Component Optimization

Coming Soon! Available for Enterprise Plans only. D.A.N. Optimization currently only supports Profile Truss designs. Support for Feature Pattern Truss designs will be coming at a later date.

Optimize Truss Designs with Paragon D.A.N.

Paragon D.A.N. compares alternative truss designs to help you find a passing design at a lower cost. You choose which changes D.A.N. can explore and which costs to include, then review the results before applying them.

Use D.A.N. to optimize an individual component or search for improvements across all components for a whole project. You can also use it to explore alternatives when a component is having trouble passing analysis checks.

Optimize a component

1. Open a component in Paragon Design and click Analyze to establish the baseline truss design. Apply any modifications to members, splices, etc. as-desired.
2. Click the D.A.N. Optimization icon in the toolbar—the truss with sparkles—to open D.A.N. Optimization.
3. Select Settings and define optimization parameters

   1. Review pricing for Lumber and Plate material that is in the truss but missing from the Pricing App.
   2. Define any Labor Factors and Bracing parameters to consider during optimization
   3. Specify the Algorithm Settings that control which design changes you want D.A.N. to explore impacting Lumber and Plates .
4. Click Run Optimization
5. On the Results tab, compare the original design with the best result found so far. Expand the cost sections to explore what changes contribute to any difference in pricing.
6. When the optimization run finishes, use Explain Changes for an under What changed? for an AI-generated summary of the differences. Additionally expand the Selected result expander to review the breakdown of costs and the % change from the original design.
7. Click Adopt to apply the selected result. Paragon replaces the current component design with that optimized result and runs a full upgrade and analysis. Review the resulting checks.
8. From the Analysis and History sidebar, click Compare Analyses and select two versions of design which presents a dialog with a detailed comparison of the design versions.

You can click Stop to end an individual optimization run early.

Set the factors & costs D.A.N. compares

The best result depends on the costs and options you select. A design with less lumber may require more plates, more fabrication labor, or more required bracing upon installation.

Define the costs that matter to your operation so D.A.N. can compare those tradeoffs.

Labor Factors and Algorithm Settings used for optimization are saved to your browser for use across other component optimization sessions.

Material prices

Review the Lumber and Plates sections in Settings, including any notifications about missing organization prices. Prices affect which design D.A.N. considers preferable.

Material price overrides apply only to the current component's optimization session and are not preserved.

Labor Factors

Enable the labor allowances you want included in the comparison:

• Cuts
• Member Count ($/piece)
• Unique Members
• Joints
• Splices
• Lumber Volume ($/bd ft)
• Plate Pairs
• Two-Ply Assembly
• Three-Ply Assembly

A factor that is turned off or set to $0 adds no cost. Member Count charges per piece; Lumber Volume charges per board foot. Both contribute to labor cost when enabled.

For example, adding a labor allowance for each plate pair can favor a design with fewer plate pairs, even if it uses more expensive lumber. Choose values that reflect your operation; changing them can affect the preferred design.

Bracing allowance

Under Bracing, enable Cost per 1,000 Board Feet to include a material cost allowance for 2×4 bracing. The calculation considers brace count and truss spacing. A higher allowance favors designs that require less bracing.

This helps account for cases where removing lumber from the truss increases the bracing needed in the building. Turn the allowance off or set it to $0 to exclude that cost.

Choose the changes D.A.N. can explore

Under Algorithm Settings, select the options for the run.

Setting	What it allows D.A.N. to explore
Optimize webbing	Alternative web arrangements
Optimize heels	Alternative heel configurations
Resize chords	Changes to chord sizes
Optimize splices	Alternative splice locations
Minimum cross-chord splice spacing (in)	A minimum horizontal distance between splices on different chords. A value of 0 applies no spacing filter
Optimize ply count	Alternative ply counts, up to the selected maximum.
Optimize plating	Plate design and cost as part of the optimization
Try off-center/rotated plating	Consider off-center and rotated plate placements during plating optimization

It's recommended to include plating when comparing complete designs.

With Optimize plating turned off, plate costs are excluded from the optimization comparison—even if plates appear in a preview. A candidate may also fail plating checks when it is adopted and fully analyzed.

Use Try off-center/rotated plating when you want D.A.N. to explore additional plate placements. You can leave it off while still including plating in the optimization.

Understand the results

The Results tab shows the original design, the best result found so far, the cost difference, and progress through the optimization run. Expand the material and labor sections to inspect the breakdown.

Why can a design with more material cost less?

D.A.N. compares the combined costs enabled for that run. More lumber might reduce plate costs, fabrication allowances, or bracing enough to lower the total. Similarly, an extra plate pair may be worthwhile when it results in lower overall material cost.

Compare the original and proposed designs within the same run. Changing the cost settings between runs also changes the basis of the comparison.

Why can the best result cost more?

If the starting design fails the checks being considered, D.A.N. can identify a passing alternative that costs more. In that situation, finding a passing design takes priority over showing savings against the failing design.

Why does optimization take longer on some components?

Larger and more complex trusses require D.A.N. to consider more combinations of webbing, splices, and plates. The options you enable also affect the work required.

The progress count may advance unevenly as D.A.N. skips candidates that cannot improve on a result already found. The search also moves through multiple stages, so finishing one stage does not mean the entire run is complete. Treat the result as the best design found during that search, rather than a guarantee that every possible design has been evaluated.

Why are utilization colors unavailable in the preview?

Optimization previews do not include all detailed analysis results. If utilization colors are unavailable, use another coloring option, such as Lumber Properties, Lumber Geometry, or No Coloring. Review the full analysis after adopting the design.

Compare the original and adopted designs

After adopting a result:

1. Open Analysis History.
2. Click Compare Analyses.
3. Select the original and updated analyses.
4. Expand the comparison sections to inspect changes in lumber, member lengths, board footage by grade, plate pairs, plate sizes, and cost.
5. Use Explain Changes for an AI-generated summary.

For a deeper comparison of individual checks and load-case results, enable Detailed in the analysis options and rerun the analyses you want to compare.

Note

Costs in Analysis History can differ from D.A.N.’s totals. Analysis History and its comparison show material costs; D.A.N.’s labor factors are not preserved with each analysis. Use the optimization results to review the comparison that includes your selected labor allowances.

Optimize a Whole Project

1. Open the three-dot Project Menu next to the project name.
2. Select Optimize Whole Project.
3. Review the number of components and the Settings tab. The settings used for individual optimization carry over to this dialog.
4. Click Run Optimization.
5. Review each component’s status, current and optimized costs, previews, and available explanation of changes.
6. Select the checkboxes for the designs you want to apply. Review Savings; project totals include component quantities.
7. Click Apply Selected Designs. Paragon applies the selected results and runs full analyses. Review the design check results.

Use Cancel Run to stop a batch optimization. Components with no savings may appear in the results; review them before deciding whether to apply a change.