New Setup - Best Practices

[ashley.simington]

Hello, we are currently using Bentley AutoPlant and are in the process of transitioning to AutoCad Plant 3D. Currently we have a project for each year, and our pipeline drawings are stored on a network drive not under the project. I am looking for idea's or best practices to setup our new Plant 3D projects. Is it best to have many smaller projects, or a few bigger ones? Can we continue storing the pipeline drawings where they are now? I wouldn't mind getting the contact information for someone and show them exactly how we are setup now and how to best implement Plant 3D.

Thank you!

[daniel.klingspor]

Each project that your office takes on should have its own unique project for Plant 3D.  You'll want to organize all your project files into a unique network folder as well.  Combining multiple office projects into one Plant 3D project would be risky in terms of potential data corruption.  I have experienced entire projects becoming corrupt. 

The way Plant 3D works best is by setting everything up at the beginning of the project (Iso and Ortho templates, project settings etc.).  These settings could vary from project to project.  Setting everything up correctly at the beginning is very important and will save you time and effort in the long run.  Attributes like client name, project name etc can be controlled globally through the project setup to save time on title blocks.

All project related Autocad files should be controlled through the Project Manager.  If you are planning on using Plant 3D for more than piping you should organize files in the Project Manager by discipline (Civil, Structural, Electrical, Piping etc.)

Piping models should be organized in a logical manner such as Unit>Area>Service>Line Number.  Each "higher level" has a master model that references the lower level models.  This makes the piping more manageable in terms of file size and when it comes time to make drawings.  It also protects you in case of data corruption.

Piping file structure could be as follows

>Unit 1

>>Unit 1 Piping Master.dwg

>>Area 1

>>>Area 1 Piping Master.dwg

>>>>Area 1 Steam.dwg

>>>>>10-STEAM-CS300-0001.dwg

>>>>>10-STEAM-CS300-0002.dwg

>>>>Area 1 Service Water.dwg

>>>>>6-SW-CS150-0001.dwg

>>>>>8-SW-CS150-0001.dwg

>>>>Area 1 Slurry.dwg

>>>>>8-SLURRY-CS150-0001.dwg

These are just my opinions, you'll find what works best for your office and team through a little trial and error.

Let us know if you have further questions.

[dave.wolfe]

It depends what kind of company you are. For owner/operators, we recommend one project per facility (many times their projects have 1400+ P&IDs). For some pipeline companies, they do one project for several stations in a geographic area.  Main goals of a setup should be to:

• Minimize time spent configuring each project, customizing project symbols and properties.
• Maintain a controlled master set of drawings/models

For engineering companies, its typically one project per design project, but if you are running/maintaining the site, it tends to be broken up to represent the as-built site. Let me know if you have questions, we help people with this stuff regularly.