The machine does not get a drawing
The two outputs
Section titled “The two outputs”
1 frame model in the design software · 2 machine program · 3 the finished, marked member · 4 the production line
Designing an LGS project produces two different things.
A drawing for people
Section titled “A drawing for people”Panel sheets, erection drawings, connection details. The installer assembles the structure from these, and the work is checked against them.
A program for the machine
Section titled “A program for the machine”A file describing the machine’s tasks member by member and position by position. The machine works from this — it cannot read a drawing.
This difference belongs to the essence of the technology: the result of design is directly manufacturable, with no intermediate “draw it and measure it again” step.
What is in the program
Section titled “What is in the program”- the member identifier,
- the profile type,
- the length,
- the position of operations along the section: punching, dimple, cut-out, marking,
- the quantity and the data for the production sequence.
What follows
Section titled “What follows”Accuracy depends on the designer
Section titled “Accuracy depends on the designer”If the model is accurate, so is the member produced. If there is an error in the model, the machine will produce it faultlessly — in series.
There is no correcting on site
Section titled “There is no correcting on site”In traditional construction the site absorbs a lot of small inaccuracies. Here the members are made in advance: tolerance is decided in design and production, not during erection. Manufacturing tolerances.
The model carries more responsibility
Section titled “The model carries more responsibility”Model-based work is therefore not a convenience but a condition of the technology.
The question of format
Section titled “The question of format”The program is produced by the design software and received by the machine control. Formats include a widely used, tabular type and manufacturer-specific ones. Machine program formats.
The point is that once the format is known, the same design work can be issued to several machines — this is the basis of machine independence.
If you are starting out
Section titled “If you are starting out”With a new manufacturing partner the first question is not “what is the machine like” but what format its control accepts, and which profiles and operations it knows. That reveals whether the existing design toolset can serve it.
The point
Section titled “The point”The drawing is for people, the program for the machine. On an LGS project the real output of design is the program — the drawing goes with it.