Scopes & the Buddy System

In this article, we’re going to discuss one of my favorite topics - one that I bring up with almost every customer I talk to - Scopes.   Scopes can affect your company from start to finish.  What is a Scope?  A Scope, in its most general terms, is just a way for users to group fittings together.  In Vulcan, we break up Scopes into Drawings, Floor, System, Change Order, Pressure and two that are user defined.  Scopes are used across the QuickPen portfolio.  In many cases, Scopes are defined when a CAD drawing is developed, and those same Scopes are exported directly into Vulcan.  At this point, Scopes take on a different life, and it’s all about visual recognition or, in most cases, colors.  Why are colors so important?  Well, it’s simple. It eliminates the need to read. 

Throughout the manufacturing process, Scope colors allow users to keep like fittings together so that when fabrication is complete and fittings make their way to the staging area prior to shipment, multiple groups can be established instead of one big pile.  At this point, I’d like you to think of Scopes like the buddy system that we were taught back in school.   I know it sounds funny, but it really is a good analogy.   I think it’s pretty universal that most kids were taught if they ever went on a field trip that they had to have a buddy.  It didn’t always keep you from getting lost, but at least you were lost together!  Now let’s apply that to fittings, and yes, we’re taking a field trip.

To keep this analogy rolling (no pun intended), let’s say we have a job that we’re producing the same supply air run for the 1st floor, 2nd floor, and 3rd floor, and you have three groups of kids from three different classes taking a field trip.  When the bus was loaded, it was one class at a time.   I don’t ever remember hearing a group of teachers saying, “Sure sit wherever you want.”  If it’s good for kids, it should be good for fittings.  You have to admit it, those teachers were smart.  They knew it was a whole lot easier to keep those kids together when they got off the bus. 

Now back on our truck, we have loaded each individual pile that had been grouped by floor in our staging area onto our truck and shipped to the jobsite, unloaded and sorted by the floor scope color.  Easily allowing your truck driver or the person receiving the delivery to separate and regroup fittings as they are delivered greatly increases the likelihood of a fitting making it to the proper floor.  Scopes can truly save your company time and money in the shop and out in the field.  Now, if I could only find a way for Scopes to hold hands as you move them to the 2nd floor. I will keep you posted!  Now let’s all go out there and make a teacher proud and implement Scopes!
PS:  Yes, my wife is a teacher!

We hope you enjoyed a safe Thanksgiving weekend with your family and friends. Hopefully your pocket books aren’t any worse for the Black Friday shopping event.

As the year end approaches, we wanted to remind our customers about our upcoming holiday closures. QuickPen Technical Support will be open regular days / hours through Friday, December 23, 2011.

We will be closed the following days:

· Monday, December 26, 2011

· Monday, January 2, 2012

We will be open regular hours, 9 a.m. ET – 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 27, 2011 - Friday, December 30, 2011. We will return to our normal support schedule on Tuesday, January 3, 2012. Please keep these support schedules in mind when scheduling server moves, licensing needs, or general support calls.

From the entire QuickPen staff at Trimble, we wish you a Merry Christmas! Our wish for you is a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2012.

Just a reminder, QuickPen Technical Support will be closed on Thursday, November 24th and Friday, November 25th in observance of the US Thanksgiving.

Have a wonderful holiday!

The holiday season is quickly approaching - and while not always, this sometimes means that there is a quiet period in your bid schedule that allows you to tackle some of those items on your "to do" list around the office. Why not add "tuning up your estimating systems" to your "to do" list?

Regardless of what estimating program you use (although I hope you're using an Autobid® system!), database management is going to be a key issue. While some databases require more attention than others, all of them need some general maintenance and tune-up to maintain their performance over time.

The biggest issues our AutoBid customers face is database size. We've seen a number of customers experience database issues due to size increase over the last year. As customers have migrated to OnScreen View of TakeOff, database sizes have exploded (the drawing files are stored within the database). –That said, let's help your system shed some of that excess weight.

The best suggestion to reduce database file size: get rid of the old projects. If you aren't actively using your estimate and it's a project that is "dead", delete it out of the program. You can still create a backup if you ever need to use it again - but at least this way, it won't be bogging down your day-to-day activities. Below are the step by step instructions to do this for both AutoBid® Mechanical and AutoBid SheetMetal.

For AutoBid SheetMetal:

1. Go into the Projects List (from the Bid Administrator Main Menu; File --> Project List)
2. Select the project that you want to delete by clicking on it. You can select more than one project at a time by using CTRL + Mouse Click or SHIFT + Mouse Click.
3. Go to the File menu and select "Export Bid".
4. A window will pop up. In this window, you'll tell the program that you want to export "All Bid Information" and select a directory location. Click on "Export".
5. You'll see the progress of the export on the bottom bar of this window. When it is done, it will say "Complete". You can then click on the "Close" button.
6. Now, we'll delete the projects by going to Edit --> Delete.
7. If you've only selected one project, just select "Delete It". If you've selected more than one project, you can tell the program you want to "Confirm" each delete or "Don't Confirm" and it will delete all of the selected projects.

For AutoBid Mechanical:

1. If you are on a network installation, make sure that all other users are out of the system.
2. From the Main Menu, select File --> Backup.
3. A Backup Wizard will open. The first step is to choose a file location & name, and then click on "Next".
4. In the next window, you can select what you want to back-up. We are going to back-up projects, so select "Projects" and then "Next".
5. Now you can select the project(s) that you want to back-up. You can multi-select by using SHIFT + Mouse Click or CTRL + Mouse Click. Once you've selected the projects, click on "Next". The program will back-up the files and you'll be returned to the Main Menu when it is done.
6. From the Main Menu, go to Tools --> Project List. If you access the Project List from another method, you will not be able to multi-select and delete.
7. You can now select the project(s) you want to delete. If you want to delete more than one project, you can turn on multi-select under View --> Multiple Select.
8. Go to the Edit Menu and selected "Delete".
9. A confirmation window will appear, you can either select to confirm each project deletion individually by clicking on "Delete" or you can delete all of the selected projects by clicking on "All".

By keeping the database file smaller, you'll reduce chances of corruption, database problems, and you'll have a system that runs faster. If you have any questions, please contact us for more information.

Happy Estimating!

Let's face it, the Wii generation is upon us.  Our preoccupation with board games in the 80's has been replaced by paying homage to the little white box that allows us to move ourselves---or an object in real-time--spatial reality.  We have grown accustomed to the notion of using physical gestures to control our interaction with machines.

While the Trimble Field Link construction layout solution will never enter the living room in place of the infamous Wii, it does aid contractors and sub-contractors in their ability to more precisely layout duct and cable tray hangers as well as pipe and electrical conduit sleeves.  And now, Trimble Field Link for MEP includes our very own fluid, real-time control over a Trimble total station.  We call it "Dynamic Joystick". 

Announced today as part of  the Trimble Field Link for MEP 1.1 update, Dynamic Joystick enables contractors to more finitely control their Trimble total station—easily stopping the laser pointer on a desired point location.  Combined with the laser pointer, the feature allows the user to step away from behind the total station scope and control the instrument.

While it's not quite like using your Wii puck to play Madden NFL, it is a major leap forward in being able to more easily control your Trimble total station.

Check out the video below, or see the press release