In The News
- Design++ Applications Credited for Enabling High Level of Customization in Metal Building Design and Manufacturing
- Design++ Based Metal Building Application Highlighted at Metal Construction Hall of Fame Awards
- Automated Rule-Based Building Design and Engineering at Robertson-Ceco Corporation (PDF) by Lachmi Khemlani in AECbytes
- Challenges and Rewards in Automating the Engineering Design Process by Robert Carr, NCI VP, at Fiatech
- Automating Metal Building Design at Robertson-Ceco Corporation (PDF) by Roger Burlingame, RCC VP Technical Services, at Daratech
Cornerstone Building Brands (formerly NCI Building Systems)
Design++® Solution Boosts Productivity, Shortens Design Cycles
To achieve the shortest possible engineering and design cycle times, Cornerstone Building Brands, a metal building supplier, uses a rule-based technology supplied by Design Power to automate large parts of its engineering and detailing processes. The solution, built on Design Power's Design++ platform, was originally developed by Robertson-Ceco Corporation (RCC), which was acquired by NCI Building Systems (NCI), and is now part of Cornerstone. At the time of the acquisition, RCC used its systems to engineer and detail approximately 7,000 buildings of all complexities annually. Combined, the companies can potentially process about 15,000 buildings per year using the solution.
The benefits have been significant, with a direct impact on the bottom line. Since implementing the Design++-based system, RCC saw record increases in productivity, sales wins, high-margin products, and a decrease in warranty claims.
"Our goal was not simply to make engineering and drafting more efficient. We wanted to take what our engineers and detailers knew, use it consistently across all building complexities and meet customers' demanding project timelines."
- Eric J. Brown, Executive VP and CIO
"Design++ has been a tremendous asset to our company and our automation of engineering and drafting. It has allowed us to do things no other system would have allowed and with a very small development team."
"Instead of taking six months to detail a building, we are able to detail it in a couple of days, and do it much more accurately and with a lot less human error."
"It has allowed us to double sales while increasing the drafting staff by only 20 percent."
- Robert Carr, VP, Technical Services
Sample Drawing
Click here to view a 3D model of a church structure (PDF).
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