Layer Issues Concerning Plant Layout

[mrisaacpounders]

I recently started an internship with a company who makes radiators for power transformers. The first task they have given me is to clean up their plant layout file. The file currently has 125 layers in it due to machine blocks dragging in unwanted layers whenever they bought new machines. (presses, rolling machines, powdercoating, welding, ect...) I have been having trouble getting rid of and simplifying their floor plan. I tried creating blocks for each group of machines and changing the layer of the block to the desired layer. This seems to change the block to the right layer, but it still references to the other layers it was previously in. I want to keep the separate colors that show different parts of the machines, but I still need to eliminate the unwanted layers. Is there any way to consolidate the layers while keeping the different colors within the blocks I tried to create? Any help would be greatly appreciated. They have me working on Autocad 2006.

[RobDraw]

There is no easy answer for that.
You need a plan. Get a list of the companies standard layers and properties. If they don't have one, make one of your own. That's the easy part. Depending on how the drawing was created, you may have to go into each block and redefine it so that it meets those standards. Layer merge might help also but it depends. There are other things to consider such as linetypes, blocks within blocks. It really comes down to what you have and being clear on what is needed and developing a strategy for getting there.

[nestly]

If objects inside a block are assigned a layer, then they inherit the properties of the assigned layer regardless of the layer the actual block is on. Similarly, if the objects inside a block are assigned a specific color, linetype, lineweight etc, that's how they will display regardless of the layer they are drawn on, or the layer the block is on, and that's why changing the layer of the block, or grouping multiple blocks together into another block doesn't change the way they display, or allow you to remove any layers.

How to resolve it depends on how the blocks are created, and how you want to manage the colors after you're finished. Any chance you can post a drawing that contains one or two of these blocks?

[nestly]

I'll also add that consolidating layers may not even be the best option. In some cases, it may be better just to use a layer naming system that allows you group and filter certain types of layers from being displayed.

[mrisaacpounders]

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, I won't be able to post an example for review unless I get permission from my supervisor. I tried to get a list of the layers that I need to have when I finish, but I didn't exactly get a concise list. They simply asked me to get rid of all the layers that refer to the corresponding machine while keeping the appearence of the machines the same.

[nestly]

They simply asked me to get rid of all the layers that refer to the corresponding machine while keeping the appearence of the machines the same.

That sounds like they want all the objects inside the blocks on just one layer, but with color/linetype overrides, and that sounds like a lot of manual work to me, especially with LT. How extensive the work is still depends on whether the objects inside the block already have property overrides or not.