Getting started
From an empty project to a finished analysis in 10 minutes.
Here is the whole way, step by step.
Create a project
Start with one click and get going right away, entirely without an account. If you want to keep your projects and come back to them later, you need to register.
Upload the floor plan
PDF, SVG, PNG or JPEG, up to 25 MB. For multi-page PDFs you choose the page. The white background falls away, and what is left is the outline you draw on.
Load delivery data from Excel
Upload your Excel table with Source, Sink and Quantity. Faulty or incomplete rows are marked clearly and listed with their row number and the reason.
This is what your table has to look likeAn Excel workbook with one sheet for the delivery data and, optionally, a second sheet for bills of materials. You can download the template and fill it with your own data.
| Source | Sink | Material | Material description | End product | Pieces per carrier | Carrier | Means of transport | Carriers per trip | Quantity M1 | Quantity M2 | Quantity M3 | Quantity … |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goods in | Raw material store | A1001 | Alu profile 40x40 | 11223 | 500 | Box pallet | Forklift | 2 | 1200 | 1100 | 1250 | … |
| Raw material store | CNC machine 1 | A1001 | Alu profile 40x40 | 11223 | 500 | Box pallet | Forklift | 2 | 900 | 950 | 1000 | … |
| CNC machine 1 | Assembly line 1 | B2001 | Milled housing | 11223 | 100 | Pallet | Tugger train | 4 | 800 | 780 | 810 | … |
| … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … |
What you need to know about this sheet:
- One row is one transport relation: one material, from one place to another.
- Three columns are required: Source, Sink and Quantity. Their order and spelling are free, they are found by the name of the column.
- The names in Source and Sink have to appear as places on the floor plan, or the analysis finds no route for that row.
- Optional columns unlock more: Material and End product the filters, Pieces per carrier and Carriers per trip the figures for transport units, trips and distance driven.
- If the quantity column is called “Quantity M1”, “Quantity M2” …, that becomes the timeline; whatever follows the word becomes the name of the period.
| End product | End product name | BOM level | Component | Component name | Quantity per unit | Parent component |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11223 | Panel Vision | 1 | B2001 | Milled housing | 1 | — |
| 11223 | Panel Vision | 2 | A1001 | Alu profile 40x40 | 4 | B2001 |
| … | … | … | … | … | … | … |
What you need to know about this sheet:
- One row is one part in one end product.
- Three columns are required: End product, BOM level and Component.
- The BOM level says how deep a part sits: 1, 2, 3 … The column “Parent component” says what it hangs on; without it every part hangs directly on the end product.
- The quantity per unit is optional and gives the comparison between what should be installed and what arrived according to the delivery data.
- The material numbers are the same as in the first sheet; that is how the two tables find each other.
Every column and what it does
- SourceRequired
- The place where the journey starts; the name has to appear on the floor plan exactly like this.
- SinkRequired
- The place where the journey ends; this name, too, has to appear on the floor plan exactly like this.
- Material
- The material number of the part being moved, from which the analysis builds the material filter.
- Material description
- The description belonging to the material number, so the filter shows words instead of digits.
- End product
- The material number of the end product this journey belongs to; it separates a part that sits in several products.
- Pieces per carrier
- How many pieces fit into one carrier, from which the analysis computes transport units instead of piece counts.
- Carrier
- The kind of carrier, such as a box pallet, a pallet or a rack, which appears as a filter of its own.
- Means of transport
- The means of transport used, such as a forklift, a tugger train or a hand cart, which appears as a filter of its own.
- Carriers per trip
- How many carriers go on one trip, from which the analysis computes trips and distance driven.
- QuantityRequired
- The quantity moved; if the column is called “Quantity M1”, “Quantity M2” …, whatever follows the word becomes the name of a period.
- End productRequired
- The material number of the finished product this row belongs to.
- End product name
- The description of the finished product in plain words.
- BOM levelRequired
- How deep the part sits in the product, counted from 1 for the topmost level.
- ComponentRequired
- The material number of the part, the same number as on the “Delivery data” sheet.
- Component name
- The description of the part in plain words.
- Quantity per unit
- How many pieces of the part sit in one piece of the end product.
- Parent component
- The material number of the part this one hangs on; without this column every part hangs directly on the end product.
Enter the dimensions
Set the width and length of the hall in metres. That gives the floor plan a scale, so Shopfloor Wizard can compute distances and everything built on them correctly.
Draw the sections
Draw the parts of the hall: goods in, production, dispatch. Sections are labels only. They help you read the plan and help with assigning places.
Draw the aisle areas
Draw aisles as areas with their real width on the floor plan. The matching centre line is created automatically and later serves as the basis for the material flow calculation.
Set the places
Put sources and sinks directly on the floor plan as places. That anchors the start and end points of the material flows in the layout.
Tile the place footprints
Simply paint the footprints onto the floor plan with the brush. The tile size sets the level of detail: small for precise work, larger for quick planning.
Draw the material flow
Draw the internal connections directly on the floor plan. As soon as they are attached to the aisle network, the tool works out the matching route to the target by itself. A green tick shows which connections are properly attached to the network.
Open the analysis
The visualisations show you how material moves through your hall and which sections or routes are used most heavily.