Tekla automation playbook
Tekla rewards consistency. The teams that win automate the boring parts — connection libraries, drawing sets, IFC export — so the engineers spend their time on the actual structural decisions, not babysitting marks and balloons.
Connection libraries decay if you do not maintain them
A connection that worked on three projects fights you on the fourth because steel grades, plate codes, and weld symbols all drifted. A monthly audit catches the drift before fabrication does.
Drawing automation pays back within one project
A 20-storey job has ~600 drawings if you let the macro decide; ~280 if you compose the templates yourself. The compose investment is one week and four projects of payback.
CIS/2 still matters for fabricators
IFC is the default handover; CIS/2 is what shops still accept on legacy lines. Exporting both costs nothing and avoids the "we cannot read this" call.
Articles included in this guide
Tekla connection libraries that do not fight you
A practitioner-level guide to building Tekla connection libraries without the usual headaches: parameter sprawl, ambiguous component names, and the dreaded "what does this do?" question.
Tekla fabrication handoff: standardise it before the project starts
A standard model-to-fabrication handoff prevents the back-and-forth that costs steel projects two days per drawing iteration.
Tekla custom components: the maintenance trap
A third of custom components break across major Tekla releases. Three habits keep them maintainable across version upgrades.
CIS/2 vs IFC for steel: when to choose each
CIS/2 is the steel industry's native format; IFC is the all-discipline lingua franca. Picking right depends on receiver, not personal preference.
Connection design review automation in Tekla
Reviewing 5,000 connections manually is impossible. Rule-based filters reduce the review to a 30-line exception report.
Tools that pair with this post
Connection Library
$79Intent-named connections that fabricators do not have to interpret.
Drawing Automation
$59Rule-driven drawing generation for structural sets.
IFC Export
$49Provenance-preserving IFC export with parameter tracing.
Tekla Suite — All Three
$149Connection Library + Drawing Automation + IFC Export.