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pimm15-Moonstone
15-Moonstone
May 21, 2015
Question

What is the best option for 2D plant layout

  • May 21, 2015
  • 6 replies
  • 7786 views

Our company will be hiring someone who will be generating a plant layout which only needs to be in 2D.

Through relating with other user's experience we've found that Creo is not really friendly with building plant layouts because drawings prefer the 3D world.

We are wondering what users here use to get around some of the limitations with the base Creo software in order to generate plant related drawings?

It would be great if things would fully integrate with Creo, but if not we are just looking for an easy way of developing a 2D plant drawing.

We spoke with a Solidworks salesman who suggested a free trial based product called DraftSight.

In looking at this forum I see that someone mentioned the freeware software Sketchup.

In looking elsewhere I've seen AutoCAD light as being recommended.


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6 replies

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dschenken1-Visitor
1-Visitor
May 21, 2015

There's no reason not to use assemblies of 2D sketched datum curves.

What is the expected output and what sort of information controls are you expecting?

There's a whole separate CAD direction called BIM (Building Information Modeling) which is notably dominated by Autodesk (why wouldn't the Solidworks guy mention that, I don't wonder) with Revit being the particular module of interest there. There are others, none of which I've used, but Revit is one I've run across.

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pimm15-MoonstoneAuthor
15-Moonstone
May 21, 2015

David; I'm not very acclimated with drawing in Creo. How would 2D sketched Datum Curves in assembly work in conjunction with a 2D drawing layout? We would just need to have a layout which we could easily move around machinery. This would need printed with dimensions for plant use.

Bill; Would you see draftsight as a good option to use in conjunction with Creo?

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dschenken1-Visitor
1-Visitor
May 21, 2015

Just use 2D sketches and make a drawing showing those sketches.

I really don't understand the rest of the request - are you currently using some other software and don't want to use Creo or are you using only Creo and want to know what to do with it for plant layout?

In Creo you would make an assembly of the various 2D parts of the plant and move them as you like.

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BillChapman13-Aquamarine
13-Aquamarine
May 21, 2015

We do use draftsight. It is essentially at copy of AutoCAD LT, except free. It uses dwg format files and can open AutoCAD LT files (dwg/dxf).

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Inoram14-Alexandrite
14-Alexandrite
May 21, 2015

The only other software not yet mentioned that I would maybe look at is Microsoft Visio. But I think part of it depends on scope of the project and usage of the drawing when finished. For example, the last plant layout I worked on, we kept it in AutoCAD because it got shared between a few other companies for various reasons. Like one company put did the cooling system design and then gave us the drawing back, then another company did the HVAC and gave us the drawing back, etc.

KenFarley
KenFarley21-Topaz II
21-Topaz II
May 21, 2015

I second this reference to Visio. We used it to do a bit of manufacturing and office floor layout stuff. It's kind of nice for moving things around and such, but not so good if you need to put out accurate drawings.

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kmitchell1-Visitor
1-Visitor
May 21, 2015

I use datum curves for ANY draft work that needs to be generated. Create your components as individual part files with datum curves as the features. You can also reuse the datum curves (maybe the sketches, .sec files) to create symbol files. After you create a symbol and save it, you can place it in your drawing (to scale) and move around with ease to get ballpark placement, or try out several places. Once you make a decision, assemble the part file with constraints. Your floorplan is up to date and your files are still native to Creo. You can always create dxf files when needed.

This works well for logos, symbols, etc. If I draft something, I always assume I will be revising in the future. I have no desire to recreate the information. I have a directory specifically for this purpose. It saves me an abundance of time on several tasks of this nature.

K
kmitchell1-Visitor
1-Visitor
May 21, 2015

I forgot to mention, I prefer using datum curves over cosmetic sketches, too. I find I have much more flexibility and control with the use, placement, editing and visibility. The line properties are easily changed.

kdirth
21-Topaz I
kdirth21-Topaz I
21-Topaz I
May 26, 2015

Why not create a simple 3D model of the floorspace and equipment?  Itricate details are not needed and simple block shapes should work.  The 3D view will help you see the end result of a proposed layout.

There is always more to learn.
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    pimm15-MoonstoneAuthor
    15-Moonstone
    May 26, 2015

    In weighing things out we have opted to try the Draftsight freeware.

    I do appreciate the ideas for options that could be tried directly within Creo.  If unhappy with Draftsight we will look at Creo within an assembly with sketches.

    We should find out soon whether Draftsight gives us what we need.

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