plex-api is a project designed to automate the synchronization of tooling data between Autodesk Fusion 360 and the Plex Manufacturing Cloud (Rockwell Automation) for Grace Engineering.
The overarching goal of this project is to maintain an up-to-date tooling inventory without manual data entry. Crucially, the Autodesk Fusion 360 tool library files act as the single source of truth for all tooling data entering Plex.
The 30,000-Foot View & Industry Standard Data Flow:
- Source Data (Source of Truth): Autodesk Fusion 360 maintains a tool library stored as
.jsonfiles on a local network share. - Component Hierarchy (Consumables First): In standard tooling management, Tool Assemblies are made up of purchased components. The script's initial focus is on the consumable cutting tools (e.g., end mills, drills) purchased from suppliers (tracked as purchased parts via POs).
- Plex Linkage & Traceability: These consumable purchased parts are linked to Tool Assemblies. Tool Assemblies are then linked to specific Routings/Operations. When an operation runs on the shop floor, it generates a Job, which ultimately produces the manufactured Part.
- Scheduled Sync: A script runs automatically every day at midnight.
- Plex Updates: The script reads the Fusion 360 JSON files and pushes the data to Plex via its REST API, performing key actions:
- Updates the tooling inventory in the master list, focusing on connecting purchased consumables to assemblies.
- Updates the tooling in the respective workcenter document (
production/v1/control/workcenters).
- Data Management: For simplicity, state management and data files are maintained on the network shares using file overwriting.
The Plex API is a modern, RESTful service utilizing JSON for data exchange. This integration will map local JSON structures to the cloud API. Note: Due to explicit IAM role permissions, certain Tooling endpoints are hidden from the developer portal until subscribed.
- Official Documentation: Plex Manufacturing Cloud API
- Project Roadmap: See TODO.md for step-by-step implementation tasks.
- Reference: See Plex API Reference for endpoints, auth routing, and DNC details.
- Data Mapping: See Fusion360 Reference for data extraction rules.
We use Postman for upfront API discovery and management demonstrations.
By saving queries to a Postman Collection, we can manually verify the exact structure needed to push inventory updates and workcenter document updates to Plex before writing the final automation script.