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Attendees Focus Intently On
Conference’s Subject Matter |
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If there ever was a time for contractors and estimators to take things
seriously, 2010 was it. That, at least, was our conclusion after watching the attendees in action at the McCormick Systems 28th User’s Conference, held last month in Tempe, AZ.
While there were fewer attendees, attendance was still impressive.
But even more important was the focus of those who came. “Serious”
was a word. In the past there were occasional hallway conversations
distracting some attendees during our event – not, in itself, a bad
thing.
But
this time, we could account for all of the attendees at all times.
They were either in our sessions (many of which were packed) or in
the on-site computer lab, trying out new ideas or new software
elements they’d heard about at this meeting or earlier.
We’ll present some highlights in what follows but, to get the most
out of it – as, apparently, many were determined to do – you
literally had to be there. |
| Six Speakers |
Matt Firestone, Chief Estimator for Commonwealth Electric
of the Midwest, spoke on building information modeling. “Most people
are not educated as to what BIM truly encompasses, and are focused
only on the 3-D aspects of a project,” Firestone noted. But in his
presentation – speaking as one electrical contractor to a group – he
went beyond 3-D modeling, into the nuts and bolts.
Trade Service Corp. also was invited to the stage, and
told attendees about Tra-Ser SX and its also-new Supplier Xchange.
You can get up-to-speed quickly on that by reviewing our March newsletter.
Erle Howard is a veteran estimator, an independent
consultant, he teaches McCormick’s East Coast classes, among many
other things – and this was the 25th time he’s attended a
User’s Conference (pretty impressive, as we’ve held only 28!).
Mr.
Howard spoke about the process of estimating, providing tips, hints,
and tricks that some veteran professional estimators know . . . and
others may never have learned (or somehow could have forgotten).
Howard reviewed both how to check your estimate (using any system) .
. . and how to do it using McCormick’s software.
Project Doc Control is a new company, with Jeff
Burmeister – formerly of Autodesk Subcontractor – as President.
Burmeister, who has spoken previously at a User’s Conference,
described the company’s efforts and the product, which the company
assumed from Autodesk.
Stan Shook of Take-Off 16, a company from which some
contractors obtain estimating help, spoke on “Using Your Estimate as
a Project Management Tool.” Why would you want to do that? Shook
provided several answers, including:
- Because sometimes, on some jobs, project
managers can’t do it all.
- Your purchasing agents, project managers,
superintendents, and foremen need to know as much detail as
they can about the project (breakout extensions).
- Job Tracking vs. the estimate (and your
database).
Net Pricer was also represented, with a brief
presentation on how contractors can use services it offers. |
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| McCormick presentations |
Of
course, in two full days of sessions, there was plenty of time for
McCormick staff to speak – and to listen to – the attendees. Among
the many efforts here:
V9.2 – all current McCormick users have access to Version 9.2. We spent two
hours on what’s new in the system in this version, covering every
enhancement we’ve added to the system. This included why we added it
(often a result of user requests) and how contractors and estimators
can put the new functions to work.
“We
accomplished something with this session,” President Todd McCormick
noted, “as our support people have been getting numerous phone calls
about these capabilities. It looks to us as if learning 9.2 was the
reason many of our customers came to Tempe this year.”
Support and FAQ's – in this session, we reviewed
the most-asked questions of our support people. Many of the topics
covered included some basics that always seem to need review – the
process of backing up a database, backing up jobs, and the like.
Digital take-off – this session presented information on
McCormick’s CAD Estimating and the system for which our company is a
VAR – OnScreen Take-Off. It seemed to us that OST was, for the 2nd straight year, a hit at this meeting; many contractors and
estimators were trying OST out in the computer lab; some of them
opted to purchase it before leaving Tempe.
Intro to AutoCAD / MEP / BIM – as an intro to Matt
Firestone’s presentation, we reviewed the basics of BIM (it is not,
for example, a piece of software!). We also went over MEP Revit and
AutoCAD. We reviewed the dollars involved – which include the
learning curve – and how difficult it would be for an electrical
contractor to “outsource” BIM work.
Technology trends – we became aware decades ago
(literally) that McCormick functions as a “consultant” of sorts for
many of our contractors. This session reviewed hardware and software
that we do not offer – ranging from USB, Windows 7, laptops,
monitors, and much more.
What’s next? – as is our annual custom, Todd McCormick
took the stage at the end of the formal sessions and talked with the
gathered contractors and estimators about changes we need to make in
McCormick’s software. Every suggestion and comment was discussed
(and documented for our later reference). |
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Attendee Comments |
There was more to the event, including pre-conference Standard and
Advanced educational opportunities, a golf tournament, a closing
dinner, and a 5-hour Saturday morning computer lab session (which
saw many contractors trying out things they had seen during the
sessions).
McCormick always wants to improve the User’s Conference. As we have
in the past, we asked attendees to write up their comments on what
they had seen and done. Here is a selection of what we got back:
“Great opportunity to network with other users to learn new tips.”
“Having training classes pre-conference allowed me to kill two birds
with one stone.”
“Very informative. Great way to network and visit with other
contractors & estimators that are not your competition.”
“I
never feel like I’m using all the program! So I found several small
things that would help me be better on the bid-summary area.”
“[It] was a rendezvous of electrical contractors who all brought a
wealth of knowledge and experience. Value-packed.”
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| Final words |
While some attendees of various business events and trade shows are
telling sponsors they “feel guilty” about traveling in such tough
times, there was nothing frivolous or wasteful in the action-packed
User’s Conference agenda. Contractors and estimators who came left
with knowledge they were able to put to work immediately on
returning home.
Keep an eye on future editions of this newsletter for an early
notice of the 2011 User’s Conference dates. |
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Desert Dogs |
McCormick’s “Desert Dog” honor designates those attendees who have
been to four or more User’s Conference events. As we’ve now held 28
of them, there are many to note here (the number in each line is the
number of User's Conferences attended):
25
– Erle Howard
21
– David DeFelice
14
– Louis Lee
12
– Steve Arnold
11
– Mark Jackson, Skip Stewart, Rod Wohl
10
– Joe Cavanaugh, Tim Meiners
9 –
Gary Charlesworth, Amy Horiba, Benjamin Ward
8 –
Matt Firestone, Randy Ward, Brian Warnemunde
7 –
Albert Brown, Jodi DeGraffenried, David Walsh, Sr.
6 –
Jay Linden, Seth Peterson
5 –
Mike Kilian, Brian Polson
4 –
Bret Smith, Keith Waldrup, Dan Wilcox
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| McCormick Masters Tournament |
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Our
annual golf tournament took place on Wednesday, the day before the
User’s Conference full-day sessions began. Noteworthy
accomplishments this year:
Longest put – Tim Vaughan
Closest to the Pin – Brian Warnemunde
Longest drive – Brian Warnemunde
Lowest gross score – Rod Wohl
Highest gross score – Josh Wheeler |
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information provided by Jeff Burmeister , Project DocControl |
Putting an End to the Paperwork Dilemma
In a business where every question, conversation or exchange needs to be documented, how do you manage project documentation efficiently?
Word-processing software, spreadsheets and three-ring binders are time consuming. They’re also error prone and risky. And project files are often pulled from their locations and not returned promptly.
That’s where Project DocControl comes in. Jeff Burmeister, President of Project DocControl, presented at our recent McCormick Systems User’s Conference. Burmeister focused his discussion on the importance of having a system in place to manage the ever-growing piles of project documentation.
A McCormick Systems Powerlink Partner, Project DocControl is built specifically for (and by) specialty contractors. The system replaces stacks of three-ring binders and file folders, storing all project information and documentation in a secure, centralized database.
In his presentation, Burmeister demonstrated how this solution saves you time, reduces your risk exposure and enables you to identify critical issues more easily — so you can manage projects, not paperwork.
Burmeister also demonstrated a number of upcoming features in Project DocControl. One of these was the ability to archive external documents and files directly into the system’s database. Currently, files such as photographs and scanned images can be linked to a project document in the system, but the actual files must reside outside of the application.
Another feature that generated high interest from the audience was the upcoming improved integration with MS Outlook, which will allow for easier tracking and logging of project-related emails within Project DocControl. Burmeister also demonstrated the expansion of the system’s submittal module to allow improved drill-down into a submittal’s details directly from a project’s submittal log.
And finally, he walked the audience through Project DocControl’s integration with McCormick. This built-in integration allows users to pull a project’s estimate information and change orders directly into Project DocControl, saving users an incredible amount of time, improving accuracy and ensuring billable dollars don’t fall through the cracks.
To learn more about how Project DocControl and McCormick work together to help you get more done in less time — or to schedule a one-on-one, no-obligation online demo — call Jeff Burmeister at 813-903-9446 or email him at Jeff.Burmeister@ProjectDocControl.com.
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McCormick System's CAD Estimating works
with the latest verison of AutoCad 2010 |
Employment: EC Biz
Employment data came out today for
February. Part of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' enormous emission
of numbers was data on various industry niches for January (one
month behind the national headline numbers).
For the electrical contracting biz, here's the news:
2009 -- BLS is now finished
revising the data. The annual average for 2009 was 623,900
"production workers" (foremen, electricians, apprentices, helpers)
employed in the field for electrical contractors. That's the lowest
average since 1997 (601,800).
2010 -- the preliminary number for Jan. 2010 was 565,900 -- down
58,000 from Dec 2009. That's 9.3% lower. Ugly.
Also: The last time the January monthly number was lower was 1996, at
528,100. |
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Toby Considine |
Grid To Get Worse
I like it when someone says
something that goes AGAINST the conventional wisdom. Writing for
AutomatedBuildings.com -- one of my favorite
places to learn things -- Toby Considine noted:
The grid will never be as good as
it was. The old grid had reliable surplus energy based on
predictable energy sources, and adequate safety margins. The smart
grid will have none of these. We are replacing predictable coal,
nuclear, and hydro with intermittent energy sources. We cannot build
the consensus to build transmission capacity to bring energy from
far away. The grid’s reduced safety margins make even moderate
adoption of intermittent energy sources risky. By every measure, the
quality of the North American grid will get worse. That’s the plan.
Why is this guy so NEGATIVE? Among other things, you have to first
consider that he's probably right about this. But of course, his
thesis is (the headline) -- Buildings must get smarter because Smart
Grids will be worse.
And:
. . . . buildings integrators and
control system makers seemed at a loss to describe where they fit
into the smart grid. The perception was that the smart grid is a
funding opportunity for utilities, but has little to do with
buildings. They may be right about federal funding checks this year,
but they could not be more wrong about smart grids. Smart grids will
succeed or fail based upon innovation and investments in buildings.
This innovation will be built upon the market-oriented interfaces of
smart grids.
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Green Jobs 'Myth'
Writing in the Washington Post -- an article that's been regurgitated all over the web, from what I
can see -- a guy who was director of The Smart Grid Initiative at
General Electric says green jobs are a bunch of stuff. A
lengthy piece:
Let's consider just one
clean-energy sector, the smart grid, for its job-creation potential.
The Obama administration allocated a little more than $4 billion in
funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to the smart
grid, an unprecedented amount for a hitherto-neglected but critical
piece of our national infrastructure. Much of this is to be spent
installing close to 20 million "smart meters" over the next five
years. Smart meters are digital versions of the spinning electric
meters that are omnipresent nationwide. Whereas spinning meters have
changed little in more than a century and must be read by workers,
smart meters automatically transmit electricity consumption data to
a utility. Virtually eliminating human intervention, smart meters
promise more accurate measurement of electricity usage as well as
increasingly efficient management of energy production resources.
Nearly 40 million smart meters have been deployed worldwide, mostly
in Europe. Jobs created in this industry can be broadly classified
into four categories: installation, manufacturing, research and
development, and IT services.
First, installation: It typically takes a team of two certified
electricians half an hour to replace the old, spinning meter. In one
day, two people can install about 15 new meters, or about 5,000 in a
year. Were a million smart meters to be installed in a year, 400
installation jobs would be created. It follows that the planned U.S.
deployment of 20 million smart meters over five years, or 4 million
per year, should create 1,600 installation jobs. Unless more meters
are added to the annual deployment schedule, this workforce of 1,600
should cover installation needs for the next five years.
Although a surge of new digital meters will be produced, the
manufacturing process is highly automated. And with much of it
accomplished overseas, net creation in domestic manufacturing jobs
is expected to be only in the hundreds. In R&D and IT services,
high-paying white-collar jobs are on the horizon, but as with
manufacturing, the number of jobs created is forecast to be in the
hundreds or low thousands.
Now let's consider job losses. It takes one worker today roughly 15
minutes to read a single meter. So in a day, a meter reader can scan
about 30 meters, or about 700 meters a month. Meters are typically
read once a month, making it the base period to calculate
meter-reading jobs. Reading a million meters every month engages
about 1,400 personnel. In five years, 20 million manually read
meters are expected to disappear, taking with them some 28,000
meter-reading jobs.
In other words, instead of creating jobs, smart metering will
probably result in net job destruction. This should not be
surprising because the main method of making the electrical grid
"smart" is by automating its functions. Automation by definition
obviates the need for people.
As the EleBlog's proprietor is a
contrarian, you might expect me to DISagree with this. Instead, I am
going to reserve an opinion . . . and say this: I have for some time
had my suspicions about the motives of utilities in embracing smart
meters so quickly (and so enthusiastically). I thought it was about
eliminating jobs. When you automate anything, you reduce jobs --
that's one reason why U.S. manufacturing, which hasn't really fallen
off the deep end, generates so few work opportunities today.
The Smart Grid is about automating the grid; the grid is a dinosaur.
You can lament the loss of jobs (as above) . . . or you can realize
that automation had to come some time.
Well, it's here. |
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House Texts You (!!!)
In catching up on old reading, I
found a 6-paragraph shorty in NewScientist (7-11-09) that I clipped
to follow up. It's no longer available anywhere online. The
headline: "The house that texts you."
Dig this:
" . . . the house is fitted with a
network of infrared sensors connected to a central computer. By
working out which rooms we tend to occupy at different times,
software algorithms learn when we need the lights, heating, or air
conditioning systems turned on -- and perhaps more importantly, when
we don't."
And this:
"By connecting door and window lock
sensors to the computer, it can send a text message to the homeowner
if they have forgotten to lock the front door, for instance."
AND HERE IS THE KEY (very next sentence) -- "Texting back will
lock any doors or windows in question."
-- so if the EleBlog reads that right, not only will the house text
you, but your response will "tell" the house what to "do" . . .
amazing! |
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