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Automated Utility Structure Design & Fabrication Integration

Automating utility structure design, documentation, and fabrication data—directly from a rule-driven Inventor system.

Workflow Type

CAD & Mfg Integration

Primary Outputs

Models, Drawings, BOMs

Platform

Autodesk Inventor

Downstream

Tekla PowerFab

The Problem

Designing utility poles and structural assemblies involved extensive repetitive modeling, manual drawing creation, and manual preparation of manufacturing data. This led to inconsistent outputs across teams, high rework rates, heavy manpower dependency, and delays that increased project costs and affected delivery schedules.

Constraints & Challenges

  • Repetition: Repetitive creation of similar parts, sub-assemblies, and assemblies.
  • Documentation: Time-consuming generation of drawings and PDFs.
  • Consistency: Inconsistent outputs across teams and projects.
  • BOMs: Manual preparation of Bills of Materials for manufacturing.
  • Integration: Lack of direct integration between design data and fabrication systems.
  • Scalability: Difficulty scaling workflows as project volumes increased.

Our Approach

FDES designed and implemented a custom Autodesk Inventor add-in to automate the complete utility structure design and downstream manufacturing workflow.

Automated Utility Structure Design
  • Rule-driven configuration based on structured user inputs.
  • Automated generation of parts, sub-assemblies, and assemblies.
  • One-click creation of drawings and PDFs using standardized templates.
  • Automatic part numbering and hardware placement.
  • Generation of manufacturing-ready BOMs.
  • Export of structured fabrication data aligned with Tekla PowerFab requirements.

What Was Automated

Parametric generation of utility poles and structural components
Creation of individual parts, sub-assemblies, and full assemblies
Automatic drawing generation (IDW, DWG, PDF) with views and annotations
Standardized naming conventions and part numbering
Automatic BOM generation for manufacturing
Generation of Tekla PowerFab-compatible fabrication packages
Regeneration of all outputs when design inputs change

Integrations

The system seamlessly integrates with the following platforms to ensure end-to-end data flow:

  • Autodesk Inventor: Core design and modeling engine.
  • Tekla PowerFab: Direct export of fabrication data packages.
  • Excel/CSV: Input data handling for batch processing.

Impact

Time Savings

Reduced design-to-fabrication cycle from 2 weeks to 2-3 days per structure type.

Accuracy

Zero fabrication errors caused by drawing inconsistencies — rule-based validation catches mismatches before release.

Efficiency

Freed 60% of engineering time previously spent on repetitive documentation and BOM generation.

System Integration

Direct data flow from Inventor to fabrication — eliminating manual re-entry into cutting and welding systems.

Before vs After

Before Automation

  • 2 weeks per structure type design cycle
  • Manual structural calculations in spreadsheets
  • Fabrication drawings created from scratch each time
  • Design changes require full recalculation

After Automation

  • 2–3 days per structure type
  • Automated structural calcs with validated formulas
  • Fabrication drawings generated from parametric templates
  • Change one parameter — everything updates
Related

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Automating Utility Design All the Way to Fabrication?

Share your workflow and constraints. We’ll tell you what’s automatable, what’s risky, and what a production-grade approach would look like.

Discuss Your Use Case Request Automation Audit