples, and asks before renaming. Plates whose names someone typed keep them, and so do plates open in another session.
Rename plates when their PowerFab inventory record changes	When on, an inventory sync renames a plate from the formula when PowerFab's record of it changes, such as a new heat, PO, location or job. Names someone typed are left alone. Off by default, because a plate already scheduled or printed under one name would otherwise change name.

Grade Families

The Grade Families tab of the same window is a list of part grades, each with the material family its parts are imported as. When a part on a PowerFab nest request has a grade in this list, PrimeCut NE imports the part as that family rather than as its own grade, so the part can be nested on plates of any grade in the family. Inventory plates always keep their own grade; only parts are changed.

For example, a family A572 Family contains the grades A572, A572-50 and A572-55, and the list maps part grade A572 to A572 Family. A572 parts can then be nested on A572, A572-50 or A572-55 plates. A572-50 parts are not in the list, so they still nest only on A572-50 plates.

To set it up:

1.Create the family first, in Process Data: click Add Family and add its grades. See Material Families. Include the part grade itself in the family; otherwise its parts can no longer be nested on plates of their own grade. PrimeCut NE warns you about this when you save.

2.Open Tools->ERP->Tekla EPM Settings and select the Grade Families tab.

3.Type the part grade in the Part grade column and the family name in the Family column. A new blank row appears for the next grade. To remove a grade, clear both cells.

4.Click Save. A grade that is blank, longer than 38 characters or listed twice, or a family that is not an active material family, is refused, and the message lists the families you can use.

Like the Datastore Settings, the list is stored in the datastore, so every PrimeCut NE that uses the datastore shares it. Leave the list empty to import every part as its own grade.

If the family does not have the part's thickness, the part keeps its own grade and the nest request shows a warning.

PowerFab must accept the substitution when the nest is reported back. In PowerFab, set up a matching grade substitution under Maintenance->Shapes/Grades/Sizes, on the Grades tab, so that the part grade may be cut from the other grades in the family.