The purpose of this article is to unpack the benefits and purpose of the gondola blocks CAD object in the DotActiv application. We also discuss how this CAD object affects reporting.
Applicable Products: DotActiv Enterprise
What Is A Gondola Block?
A ‘Gondola Block’ is a CAD object that shows where gondolas/planograms should or can be placed on the floor plan.
The Benefits Of Gondola Blocks
- They allow gondolas to be moved and placed with precision anywhere on the floor. Gondola blocks allow planograms to snap into position and to be packed next to each other.
- They help improve the aesthetics of the floor plan where a CAD drawing does not exist.
- Creating gondola blocks is done as a once-off exercise and is much quicker the second time around because the planograms would just snap into the already created gondola blocks.
- The future picture will see gondola blocks being used to pinpoint gondola space allocation and positioning on the floor plan which will assist with floor plan automation.
- The gondola blocks also assist with manual or automatic packing of gondolas on the floor plan.
What Is The Main Purpose Of Gondola Blocks?
The purpose of gondola blocks is to act as placeholders that represent the space to be allocated on a floor plan.
This is especially true in instances where one needs to draw a floor plan from scratch where a CAD drawing does not exist.
How Does Gondola Blocks Affect Floor Plan Reporting?
Gondola blocks don’t affect floor plan reporting because they are merely placeholders. The data detail that shows in the reports comes from the gondolas or planograms that are placed on the gondola blocks.
Example 1
The following is an example of planograms placed directly on the floor plan with no gondola blocks.
As you can see below, the information is still populated in the Floor & Gondola Report even if there are no Gondola Blocks on this floor plan.
Example 2
In the example below, the gondola blocks have been added to a floor plan. However, no gondolas or planograms have been added to the blocks.
Please note that Gondola Blocks on the floor plan are just placeholders.
No reports have been attached to this example as the gondola blocks do not contain any detail information.