McCormick Systems has a minor problem; Our system has grown over the
years to encompass so many functions and features that we can't
necessarily communicate EVERYTHING about what we offer. But wait;
we're not asking you to feel sorry for us.
What we want for the next few minutes, is your attention on just a
few of the many changes to the software already on your desk --
capabilities and enhancements we've brought to you in V9.0.
After all, you can't use them if you don't know about 'em!
NetPricer -- You can now send
Extension material lists -- electronically -- to NetPricer.
You'll get back a list of prices for each material item --
from each of your suppliers -- in minutes. We're not experts on
what other people offer, but we're fairly certain that we've
gone further in integrating NetPricer's capabilities with our
software than anyone else.
Advantage: You're going to be able to
make side-by-side comparisons of the prices offered by your
suppliers on your bill of materials . . . faster than ever
before, and it's all electronic, (no need to put pieces of paper
next to each other and do cross-references by eye!).
Edit Extension APPROVALS -- Sure,
you've had Edit Extension for years. But now, a contractor, lead
estimator, or project manager can place a "checkmark" along side
each item. This mark can mean that he/she has approved the item
for the estimate. Here's the beef: These checks will
LOCK the quantities, prices, labor, and more . . . so they can't
be modified after the check has been applied.
Advantage: Do you want to make sure
the estimate is accurate? This feature can help you get
there.
PowerLink Partners: We've enabled you
to quickly and easily export job data into major accounting
packages. That's in addition to a feature that allows
a "generic" export (in "comma-delimited" format) that should be
acceptable to any major or minor accounting software.
Advantage: You avoid the need to
manually re-enter this information into the accounting software package .
This avoids errors (which is going to save you money) and saves
time.
PowerProbes Advanced::
1. License administration will be easier. Thanks to multiple USB and serial-key connections, your job of handling licenses for McCormick Systems products is made easier.
2. Windows service functionality: Your McCormick software now supports Microsoft standardized rules for services. It will start automatically on your servers.
3. You will now find it easier to run multiple McCormick Systems products at the same time. For example, your McCormick estimating software can run at the same time as CAD Estimating and Change Order on the same computer.
4. Remote Power Probes client; USB and serial keys can work over your network. You can receive counts and lengths from a remote computer (a function useful for those using Citrix and Terminal Service). This will work over LAN and WAN connections (with remote clients) as well.
5. If multiple Power Probes keys are connected, then multiple Power Probes clients can be used for counts and lengths.
6. Scales are now much easier to work with, they can be ordered as well as added, deleted or reset to factory default settings.
Sounds good? These four enhancements are just a piece of the V9.0
pie. Stay tuned for more on this in coming months -- or talk
to us about what you need done. It's just possible that we've
already packed solutions to your electrical/ABS estimating problems
into the software you are already using.
SAVE THE DATE - April 2-5, 2008
There's a lot more information to come, but we've nailed down the
dates for next year's McCormick Systems User's Conference -- April
2-5 in Tempe, AZ. Watch this space!
Guest
Commentary:
Wireless Power?
(opinion posted by Joe Salimando to the EleBlog -- www.electricalcontractor.com.
Used with permission)
Wireless Power
An item ran here
previously (December
2006) on research at MIT into Wireless Power
Transfer. The geniuses there call this WiTricity.
Power without wires?
It's exciting and upsetting at the same time!
I recently stumbled
across a longer article (888 words) on this on the Control Design site. Here's a piece of it that I especially enjoyed (because it
helped me to understand this just a bit):
WiTricity is based on
using coupled resonant objects. Two resonant objects of the same
resonant frequency tend to exchange energy efficiently, while
interacting weakly with extraneous off-resonant objects, say the MIT
scientists.
So, imagine a room
with 100 identical wine glasses, each filled with wine up to a
different level, so they all have different resonant frequencies. If
an opera singer sings a sufficiently loud single note inside the
room, a glass of the corresponding frequency might accumulate
sufficient energy to actually explode, while not influencing the
other glasses.
In any system of
coupled resonators there often exists a so-called “strongly coupled”
regime of operation. If one ensures to operate in that regime in a
given system, the energy transfer can be very efficient.
Research: Wire
Generates Power
I'm not sure what to
make of this one. Stuff happens in laboratories all of the time;
sometimes you never hear of it again. The source of this item is
Harvard U., and it's not April 1st -- so therefore, maybe this is
real.
Harvard chemists have
built a new wire out of photosensitive materials that is hundreds of
times smaller than a human hair. The wire not only carries
electricity to be used in vanishingly small circuits, but generates
power as well.
OK -- don't get too
excited. If you read on (Nanowire
generates its own electricity) deeper into the
piece, you get to this:
A cheap nanoscale
power source broadens the potential applications of such nanoscale
devices. Though the tiny photovoltaic cells can generate enough
electricity to power a similarly tiny circuit, Lieber said they’re
not yet efficient enough to have applications on the scale of
commercial power generation.
Commercial solar cells, he said, have efficiencies around 20
percent, compared with 3.4 percent for his nano-solar cells. One
avenue of future research, Lieber said, will be to explore ways to
boost efficiency of the nanowire photovoltaics. If they can reach 10
to 15 percent, he said, their lower cost of production — they can be
made from relatively inexpensive materials and don’t require clean
rooms to produce — may make them useful in larger-scale
applications.
McCormick 2008 Calendar -- Dates For
Your Planning
We'd like to talk with you. Please consider coming to see us at the
shows lists below. And plan to be with us in Tempe for the annual
User's Conference!
Jan. 14-17, Orlando, FL -- BICSI Winter
Conference. More
info.
Feb. 27-29, Las Vegas, NV -- Electric West
Conference & Show. We're in booth #400. More info.
April 2-5, Tempe, AZ -- McCormick Systems
Conference '08
Pre-Conference training
classes (standard and advanced) -- March 31 & April 1
May 7-9, Las Vegas, NV -- ABC Construction Education Conference Elect/Mech
Sept. 29-Oct. 2, Las Vegas, NV -- BICSI Fall
Conference.
Oct. 4-7, Chicago, IL -- NECA Show
Oct. 30-31, Atlanta, GA -- IEC Electric Expo.
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