Production module

The Production module is where a job is planned: parts go in, a cutting plan comes out, and a production document carries it to the floor.

Projects

Entering the module offers you a new project or one you created earlier. Each project shows its name, creator and date, and can be deleted or locked against changes by other users.

After creation a project is editable by everyone. Clicking the open lock in the Shared column closes it — from then on only you can edit it, while others can view the project and save the result.

• The administrator manages the availability of all projects.
• An employee manages only the projects they created themselves.

The work tabs

The left-hand rail holds the tabs you move through in order:

1. Adding Parts — the hammer icon
2. Adding to Cutting — the basket with a down arrow
3. Cutting — the calculator icon
4. Production Documents — the factory icon
5. Sheet cutting — under development

Adding parts

The tab is split into Drawing Sets, Profiles, and the working area.

Drawing sets

Click the plus next to Drawing Sets and give the set a name — normally the project code. Drawing sets exist so you can filter parts and so the plant can produce several orders at once.

Profiles and materials

You only need to enter materials and profiles by hand when you are adding parts by hand. Imports bring their own. Before entering profiles, prepare the set's materials with the Manage materials button on the Profiles panel — see Materials and aliases.

Adding parts by hand

Button: the cube with a right arrow, labelled kron, at the top of the screen.

1. Click the button to open the bulk-add Parts window.
2. For each part enter position, quantity, length and profile. Cut angles become available once a profile is set. The right-hand column has copy and delete buttons for the row.
3. Set the cut angles — see Cut angles.
4. If needed, set splice restrictions at the bottom of the window. KRON will then refuse to place a splice in the zone you have described. Three methods are available: a specific interval, a percentage at the edges, or a percentage in the centre. Overlapping restrictions are merged automatically.
5. Click Add parts to the set.

To inspect a part, click the eye icon at the top right — it opens a drawing built from the parameters, with 2D and 3D modes.

Adding parts from DSTV

Button: the file icon labelled dstv. Not available on all plans.

This transfers data from Tekla Structures — and any other program that writes the DSTV standard — into KRON, recognising all part characteristics automatically.

1. Choose the File Encoding. There are hints next to the selector about which Tekla versions use which; UTF-8 covers Tekla 2016 and later, Advance Steel and most modern software.
2. Set the splice constraints you want derived from the files. The options are: forbid splicing in hole zones, in part connection zones, and in part cut-out zones, each with a constraint length in millimetres; and no splice at the ends of the part or in its centre, each as a percentage of length.
3. Select the NC files. Loading can take a while. KRON adds the profiles and materials it finds to the drawing set as it goes.

Things worth knowing:

• The automatic part connection restriction will not work unless the additional settings were configured during export from Tekla — see Exporting DSTV from Tekla.
• If a part with the same name has already been loaded, KRON appends the date and time of the repeat load to the name rather than overwriting.
• Parts that failed to load are listed with the reason.

Adding parts from STEP / IGS

Not available on all plans. KRON recognises parts from solid (brep) geometry. Only STP — a part, not an assembly — and IGS are supported.

Neither format carries quantity or material, so after recognition a Recognised Parts window opens for you to supply both. From there the parts behave like any others.

What you can change after adding

Adding to cutting

The screen has three columns: parts not yet assigned to a stage (viewable by profile, by part or by code), the stages themselves, and the parts in the selected stage.

1. In the middle column, create a stage and name it.
2. Select parts by clicking them. To move every part of one type, use the checkmarks button on the left of the profile description.
3. Select the target stage and click the button in the top-right of the Parts Not in the Stage panel — a square with a right arrow. The parts move across.

In the Parts in the Stage panel, Edit lets you adjust a quantity or remove a part from the stage.

Cutting

Stages and the profiles within them are on the left; the cutting window is on the right.

Settings

Set the global cutting settings before you run anything — the button is in the top-right of the window. They apply to every profile.

Every parameter is described in the cutting parameters reference.

Reading the result

At the top is a ruler running from −x to 2x, where x is the stock length. Below it, three strips give an unfolded view — left, top and right — without the bottom view.

Parts that have been split into pieces share a unique colour across all their pieces. Left-clicking a colour highlights every piece of that part and greys out the rest; right-clicking the result field clears the selection. Hovering a piece shows its main information.

You can keep working elsewhere in KRON while a run is in progress — the screen reports its status, for example that it is calculating the second variant, and a notification appears bottom-right when it finishes.

The characteristics table in the top-right reports the run:

The button block

What is available depends on the machine:

• Bandsaw — Start cutting · Cutting settings · Warehouse (if activated) · Drawing settings · Download drawing · Download process card.
• CNC machine — Start cutting · Cutting settings · Warehouse (if activated) · Download process card · Download CNC result.

Drawing settings

Sending to production, and locking

A completed run that used the warehouse can be sent to production. In the left column, next to the stage name, are the Basket button (purchase request) and the Factory button (production document).

The Factory button opens the Create Production Document window. Select one or more profiles and exactly one production area. Only profiles whose results used warehouse items appear here. Once the document is created the parts disappear from the Cutting tab, so the same part cannot enter cutting twice.

Purchase requests

If the warehouse cannot cover the job, run the optimiser without linking to the warehouse and create a Purchase Request with the Basket button. The window lists every profile with a completed run alongside what is already in the warehouse; tick what you need and export it to Excel.

Production documents

Once a production document exists, the results and all their parts move out of the Cutting tab and into the document. Drawings and CNC results do not have to be downloaded at the cutting stage — they are available inside the document itself.

The document is divided by profile. For each profile it shows the stock bar number, length in millimetres, total, manufactured and to be manufactured, plus the Rolled metal on the area and Manufactured bars. Drawings and process cards download from here.

On the right is the document history, where participants can leave comments. Comments cannot be deleted.

Recording progress

At the end of each shift, or per your own procedure, the executor enters the bars that have been cut and their quantity in the To be manufactured column. Bars are written off the area and parts appear. KRON records which day, who, and how much.

The Manufactured bar reflects the percentage complete, and the document moves to In Progress.

Cancellation and rollback

• Cancellation before physical cutting. The document can be cancelled at any point before cutting starts. All parts return to Parts Not in the Stage on the Adding to Cutting tab.
• Rolling back partial fulfilment. If no remnants have been registered, everything done on the document can be rolled back to the start of production.
• Full cancellation. With no partial fulfilments outstanding — or all of them rolled back — full cancellation returns the parts to Parts Not in the Stage and releases the reservation on the stock bars.