Import and Export > Tekla EPM (PowerFab) Integration

This is intended for a technical audience especially for troubleshooting, not needed for day to day use.

This topic describes what PrimeCut NE and Tekla EPM (formerly FabSuite / PowerFab) exchange over the course of nesting, scheduling and reconciling a Tekla EPM job, and the key fields that travel in each direction. It is intended as a reference for understanding the integration and for diagnosing problems such as a cut notification being rejected.

All communication with Tekla EPM is performed through the Tekla EPM (FabSuite) OpenAPI. Each exchange is a single XML request from PrimeCut NE and a matching XML response from Tekla EPM. The exception is the initial nest request, which Tekla EPM hands to PrimeCut NE as an XML file rather than an API call.

The end-to-end sequence

The integration spans two separate PrimeCut NE episodes: a nesting and scheduling session, and – usually later, and possibly on a different machine – reconciliation. The messages, in order:

Stage	Message	What happens
Nest & schedule 1. Nest request	Nest request XML file (Tekla EPM → PrimeCut)	Start of the nesting and scheduling session. The nest request is the output of a Combining run in Tekla EPM – it describes the parts to nest and the plates to nest them on, all in this one file. PrimeCut NE auto-logs in, imports it and automatically nests the parts. PrimeCut NE does not query Tekla EPM for the plates separately – everything it needs is in the request.
Nest & schedule 2. Schedule plate	SaveNest (PrimeCut → Tekla EPM)	As each plate is scheduled in PrimeCut NE, the planned nest, the nested parts, the expected remnant and the NestMap / skeleton / remnant images are sent to Tekla EPM. Tekla EPM records the nest and returns the inventory item it created for it. Sent once per plate.
Nest & schedule 3. Unschedule plate (if needed)	SaveNest (delete) (PrimeCut → Tekla EPM)	If a scheduled plate is unscheduled in PrimeCut NE, a delete request is sent – using the same SaveNest command – asking Tekla EPM to remove the planned nest it recorded. This reverses stage 2, so the plate can be re-nested or re-scheduled. It is sent each time you unschedule.
Nest & schedule 4. End of session	Close / CloseRemote (PrimeCut → Tekla EPM)	When the PrimeCut NE nesting session ends – or the user logs off – the connection to Tekla EPM is closed. This marks the end of nesting and scheduling. Nothing has been cut yet. Used as trigger for Tekla UI to continue?
Reconcile 5. Cut notification	TFSCut (PrimeCut → Tekla EPM)	Later, when the plate has actually been cut and is marked as cut (reconciled), PrimeCut NE makes a fresh connection and sends a Take-From-Stock (Cut) notification so Tekla EPM consumes the stock and books the cut. This is triggered either by reconciling in the PrimeCut NE GUI, or by the STP service when a TouchCut machine reports the plate cut.

Scheduling and cutting are separate events. A plate that has been scheduled (SaveNest) but not yet reconciled (TFSCut) has been recorded in Tekla EPM but not yet cut from stock. The two can be minutes or days apart, and the cut notification may come from a different PrimeCut NE client – or from the STP service – than the session that scheduled the plate.

Confirming that Tekla EPM can be reached is done separately by a lightweight version request – for example when the STP service starts, or from the Test Connection button in the Tekla EPM settings – and is not part of the per-plate data flow.

Key fields – Nest request (Tekla EPM → PrimeCut)

The nest request file tells PrimeCut NE what to nest and what to nest it on.

Field	Meaning
Job	The Production Control job the parts belong to.
Parts (Main Mark, Piece Mark, Sequence, Quantity, dimensions)	Each part to be nested, with its marks, sequence and size. These identify the part back to Tekla EPM when the cut is booked.
Plates (Shape, Grade, Thickness, Width, Length)	The plates supplied for nesting, with their material and size.
Plate Quantity	A specific number of plates, or the word any. A plate sent with quantity any is a template plate – PrimeCut NE may use as many of it as it needs.
Heat Number, Heat Serial Number, PO Number, Location	Stock-identifying details of each supplied plate, where Tekla EPM has them. PrimeCut NE stores these against the plate and uses them later when notifying Tekla EPM of the cut (see below).

Key fields – SaveNest (PrimeCut → Tekla EPM)

Sent when a plate is scheduled. It records the planned nest in Tekla EPM.

Field	Meaning
Material Used (Shape, Grade, Dimensions)	The plate the nest is laid out on.
Nested Parts	Each part placed on the plate – job, main mark, piece mark, sequence and quantity – so Tekla EPM knows what the nest produces.
Remnant	The expected drop / skeleton left after cutting, with its size and whether it returns to stock or is scrap.
NestMap / Skeleton / Remnant images	Picture images of the nest, the skeleton and the remnant, embedded in the message so they appear in Tekla EPM.
Returned inventory item (in the response)	Tekla EPM creates an inventory item for the nest and returns it – including its inventory ID and heat number. This is the stock Tekla EPM associates with the plate.

Key fields – TFSCut, the cut notification (PrimeCut → Tekla EPM)

Sent when a plate is reconciled. This is the Take From Stock (Cut) message, and it is the one most likely to fail – see the next section.

Field	Meaning
Nest ID	A PrimeCut NE nest identifier for the plate being cut. It identifies the nest, not the piece of stock to consume – Tekla EPM locates the stock from the heat and serial details below.
Heat Number	The heat number of the plate that was actually cut.
Heat Serial Number	The heat serial number of the plate that was actually cut.
Quantity	The number of plates cut (normally 1).

The information sent should describe the plate that was actually cut. For the notification to be accepted, both the nest and the stock it consumes must resolve to records Tekla EPM already holds – the nest from the schedule (SaveNest) stage, and the stock from Tekla EPM inventory. Tekla EPM validates the heat and serial details against its inventory and, where the shop used identical material, will substitute it.

If a cut notification is rejected

When reconciling a Tekla EPM plate may fail with “Inventory stock not found” (also seen as “Inventory Not Found”), Tekla EPM could not tie the cut to a nest and a piece of stock that it recognises. This can be caused by users entering heat or serial number data not stored in Tekla.

The plate is still reconciled in PrimeCut NE – only the notification to Tekla EPM failed. PrimeCut NE warns you of this, and the cut must then be booked in Tekla EPM by hand.

To reduce the chance of a rejection, keep the plate's identifying details consistent with Tekla EPM:

•Make sure the plate's heat and serial number in PrimeCut NE correspond to a real piece of stock in Tekla EPM. Tekla EPM can only match material it already holds – it cannot create a new heat serial number on your behalf.

•Do not invent a new serial number in PrimeCut NE for a Tekla EPM plate that Tekla EPM has never seen.

•If a Tekla EPM plate genuinely has no serial number, either leave the serial blank, or add the serial number in Tekla EPM first and then reconcile.

If a cut notification is still rejected after checking these, capture the exchange (see below) and send it to Kinetic.

Capturing the API traffic for diagnosis

When a cut notification or any other Tekla EPM exchange is not behaving, turn on XML logging and reproduce the problem. The log folder then contains the exact request PrimeCut NE sent and the response Tekla EPM returned, which shows precisely why a request was rejected.

1.In PrimeCut NE open the Tools->ERP->Tekla EPM Settings menu.

2.Set a log folder you have read / write access to.

3.Tick Log XML requests and responses.

4.Reproduce the problem, then look in the log folder for the matching request and response files (for a cut notification these are the fsreqTFSCut request and response).

For reconciliation performed from a TouchCut machine, the cut notification is sent by the STP service rather than the PrimeCut NE client, so the corresponding XML log is written on the PrimeCut server in the STP service's configured log folder. Cut notification from a TouchCut machine also requires STP version 1.6.97 or later.