Steel structures and Conveyance Support Structures

Project: We worked in collaboration with Daifuku America and FM Sylvan to provide a new Assembly Shop for a Michigan Automotive OEM and an upgrade to the existing  line located nearby.

Responsibility:
We provided all of the structural supports, screen guarding, drive decks, Rail supports, Header Grid, inclines and declines while supporting the Daifuku Designed Steel. We designed, detailed, fabricated, and delivered the support steel and associated hardware to site in a sequential method discussed with the installers.
We were responsible for finding potential interferences through scanning of the existing conditions and working directly with the OEM and DAC to resolve these solutions in the best interests from an engineering perspective (whether this is through re-design or relocation).Design had to begin prior to the plant layout being completed to allow for us to maintain our schedule of beginning design in August with commitment of the Delivery of Steel between November 2019 to March 2020

Considerations

• Used 3D and 2D reference files of the conveyor system to support the rails, drives, feeders, etc. (stp. DWG, IFC)
• Used Navisworks to create a collaborative model
• Steelwork designed through Tekla Structures

Challenges/Solutions:

Incomplete Layout while Designing Support Steel

• Rework rail layouts with scanned site conditions to propose rail layouts to work with the structural steel layout
• Primitively discovered potential issues and created a design to remove specific foreseen issues from the layout (Resulted in more repeatability in the design for install and fabrication)

Quick Turn Around Requirement

• Worked directly with our fabrication shops and the installers to balance design, installation, and fabrication constraints to optimize efficiency of all three
• Proposed Solutions to Interferences to push schedule along and meet requirements

Existing Steel

• Used 3D scans to eliminate interferences – Avoiding bridging between trusses, HVAC, conduit, etc. when required and did not impact structuralintegrity/cleanliness of design

Organization of Fabricated Steel

• Arranged trucking and completed a BOM referring to every support member sent to site, which truck it belonged to, # of similar locations, and their approximate location through the plant

Provided Support Steel and Naming Conventions in a manner that if misplaced and found on site would indicate the area of the plant that it belonged to

Notes: 7000+ Assemblies Delivered to Site, Approx. 1250 tons of steel over 6 months, with 6 months to design

POW performed structural/mechanical design and supply of the overhead support system for the majority of a TMMBC Assembly Plant Expansion Project . The primary loads on the structure were from a conveyor system moving vehicles (2000Kg Trucks) above the production areas of the plant. The location was a Truck Assembly Plant in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, and the work was completed for Daifuku America. This is similar to the numerous projects we have executed in North America since 2016.

The project had a tight schedule, substantial seismic and fatigue-related design criteria, and included a large area in which brownfield conditions created existing interferences affecting the design. Other considerations:

• Working with As-Built Conditions and Existing Building – which was mitigated using 3D Scanning software and CAD to BIM Integration to create a virtual environment that matched the dimensions of the existing site.
• Category D Seismic Zone – Design required lateral load testing and optimization to ensure reliability in an earthquake.
• Required Designing Bracing off the existing structure to adhere to Large High-Cycle Vehicle Lifts and Transfers that operate above an active automotive manufacturing floor.  
• Coordination with site and fabricators to supply JIT Fabrication and Delivery of parts to the site when they are needed to save material handling costs and available layout space on-site – Communication between all stakeholders to ensure construction and installation can continue without interruption. 
• 3D Point Cloud and Integrated CAD Models to virtual check for fit-up of fabricated assemblies and avoid interferences with existing structure – used the virtual environment to ensure the fit and finish of the fabricated assemblies.
• Language and Geographical Differences – Required a timeframe of 10 days to plan for shipments to arrive at the site, translators were hired who had to be trained on the technical requirements of the job to ensure no information was lost in translation, a total of 60 truckloads (45,000lbs/load) were delivered on time to match installers progress

The budget was controlled with agreed fixed pricing from client and sub-consultants. The budget was also managed by managing errors and due diligence in the quoting phase. To manage the project and track progress:  

• Weekly meetings with Client, Trades, Designers, and Fabricators to ensure goalposts are being met.
• Coordination with Site Progress to supply JIT Delivery of Fabricated Assemblies – 60 Truck Loads of Steel (45,000lbs a load) delivered from South-Western Ontario, Canada to Tijuana, Mexico.
• Fabrication Schedule and Delegations between shops were constantly altered to cater to installation priorities, progress, and changes.

Key Takeaway – POW was specifically requested by the OEM to be the preferred supplier of critical lifting and structural reliant structures. The structure was required to transport 2000 kg vehicles above automotive production workers in an area that is prone to earthquakes. The overhead vehicle conveyance system experiences millions of repetitive loading/unloading cycles.