Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD

Electrical to Substation Design

Joe Weaver – Nashville Electric Service
Todd Starling - Nashville Electric Service

UT4962-P This class will cover some of the challenges faced with adopting AutoCAD Electrical for
use in designing substation control and communications systems as well as the solutions found during
one company's journey from simple 2D AutoCAD drawings to a fully integrated BIM approach. Topics
will include strategies for adaptation, possible areas of interest within your company, as well as thoughts
on training and standards.

Learning Objectives
At the end of this class, you will be able to:
 Identify the need for BIM strategies within your organization
 Identify the areas within your company's workflow that may need changing to align with an AutoCAD
Electrical workflow
 Develop a training strategy for key users and trainers
 Develop standards to make symbol creation, data management and project structure simpler and
more consistent

About the Speaker

Joe is the principal associate engineer in the Control Design section at Nashville Electric
Service. He has spent the past 29 years designing electrical substation protection, control, and
communications systems. Over the years the tools used for drafting and design have evolved
from vellum and pencils through many versions of AutoCAD software, leading to the adoption
of AutoCAD Electrical software in 2010. During this time Joe has also served as CAD manager
for this section, as well as for other sections in the Engineering department. Joe is currently
developing and adapting the AutoCAD Electrical and Substation Design Suite software toolkits
for Nashville Electric Service.
Email: jweaver@nespower.com

Todd is a Sr. Assoc. Engineer in the Control Design section at Nashville Electric Service. He
has spent the last 9 yrs. designing electrical substation protection, control and communication
systems. He spent the previous 9 yrs. working in Customer Engineering designing overhead
lines and underground installations. He has used several versions of AutoCAD software
through the years. He is currently using AutoCAD Electrical and Substation Design Suite
software toolkits at Nashville Electric Service.
Email: tstarling@nespower.com
 Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD Electrical to Substation Design

Overview
While this class will attempt to steer the user in the right direction, it should be noted that there is no one
right direction. Different utilities will have different needs and standards requirements. Efforts are being
made to standardize many of the processes and methods utilities use, but that day may be a while yet in
coming. For now, the topics and experiences discussed in this class are at best useful for your own
internal discussions.
One of the primary needs for a class such as this is the fact that AutoCAD Electrical wasn’t originally
created for designing substation control systems. This means that there are a lot of symbols and catalog
information that are missing for the electric utility industry. The other reason is that while we all do
basically the same thing, no two utilities do things the same way. In some cases even different regions of
the same large company aren’t consistent.
This means that everyone in our industry will be having to adapt. Either adapting AutoCAD Electrical to
their needs or adapting their processes to use AutoCAD Electrical. More than likely it will be a matter of
some of both. The following is an attempt to help with that.

Identify the need for BIM strategies within your organization

For the purposes of this class, we are typically referring to AutoCAD Electrical and Autodesk Vault
Professional when referring to a “BIM solution”. At Nashville Electric Service we are also using the
Automation Force Substation Design Suite tools which are an add-on for AutoCAD Electrical and
Autodesk Inventor targeted at substation design needs. Your company’s solution may include other
tools.
It would be very easy to just say that everyone will benefit from using a BIM approach (and it would be
mostly true) but we all know that such statements don’t swing budgets towards major changes in existing
processes. For that you are going to have to take a look at where and how BIM can benefit your
company.

What is BIM?
The best place to start is to make sure that everyone is on the same page as far as what BIM is. Most
people have heard of it and may have some idea of what it is, but you can’t assume that everyone has
the same things in mind. Plan to spend a little time on defining what you are looking for in a BIM solution.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say:

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a digital representation of physical and functional

characteristics of a facility. A BIM is a shared knowledge resource for information about a
facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle; defined as existing from
earliest conception to demolition.
- Wikipedia

The first sentence of this definition is what most people think of; a digital representation of a facility. This
is a very good start, but the next sentence holds the parts that really matter. A “shared knowledge
resource” about a facility is a key part of a BIM solution. With AutoCAD Electrical that comes in the form
of common symbol libraries, catalog data, drawing and project information, etc. It is this “shared
knowledge resource” that drives consistency and accuracy in the design phase.
BIM also supports the “reliable basis for decisions” by allowing the user to visualize their facility in new
ways. A fully connected model allows the user to quickly trace circuits for errors and propagate changes
throughout a project, thus reducing errors in the field and speeding up change orders.

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 Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD Electrical to Substation Design

A BIM philosophy also lends itself to a modular approach to design. Gone are the day of simple lines,
circles arcs and text. This is a new world of wires, coils, contacts and attributes. Pieces and parts that
have information embedded that not only helps the software do its job, but provides the user with
information at their fingertips and in various reports.
The most important thing to remember is that this is a model of YOUR system and it should contain as
much of your information as needed. Not as much as possible. Don’t get bogged down by trying to
gather every little scrap of information. You can always add more at a later time.

How Can BIM Help You?

In order to identify your needs, it may be helpful to consider some of the things BIM brings to the table.
Once you know what can be done you may be better positioned to leverage those benefits to improve
your company’s situation. Some of these will be discussed below.

Improved Visualization
Visualization is a term that gets tossed about a lot and usually means 3D to most people. However
visualization simply means looking at your model in different ways. For the structural people, 3D is
the only way to fly and is perfect for what they do. For the Procurement department, the BOM is
king. For us sparky’s, the schematic are the arcane scrolls that hold the key to everything.
All of those are just representations of the same thing presented different ways. Traditionally these
all came from separate sets of documents and drawings. With a BIM solution all of these can
become part of one model. Running various reports against this model can then provide things like
BOM’s, wiring lists, assembly instructions, etc.
By using AutoCAD Electrical and Autodesk Inventor we have achieved the first step of this goal at
Nashville Electric Service. Both our structural and P&C systems have been successfully modeled at
at least one substation.

Improved Productivity
By using a modular approach whenever possible, and tracking and making all information available
for reuse, a BIM solution will naturally speed up the process of design. From readily available
symbols and catalog information to reference information and design checks, all parts of AutoCAD
Electrical are designed with this approach in mind. Almost every opportunity to enter information is
coupled with a chance to select information previously used. This saves time and improves
consistency.

Improved Coordination of Construction Drawings

Construction drawings produced by a BIM solution tend to be more consistent within themselves due
to software and standards restrictions. By limiting the choices a designer has to approved symbols,
circuits and catalog parts a BIM solution drives consistency in the final documents.
The interconnected nature of a model also means that changes in the model are automatically (or
very easily) propagated throughout all drawings. For example, field marks from the construction
phase can be made on schematics and all other affected drawings are updated as well. Which
reduces the time needed for As Built changes significantly as well as insuring that all marks are
properly propagated.

Embedding and linking of vital information

As mentioned above, information is the prime ingredient in BIM. Graphical representations of that
information are great, but the bottom line is the data. Through the use of attributes and hyperlinks
pretty much anything you want to know about a component or system can be captured. This is
where the term “knowledge capture” really comes into its own.

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 Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD Electrical to Substation Design

Attributes can hold things like basic part information, specific vendor instructions, location
information, ratings, map coordinates, etc. Basically anything you need to keep track of. Hyperlinks
can then link to larger information resources such as user manuals or product specs. At Nashville
Electric Service we are using the default web link attribute in our symbols to point to the user’s
manual if one exists. This puts an often used resource within a couple of clicks of the design
environment. Information at your fingertips should be one of the goals of an AutoCAD Electrical
implementation.

Reduced Errors
Much of the BIM philosophy is aimed at reducing human interaction in the process. This is not only
to improve speed by giving us nice big chunks of information at a time, but it also reduces the
chance for human error. We all make mistakes; BIM just helps reduce the chance for that to
happen.

Reduced Time to Delivery

Everything already discussed can add up to significant time savings over the course of an entire job.
From the design phase through the checking phase and on into the physical print production phase,
a BIM model adds value and reduces time. Early numbers project that we should see about a 47%
decrease in overall project time. Given how full our schedules have been the past few years, that’s
an enormous gain.

Reduced Costs
The bottom line is what usually gets the most attention, and a BIM approach can have a serious
impact here. In the beginning it might seem otherwise, but that initial investment in time getting
things in place will pay off many times over in the long run. As shown above, from cutting design
time to reducing time checking and correcting errors, AutoCAD Electrical can present a huge
savings in our most costly resource. Labor. That fact alone is often enough to get the ear of
management.

How Can You Tell if BIM is Right for Your Company?

Now that you have an idea of what BIM offers, it is time to take a look at your company and see if there
is a need and where that need is strongest. This introspective study doesn’t need to be terribly in-depth
at this point, but it does need to be honest.

Biggest Time Hog

One place to start is to look at where you spend the most of your design time. Logically if you can
automate or otherwise reduce the time spent on this area, you will see the biggest savings. For
Nashville Electric Service this area was the switchboard and equipment wiring diagrams. It was
estimated that these drawings take up about 60% of the overall project time. When you consider
that this information is already defined in the schematics it really makes that percentage seem
obscene.

Repetitive Tasks
Another thing to consider are things your designers have to do over and over again. Repetitive
tasks are always prime targets for automation. BIM carries an inherent philosophy of “Do it once
and never again.” That may seem a bit extreme, but if you have to do something more than a couple
of times, you should find a way to make it quicker & easier to do.

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 Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD Electrical to Substation Design

A good example of this are title blocks. Many people have semi-intelligent title blocks already.
Within a BIM solution, title blocks are not only managed by the system, but can be queried and used
to build various lists and reports such as checking lists or document transmittal letters. Information
can also be pushed back into the title blocks in seconds rather than editing each of a hundred sheets
to add someone’s initials after they’ve signed off on a design.

Repetitive Information
Similar to repetitive tasks, repetitive information is an area that BIM can help with. Everyone has
information they reuse over and over again in a substation. Bus labels, operating instructions,
contact functions, etc. Typing those over and over again is prone to mistakes and typos. By storing
all of that in the model or external support files, the user has ready access to them without having to
type them. Here again we see a reduction in time and errors. Even when the designer needs a new
label not in a list, a similar label can be used as a ready-made template. Over the course of a large
project this alone can save hours of design time.

Common/Shared Information
Look into what information is common between the design groups as well as other groups. Most
companies will find that they have information that is used by various departments but also stored in
various locations. This leads to information getting out of date in one file or another eventually.
Usually none of them will agree after a while. Consolidating information in a single location is always
desirable. And while it may be near impossible to get everyone in your company on-board, you can
at least keep all of your design related data in a single model.
Decide early on what information your company needs to store and track. This is beyond general
part information needed for the BOM. Start with things that are common to all substations, like
address, phone numbers or voltage class. One way NES has applied this it to add a link to the
North arrow on all our one lines to a map with driving directions from our office. This is now a very
handy tool for new employees to find their way around.

Learn how to identify the areas within your company's workflow that may
need changing to align with an AutoCAD Electrical workflow
In spite of the lengthy heading, this step is pretty simple on the surface. What will you need to address
to make a BIM approach easier? We all have processes and practices in place now that may or may not
make sense under a new design philosophy. Legacy practices are the most common offender, but
newer processes that didn’t consider a BIM approach may need tweaking as well.

How Are Your Standards?

Possibly one of the most talked about topics at AU for the past several years, Standards are usually
anything but. Everyone has them, and they are all different from one another.

Standards Can Make or Break an Organization

Good standards can make life much easier when transitioning to a model based approach. Bad or
incomplete standards can make it much harder or at the very least more time consuming. Well
defined existing standards give cad managers a solid starting point for creating the smart symbols
that will be needed as well as giving guidance on creating standard circuits.

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 Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD Electrical to Substation Design

Invest the Time to Improve Them

Many organizations considering a transition to a BIM design philosophy will have some time before
all the software and other changes can be planned for and started. Use this time to polish up any
standards you have and/or plan for any new standards you identify a need for during these planning
discussions.

Adopt Existing Standards

One option is to make the change to adopt an existing standard such as IEEE, JIC, or NFPA. This is
probably the fastest route to get going with AutoCAD Electrical, but will typically cause the most
change related headaches in other departments. These libraries will also not have all the symbols
needed for substation design, so some symbol creation will still be necessary.
There is some hope on the horizon here. For a couple of years now a group of electric utilities has
been meeting to develop a set of standards based around AutoCAD Electrical. The goal of this
consortium is to make the design process for substation control systems as automated and as
flexible as possible. For more information about this group, please visit the link below:
<substation360.com link here>

Do You Have Old Systems in Place?

One of the major benefits to a BIM solution is the ability to provide information to other business
systems. This integration should ideally allow Work Order information to be fed into the design system
(the BIM solution) and the design information to be fed back into the Work Management and
Procurements systems. Unfortunately at many utilities these external systems may be older legacy
systems or may be behind on necessary updates due to internal customizations. This can present some
challenges.

Limited Integration Possibilities

Older business systems were probably written with no concern for integration and therefore have
little facility for pushing data into them. Similarly, exporting any data will likely be very minimal in
nature. Complex interconnect programs to get data into these are not only costly to create and
maintain, but can add another production roadblock to upgrading those systems.

Complex & Costly to Upgrade or Replace

Replacing a business system or even carrying out a long overdue upgrade can be a huge task for
any company, so that isn’t something to be taken lightly. However, the needs of your BIM project
are another pressure point for change, so don’t be afraid to express your needs to your IT staff.
They can use that to help justify the time and expense needed to upgrade or change.

Phased Approach
Keep in mind that any such change will happen slowly and in phases. That doesn’t have to mean
that your BIM project has to sit idle waiting for all of this to be completed. Tackle your design needs
in phases as well so that progress is being made in spite of not being able to complete the ultimate
goal of seamless integration. Communicate with your IT staff as you go along and model your BIM
solution as if the current systems could do what you want and move forward as if those changes will
be in place when you are ready for them. Modeling your solution around existing systems is a pretty
safe bet as these will probably change as little as possible unless a wholesale replacement is
decided on.

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 Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD Electrical to Substation Design

The above actually reflects what is happening at Nashville Electric Service right now. One
of the long term goals of our BIM project is integration with our Work Management System.
Unfortunately that system is several upgrades behind because of internal connector
programs written for other systems that would cease to function. It is also a very closed
system and pushing data in is very much frowned upon.

We are using the current system as a model for how we expect the data to be formatted
and used, so this is being incorporated into our symbology and catalog data. We feel it is
a calculated risk that these factors will not change significantly when upgrading our WMS.

Are There Processes That Haven't Changed in Decades?

Any company that has been around very long is going to have processes that have been in place for a
long time. Sometimes these are as good as they can get for what they do. More often than not though
there is room for improvements that can help with our BIM solution.

Things You’ve “Always done that way”

We all have these. Processes handed down from the old guard to the new over the years. No one
knows where they started or why, but you do them because “We’ve always done it that way.” Give
these a good looking over and decide if there is value in what is being done or value in doing it
another way. Then document whatever process you decide on.
Even documented processes can be revisited if new technology or standards require it. Reviewing
all of your processes to some degree isn’t a bad idea as there may be areas that can benefit from
automation and information modeling. Finding those areas and bringing about the necessary
changes are a large part of deciding how your BIM solution is going to benefit your company.
Above all else, be open to the possibility of change. In general people do not like change and you
WILL encounter resistance to it simply because it IS change. Just because something has been
good enough for years doesn’t mean it can’t be better; and aligning these processes with a BIM
solution means they can be supported by that solution making everything faster and more efficient.

At Nashville Electric Service we have drastically altered the process of documenting our
AC Station Service and DC Battery Plant to work more in line with an AutoCAD Electrical
workflow. Where previously we made very basic one line type drawings and relied on field
crew knowledge to physically put these systems in place in our substations, with ACADE
we have much more complex and complete schematic drawings which drive the wiring and
mounting information. This moves the required knowledge for these systems out of the
crew’s heads and into the model where it belongs.

Discuss Your Processes with Field Crews

As much as we like to think our design documents are providing the field crews with everything they
need to know, the truth is probably somewhere short of that if you aren’t regularly talking to them
about their processes as well as your own. If there are problems with the documents they are the
people who are most likely to know about it, and they are usually pretty vocal about it if you give
them the chance.

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 Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD Electrical to Substation Design

In all likelihood you will find that the crews may be interpreting things differently than you expect. In
some cases tool restrictions may cause them to use a different part than you designed. In other
instances space restrictions may cause them to change where something gets mounted. These may
be simple changes on the design end that mean quite a bit to the crews. But if you never talk to
them they will just wonder why you keep designing it wrong.
You might also find that they are using your drawings in ways you didn’t expect. Anything not clearly
specified might be inferred from what is shown coupled with past experience. Knowing that the
crews are using your drawings this way can allow the designer to better document those uses and
avoid mistakenly removing something important to our customers without providing a replacement.

An example of this is when we went to the new switchboard wiring process that no longer
shows the wire bundles. Our field crews told that they had always used those to determine
where to mount wire duct on the backs of the panels. We had no idea they were doing that
and had assumed they mounted them based on where the equipment studs were.

Lesson learned. We now will be calling for those wire ways in our BOM and placing them
on the layout drawings, where they belong.

Shadow Your Field Crews

If possible, job shadowing a field crew through a job can be an incredibly valuable experience. Too
often we assume we know how things are done and make design decisions based on those
assumptions. Having first-hand knowledge of the processes in the field can help us make wiser
decisions.

Do You Have Proprietary Practices/Processes?

By “Proprietary” we mean things you do that no one else does. This may be a bit harder to nail down
since most of us in this industry have very little interaction with other utilities; so it can seem like
everything we do is proprietary. That is seldom the case as we are all doing basically the same things.
The parts and methods may differ, but the bottom line is we are all designing substation controls to keep
the power on and the system protected from damage.
There is much to be gained by having frank and open discussions with employees from other utilities.
AU has been a treasure trove of such opportunities and have led to many other discussions outside of
AU. Those have been invaluable in learning how we do things similar to others and where we have
gone way down our own path. Take advantage of any opportunity to talk to others in our industry.
Also, as you begin to adopt modeling software you may encounter tasks or processes that you can’t
figure out how to model. These may run so contrary to known best practices that this process qualifies
as proprietary. Once identified, look at these practices in the following light.
What is the value of these practices?
Most often, what we are really committed to is the product of a process, not the process itself. There
may be by-products that are useful, so we should be mindful of that. However, if there aren’t too
many things that depend on various stages of a process, it is very likely that the desired outcome
(product or information) can be achieved using a different method.

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 Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD Electrical to Substation Design

What is the impact of changing these practices?

There may be none. However, there may be others than depend on information created along the
way in your current practice. Or that depend on a certain format for the data. Be mindful of these,
but look for ways to adapt rather than abandon it all at the first sign of trouble.

Our original assignment was to adopt an “automatic wiring platform” because we knew our
process for creating wiring diagrams had been long abandoned by most utilities and pretty
much all manufacturers. We weren’t using CAD to its fullest potential by continuing on with
decades old practices left over from pen & linen days. All we had were electronic drafting
tables.

We anticipated some resistance from our wiring and Test groups because of the change
from what we had always done. There had been some softening of the blow a few years
ago when we stopped redrawing manufacturer’s drawings and used the wire list type
drawings as they were. This exposure made adopting the AutoCAD Electrical drawings
much easier.

Combined with talking to these other departments and using that feedback to improve our
model and final output drawings, the change is going a lot smoother than we expected.

Do You Have Management Support?

Probably the most vital thing to identify within your company before even getting started is who you will
have to get on board with all of the changes you are proposing. Management support, or rather the lack
of, can kill a project before it gets started. Along those lines, here are some suggestions to get those
people on board.
Work Up the Chain
Getting your front line supervision on board is the first step. In many cases that may be super easy
or already in place. Once these people are on board, they can champion your cause with other
members of management. Repeat this as you work your way up the chain of command. Build a
groundswell of support that is hard to ignore.
A model based approach offers a lot to many different areas within a company. It may also ask a bit
from them as well, so the support system for this project may necessarily be broad. Be careful not to
leave anyone out or they may become your biggest hurdle.
Use the Information You’ve Gathered
All of the things identified in the above sections are to help get your design groups ready to take on
adopting a BIM solution at your company. They are also ammunition for seeking management
support. These are the points for showing where improvements can be made and/or processes
streamlined with AutoCAD Electrical. Use hard numbers where possible. Even numbers that are
clearly defined as estimates will carry more weight than just words
Have a Plan
Having a plan of attack is the best way to gain support. It shows that you have not only taken the
time to consider at least some of the hurdles along the way and given some thought to how to
overcome them, but also that you are conscious of the resources you are asking for.

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 Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD Electrical to Substation Design

The plan doesn’t have to be perfect, but the more time and effort you put into it, the more reasonable
and potentially accurate your plan will be. Also, consider having some options available. This gives
your project a better chance of securing funding and resources.
Keep It Real
Keep expectations reasonable and achievable. Nothing causes suspicion more than pie in the sky
promises. And few things cause more disappointment than buying into something that doesn’t
deliver on those promises. By taking the long hard look at what can be done and what should be
done, coming up with reasonable goals should be very possible.
Breaking your plan up into phases can help make reasonable and achievable goals. Little
successes build confidence within the design group as well as outside. This may have the added
benefit of letting you introduce changes to other departments in small doses rather than all at once.

Develop a training strategy for key users and trainers

Training is probably the biggest single impact on a company when transitioning to any new system.
AutoCAD Electrical is no exception. Even seasoned AutoCAD users will have a lot of learning, and in
many cases unlearning, to do. Beyond the new features of the software itself, there will be new
symbology and general design philosophies to become familiar with. The following points are applicable
to most training needs, but reflect what we and others we have talked to have done with AutoCAD
Electrical.

Build a Core Group

Unless your company’s design group is pretty small, most companies will pick the best and brightest to
handle the initial adoption of and adaption to AutoCAD Electrical. More often than not these same
people will be tasked with training since they are the ones who know all of the ins and outs of the
software and libraries.
Members of this group should have extensive work experience and/or extensive AutoCAD experience.
Both are obviously preferred. This knowledge is vital in the early stages where symbols need to be
created or adjusted for company standards, parts catalogs and libraries need to be built, etc. The
knowledge of your company’s workflows will be invaluable in making them mesh with AutoCAD Electrical
workflows.
These people should also be able to facilitate communications with employees outside the design
departments to gather information and take feedback. We all know people who are just not good at
working with others. Such people may have much to offer, but should probably play a different role on
your team.
You also want this early team to be made up of people who are adaptable and willing to try new things.
People like that are generally able to learn things quicker and will often find innovative ways of doing
things. Folks that resist change out of principle are not going to make good trainers.
Together, this group of early adopters will become your Best Practices team.

Determine How the Bulk of Training will be Handled

Deciding how to handle training is the next big step. Each company will have different needs in this
area, but some of the same principles will apply.

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 Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD Electrical to Substation Design

Classroom Training
Classroom training is probably the best method for training if you have the facilities for it. Putting
each user in front of a training PC in a structured class with examples and assignments should give
the most bang for the buck for most users. However, classroom training usually requires quit a few
of those bucks to be paid to someone to come in and hold the training. Even more so for
customized company oriented training.

Self-paced & Online Training

Self-paced training can be an economical way to get employees some training. There are some
pretty good options for self-paced computer based training available for AutoCAD Electrical. These
are pretty generic AutoCAD Electrical usage, though. Company specific computer based training
would get expensive pretty quick.

Train the Trainer

This philosophy is one where one or a few people are given in-depth training and expected to teach
everyone else. This is probably the most common approach for many companies as the initial
financial outlay is less. The drawbacks are that these people probably aren’t cut out to be teachers
plus they have their regular jobs to do. Therefore any training they do will likely be less effective
than someone who does that for a living.

Identify Training Phases

For most companies, some combination of all of the above is the most likely scenario. Looking at the
different phases of training for AutoCAD Electrical, we can see where each of these are best suited.

Basic Training
This is going to be the starting point for everyone. Basic AOTC (Autodesk Official Training
Courseware) classes get people familiar with the software and what it can do. The examples are
pretty basic and not really applicable to utility design, but it is a good starting point. These are
available as classroom training either onsite or at a training facility as well as self-paced and online
opportunities.
Again, a classroom setting for this level is best if it can be done and should include everyone who
will be using AutoCAD Electrical. The interactions between the students and the instructor are
beneficial to all and may spark more ideas and questions.

Advanced Training
This phase should probably be limited to the people who will be serving as CAD manager or other
support personnel. Standards personnel should also be included if they will be responsible for
creating blocks and maintaining catalog data.
Advanced training should get down to the nuts and bolts of how the software works. This level of
knowledge is very important for those who will be creating or maintaining symbols or customizing
AutoCAD Electrical in any way. The complexities of symbol associations, attributes, catalog data,
pinlists and more require a good bit of study. Any advanced training you can find will be of great
benefit.
Unfortunately, there is a lot less of this level of training available and it comes with a commensurate
cost. Classroom training at this level would likely become prohibitively expensive, so look for CBT or
online opportunities. Or, consider hiring a consultant to come in for a few days and work directly
with your advanced users.

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 Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD Electrical to Substation Design

Refresher Course
In most cases some significant amount of time will likely pass between the basic training and full
implementation. The bulk of users will have forgotten most of what they learned some months
before and could use a refresher. This is a good opportunity for your training team to get some
practice by using the AOTC materials in house. Think of it as training the trainer on training.

Company Specific Training

After all the customizations and symbol building and workflow documenting has taken place, it is
time to spread this knowledge to the general user population. Most companies are going to be on
their own here unless they hire people specifically to present material they would still have to create
themselves. So Train-the-Trainer is the method most often used in this phase.
Our Best Practices team will have to document all of those new practices, of course. This will
become the basis of your user’s manual. They will also be tasked with training other users on these
workflows and be available to answer the inevitable questions that arise. These people will very
quickly become the Subject Matter Experts within your company.

Develop standards to make symbol creation, data management, and project

structure simpler and more consistent
As previously mentioned, standards are pretty wonderful things to have. And while it might seem odd to
be thinking about standards for a software system you haven’t even started using, if you spend a little
time on the front end, you can save yourself some “going back and fixing” on the back end. One of the
lessons we learned is that any time you can lock down or severely restrict a process, you gain speed,
accuracy and consistency. The word “restrict” may sound a bit harsh, but the truth is that the more
processes we restrict or control through the software the more we actually free up the designer to think
about more important things.

The Who, What, Where & How

We’ve already talked about gathering information and deciding what information your company has a
need to store and track. So how do you deal with it all?
For AutoCAD Electrical that information will be stored on Attributes within the schematic symbols.
(Some information is also stored on other symbols but the primary model is made up from the
schematics.) Straight out of the box, most symbols display a certain subset of those attributes and
keeps others such as system required attributes invisible.
It is through this mechanism that you will determine what information your symbols will display and what
will be kept hidden. Hidden attributes are a good way to make information about a device or sub-part
available for later reporting or other uses. Any information you need can be pushed in from the catalog
and stored in an attribute, or typed in by the user.

Attribute Templates
Once you know what information you need, and what you want to show, the next step is to create
attribute templates to make building your symbol library easier and quicker. By pre-determining the
relative locations of your attributes, their style, alignment, size and visibility state, you have made
your first restriction, and freed yourself from having to consider all of those factors again until you hit
that odd symbol or two that need special care. And even then you are most likely only relocating the
attributes already defined.

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 Take Control of the Situation: Adapting AutoCAD Electrical to Substation Design

Parts Catalog
As previously mentioned, typing is a human process and therefore prone to error. By pre-loading
descriptive text, pin information, labels and anything else you can into the parts catalog you can
greatly reduce the amount of information being typed in. A minor tweak usually for item specific
data, then on to the next thing.
Deciding on a standard format for such labels and descriptive information in the beginning will mean
your library will have a consistent look and feel. This consistency caries right on through into the
design drawings and the final construction documents.

External Files
Another nice feature of AutoCAD Electrical is the ability to store often used text strings (labels,
functional descriptions, etc.) in external files that can be referenced from any project. Here again,
limiting typing by offering pre-loaded strings reduces errors and provides for speed and consistency.

More About the SDS Consortium

Briefly mentioned above, the Substation Design Solution Industry Consortium is a group of utilities who
have joined together to work with Autodesk and its partners to improve the state of substation design
through standards and common toolkits.
Initially formed at AU 2010, the consortium has been steadily growing under the wing of Autodesk until
this past summer when we officially elected a governing council and established a charter defining the
group and it’s mission. That mission being to establish various standards and best practices for the
industry such that more automation and design tools can be written which support a wide range of
companies, and to seek standard symbology and part information data from our manufacturers.
With members from many of the country’s largest power utilities on board, this group is poised to make
serious changes to the industry. If you are interested in joining or would like more information, please
contact myself or one of the people listed below.

Contacts:
Joe Weaver – Nashville Electric Service – P&C Chairperson - jweaver@nespower.com
Michael Goins – Duke Energy – SDS Consortium Chairperson - Michael.Goins@duke-energy.com
John Thomas – Southern Company – SDS Consortium CoChair - JDTHOMAS@southernco.com

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