Sign up for our monthly newsletter

We have just added greater flexibility to some of the most used fittings our Vulcan fabrication solution. When looking at the rectangular elbows, a new input field has been enabled permitting the exiting ends to be mitered. This functionality allows more flexibility with fittings that are used on a daily basis.

 

Additionally, we have added a second "length field" to the mitered duct fitting. This feature permits the miter to be calculated by entering values in either the two length fields or one length and angle field.

QuickPen strives to provide industry-leading software to help you reach higher levels of accuracy and productivity. We are excited to announce that DuctDesigner® 3D & PipeDesigner® 3D 2012 version 1 are now available. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to request your copy.  The new and enhanced features in this release are designed to improve productivity, allowing more efficient and accurate project detailing. These features include:

At least twice a week, I am getting a phone call asking me "what's the best set-up for On Screen View of takeoff for piping, plumbing, or sheet metal estimating?"  What a great question!  And, as is the case with lots of great questions, I'm not sure that there is a single right answer.

     - Do you use one monitor or two?
     - Does monitor size matter?
     - Do you use a smart menu?
     - Do you have a touchscreen monitor?

We've seen lots of different set-ups over the years.  We have a customer in North Carolina who has a 50" monitor (****(waves) - hi, Pete!****).  A few years ago, we received this photo from a customer in Tennesse who has mounted a large-format TV right into their takeoff table.  (****hi, Don & Gary!***)

 

 And, of course anyone who has attended one of our last few User's Conferences knows that a Florida user SWEARS by the touchscreen monitor (*****hi Eddie!*****).


Now, here's the exciting part of this post - you can now leave comments on our blog!  So, please SHARE how YOU have set-up your on-screen takeoff section.  You won't be able to put a picture in the comment (if you want to share a picture, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I'll share it on a future blog post).   But, leave a comment - tell us how you've got your On Screen Take Off station set-up.  As for me, I'll give my standard recommendation based on discussions I've had with customers in the comments section of this blog post.

Happy Estimating!

We're reaching out to our customer base once again for assistance.  We've had many requests over the years, and we're so pleased that we were finally able to fulfill this request.  We will now be offering a more complete ductile iron estimating database for the AutoBid Mechanical software. 

The expanding database will include additional fittings from Tyler as well as multiple configurations of ductile iron pipe spools.  The data is linked to new MCAA WebLEM data (for our customers who are members of MCAA).  Want to give it a trial run?  We'll be doing a Beta Data test period during the month of May.  The final version of this data will be released with AutoBid Mechancial 2011 v1.  If you are interested in helping us with the Beta Data, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

It's hard to believe it's already that time, but IT IS! I am very proud to announce that we are nearing the Beta release of AutoBid Mechanical 2011 v1.  If you would like to participate in the Beta testing phase, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .   AutoBid Mechanical 2011 v1 will be in Beta release from early May until May 31st.  We anticipate shipping this release around June 15th.  So, here' a sneak peak at what will be in this release:

• Ability to quickly do a + / - 1 foot elevation change while in OSV (OnScreen View TakeOff) or GTO (Graphical, Digitized-Based TakeOff)
• Longer cell formulas in Assemblies
• Ability to show the Assembly name instead of just an "A" in OSV or GTO
• Drag & drop off the mouse menu to increase the speed of counted item takeoff
• Ability to calculate detailing and layout labor
• Ability to compare PDFs and see what has changed between the two background image files

If you want to participate in our Beta test phase, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as soon as possible.

Thanks -

Stacy Zerr