Drafting #1

Drafting is completely different organized here in Canada. Responsibilities are spread out, nothing like I used to do, from quote to final product with all steps in between. Also including connection design and calculations, that part I loathed, like in really hated it, it's just not my cup of tea. Here all is done by a bunch of different people. Below is the overall scheme of things:
1. Customer drawings are issued for IFC.
2. Connection design is started, internal or external, for every node.
3. At the same time modelling for the ABM is done.
4. The model is checked and the ABM is issued.
5. Connections are incorporated.
6. Drawings are run and edited, welds are a major concern.
7. Drawings and model are checked and backfixed if required.
8. Dwg's are sent for shop drawing review, by connection engineer.
9. Dwg's are sent to DC for IFA by client engineer.
10. Dwg's are returned from approval, RFA, with or without comments.
11. They need to be fixed and sent to DC for IFS including cam-data.
12. The client will receive a copy of the fixed drawings only, for their records.
Even for a small model 3 or 4 people are working on the same (multiuser) model, which is not efficient at all. For a great deal it's about keeping everybody busy, and for the oil sands projects invoicing is based on unit pricing, which is a good deal. Therefor it is easy to sub projects or parts of it. All listed items have a date assigned and need to be kept on track by the PC.
All industrial and commercial projects are split into divisions (teilsystemen), anything between 30 and 80 tons, are shipped to a module yard somewhere in Edmonton where they are assembled into, lets say, big LEGO chunks. This complete module is then shipped to site, most likely Fort Mac Murray, some 450 km north of Edmonton. Any steel connecting these modules is in a separate division and is called stick-build. In fact any division that is not a module is called stick-build, i.e. erected on site. The above requirements, module- or stickbuildsteel, painted or not, galvanized and so on, is reflected in the piece-mark.
And all of our drafting is done with 144 Tekla licences. 144? Yes, the company M&D acquired also runs a night shift with 28 licences. Like they said today: "We will have to feed a big mouth!" Everybody is very confident projects will break in the near future, and M&D is ready to take them on. Management had announced this throughout 2009, but so quick and swift I could not have guessed. So different! And I enjoy it greatly.