Tekla Web API

Cloud‑based Tekla Web Service auto‑builds models, scrubs drawings —zero manual effort for BlueScope Steel NA teams.

Quick Facts

Technologies:

Platform:

Status:

Project URL:

Client:

C#, Tekla API, IPC, Hosted Services, SQL Server, ASP.Net Core, .Net Core, Azure Service Bus, Azure App Service

Windows, Azure

Deployed (internal application)

Blue Scope Steel North America

Project Title

Tekla Web Service – On‑Demand Drawing & Model Generation in the Cloud

Industry

Pre‑Engineered Metal Buildings / Structural Detailing Automation

Technologies & Tools

ASP.NET Core, Azure Service Bus, Azure App Service, Azure Blob Storage, Tekla Open API (headless), Windows Worker Services

Client

BlueScope Steel North America

Challenges

Self‑service drawings: Detailers waited hours for manual exports from modeling specialists.
Compute‑heavy operations: Local workstations bogged down when batch‑generating large shop‑drawing sets.
Multi‑brand scalability: VP Buildings and BMP each needed unique title blocks and naming conventions.
Secure file delivery: IT required that finished drawings land on an on‑prem server behind the firewall.

Solution

Stateless Request API
ASP.NET Core Web API receives drawing requests from existing desktop apps, validates JSON payloads, and publishes them to Azure Service Bus.
Two‑Stage Worker Pipeline
Model Worker: Spins up a headless Tekla instance in Azure, opens the correct template, applies job parameters, and saves to Blob Storage.
Drawing Worker: Pulls the model, auto‑creates drawings, runs a “scrub” routine (layer cleanup, title‑block injection, revision stamps), and exports drawings.
Hybrid File Delivery
Completed packages are pushed to BlueScope’s on‑prem file server; an email with the download path is sent to the requester.

Results

BlueScope’s engineers now generate production‑ready drawings on demand without monopolizing Tekla licenses or workstations, accelerating project schedules and slashing human error.