PlanTools User Manual

Version 1.0 · Facility Layout Planning

PlanTools is a self-hosted facility layout planning tool. It runs on one computer inside your facility and is used through a web browser by anyone on your local network — no software is installed on individual devices, and your layout data never leaves your building.

1. Key concepts

PlanTools organizes work in a hierarchy: Facility → Building → Floor → Plan → Option. Your license covers one Facility, which may contain multiple buildings and floors. A Plan is a floor's background (its footprint). An Option is an editable layout placed on a plan — you can have many options per plan to compare ideas.

Scale is the foundation of PlanTools. Every footprint and every piece of equipment is stored at verified real-world size. Whenever geometry enters the system from a CAD file, you confirm its true dimensions before it is saved — see §5.

2. Signing in & roles

Open the address your administrator provides and sign in with your username and password. Two roles exist:

• User — create and edit layouts, build the equipment library, print.
• Admin — everything a user can do, plus manage user accounts, delete library items and options, manage the facility name, and handle licensing.

Change your own password any time from the account controls. Admins can reset passwords for others.

3. Building the facility tree

From the home screen's left panel, add a Building, then a Floor within it, then a Plan on that floor. Give each a clear name (e.g. "Main Plant" → "Production Floor" → "2026 Baseline"). Most facilities are a single building with one floor; the structure supports more when you need it.

4. The equipment library

The equipment library is yours — you build it, and it belongs to your facility. Each item carries: Informal Name, Asset ID, Cost Center, and Functional Location, plus its confirmed width and depth. You can add a simple rectangle manually, or — far better — import the real machine footprint from a DXF file (§5). Library items appear in the editor's tray for placement.

Admins can delete library items; anyone can deactivate an item to remove it from the tray without losing it.

5. Importing from DXF (scale)

Export a DXF from AutoCAD (SAVEAS → DXF) and use Import equipment from DXF (or import a plan footprint). The import wizard has three steps:

• Pick layers — select which layers make up the object; everything else is ignored.
• Calibrate — click two points whose real distance you know (corners snap precisely), then type that distance in inches. This sets the scale exactly the way AutoCAD's "scale by reference" does.
• Confirm dimensions — PlanTools shows the resulting real-world size. You confirm it before anything is saved.

6. The layout editor

Open an option to enter the editor. The canvas is true-to-scale (a 120-inch machine is 120 inches wide). Wheel to zoom, drag empty space to pan, ⛶ Fit to reframe. Drag items from the tray to place them. Select a piece to rotate (R or the 90°/15° buttons), duplicate, or delete (Delete).

7. Options & branches

Full options are complete alternative layouts of a plan — use them for whole-floor studies like material flow or shipping routes. Branch options focus on a region: click ⬚ Branch from selection, drag a box over a work cell, and PlanTools creates a cropped copy of just that area. Duplicate this tab then makes identical copies so you can develop Concept A / B / C of that cell side by side. Tabs across the top switch between all options on a plan.

8. Check-out, saves & versions

A layout is view-only until you check it out (✎ Edit). Check-out is exclusive — others can view and print while you hold it. Save writes a versioned snapshot; Done checks it back in. A forgotten check-out releases automatically after a period of inactivity. Every save is retained, so earlier versions can be restored.

9. Printing & PDF output

Click 🖶 Print / PDF from the editor. Choose 8.5×11, 11×17, or Arch D (24×36), with an optional full-bleed setting. PlanTools selects the largest standard architectural scale that fits and renders the sheet to true scale, with a title block and an equipment schedule (quantities, asset IDs, cost centers, functional locations, dimensions). Branch options print their focused region. Use your browser's Save as PDF to produce a file. The printed scale is stated on the sheet and is dimensionally accurate.

10. Administration

Admins manage user accounts (create, deactivate, reset passwords, set roles), rename the facility, delete library items and options, and handle licensing. The system prevents removing the last administrator so an install is never locked out.

11. Licensing

PlanTools is licensed per facility. The administrator activates it with a product key (online, or via an offline activation file if your network blocks outside access). If the license cannot be verified within its grace period, or the subscription ends, PlanTools enters read-only mode — you can still view and print existing layouts, but not edit — until it is reactivated. See your administrator and §11 of the Setup Guide.

12. Backups & data

All PlanTools data lives in a single folder on your facility's PlanTools computer. Your IT department backs up that folder as part of normal routine; restoring it restores everything. TRCS does not store or have access to your layouts, equipment data, or users.