This video is an overview of photo capture, and their video walk tool. It’s 360° stitching of your job walk by StructionSite at the Bluebeam #XCON2019 Conference. Thanks to Kalyn and Chris for their time and sharing the vision of construction project photos management and use cases in conjunction with Bluebeam Revu.

Bluebeam + SmartTrack = Production Tracking

Bluebeam Revu users can take their quantity take-off and upload it to StructionSite. By using this data from the contract documents, StructionSite’s SmartTrack calculates quantities and percentages to completion. SmartTrack applies artificial intelligence to 360 image data, to accomplish this for you. Take this capture data and map it into an analytics platform such as Power BI to relay to the field team your production status.

My take: It’s construction video capture and production tracking magic!

Automate site capture, effortlessly track completed work, and impress the owner.

Construction video capture with 360 photos is here. StructionSite works with popular 360 degree cameras like Ricoh Theta V, Garmin VIRB, LG360 and Insta360 ONE X. This technology separates you from your competition. And best of all, integration with Bluebeam Studio Prime is coming. See your photos and videos in context on your floor plans. Contact Chris Jervey here to request more info on their Bluebeam integration and to get started.

See more XCON 2019 exhibitors here

Looking for Bluebeam Revu training? See our October web training schedule here or contact us about onsite training. Our phone number can be found at the top of this page.

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Everyone wants more accurate schedules and effective resource utilization. Powerproject v15 delivers the most robust construction scheduling while remaining easy to use. It’s simple to get started with import templates for all popular scheduling programs including MS-Project, P6, SureTrak, etc. Does your scheduling tool fit with what really happens on a project site? You deserve the right tool for the job,

Construction Scheduling Quality Check

My favorite new feature in Powerproject v15 is Schedule Quality Check (SQC). Why?

There’s a direct correlation between the quality of a project schedule and the resulting execution performance.

How do you validate your schedule now? Leverage SQC on your project plan. With Powerproject, you can build your own quality test metric thresholds, . Pull from DCMA and CIOB and get readout in color. When the quality of a schedule drives success, it’s paramount to check your work. As a result you’ll know your accuracy. This sample detailed report clearly displays actionable items:

Scheduling Productivity Features

Keeping track of the schedule progress is a snap with their Site Progress App. And schedule printouts look like pros created them, resulting in kudos for you. Here are just some of the features that will make your job easier.

• Drag and drop functionality
• Multiple activities per line
• Easily draw relationships including lag
• WYSIWYG Reporting
• Unlimited undo and redo
• User defined formulas in spreadsheet columns
• Robust resource, cost, revenue features
• Built-in BI Reporter
• Integrated BIM module for affordable 4D planning

When you’re ready to improve your scheduling accuracy, reach out. To learn more, request a webinar invite, or to schedule a demo. Give us a call or email us. We’ll be hosting webinars every month. Because you need a lifeline, we’re here to help.

Looking for Bluebeam XCON 2019 posts?

Volanti Displays Command Center

The post Construction Scheduling with Powerproject appeared first on Hagen Business Systems.

The construction industry has transformed drastically over the past 20 years. Smartphone apps have enabled real-time information exchange; armloads of files and blueprints are being replaced by a few taps on a tablet. Technology is changing almost every aspect of the industry, and companies that refuse to adapt and implement it risk being outdone by tech-savvy competitors.
One of the biggest fears construction company owners face when considering implementing new technologies is understanding what they do and how to use them effectively. Below are snapshots of some of the newest and most innovative construction technologies available to the industry:

1. UAV Technology

Unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs are a hot technology in several industries today because of all the different business use cases they can provide. In the construction industry, companies are sending camera-equipped UAVs into the air to take dozens — if not hundreds or thousands — of images. The pictures, which are linked to GPS data, can be stitched together with special software, transforming them into a 2-D or 3-D site model. The model can be used to:

• Assess progress on a project — daily, weekly or at some other regular interval
• Locate specific areas where work is falling behind schedule
• Measure stockpile volume
• Determine the amount of overburden that needs to be removed from an area
• Monitor width and slope of haul roads
• Analyze quarry faces and berms
• Inspect hazardous areas
• Confirm that employees are wearing protective gear and working safely
• Get a high-level view of operator technique, load-zone placement, tire rotation and other factors that affect efficiency
• Show clients work in progress
• Create images for marketing presentations and materials

These tasks and many others can be done quickly, accurately and economically with UAV systems — assuming you have access to the right technology, analytics and expertise. Caterpillar has a small team of UAV experts whose sole focus is determining how the technology can be used to improve site safety, efficiency and profitability.

Companies that are considering taking advantage of UAV technology need to be aware of the laws governing the commercial use of UAVs because they are different depending on where you do business. The United States has the tightest federal regulations in regard to UAVs, with new laws slated for 2016. We think UAVs are going to take off in the construction and aggregates sectors over the next few months and years. As this technology evolves, you’ll be able to combine machine data from your telematics systems with geo-spatial data from UAVs, giving you the power to take site efficiency to all-new levels.

2. GRADE with Assist
Grading technology helps make excavators, dozers and motor graders more efficient because it allows operators to get to grade faster with less effort. Caterpillar’s precision grading system, Cat® GRADE, part of Cat Connect technology, can help both new and experienced machine operators deliver dramatic improvements in grading efficiency over a wide range of applications. GRADE with Assist, which adds automated grading sequences, is featured on Cat Excavators, is the most advanced worksite technology available. Among the benefits grading technology can provide:

• Keeping people off the ground and out of trenches
• Reducing the cost of staking and grade checking
• Cutting grading time by up to 45%
• Conserving fuel and materials when you finish in fewer passes
• Saving time and costs related to rework
• Helping less experienced operators work like pros

Grading technology, like Cat GRADE, enhances jobsite safety, improves reliability and adds to the machine’s value, both on the job and at resale. Just to show some real-life examples, below are 10 things you can do faster and more efficiently with grading technology:

1. Dig a basement
2. Build a detention pond
3. Put in a sewer line
4. Dig foundation footings
5. Cut a drainage ditch
6. Prep a commercial site pad
7. Build an access road
8. Install underground utilities
9. Slope an embankment
10. Construct a retaining wall

3. Workplace Safety Technology

Several new technologies have become available to safeguard worksites and better manage risk. One of the most common accidents in the construction industry is being struck by or trapped by equipment or vehicles. Blind spots and backing up accidents account for between 25 and 50 percent of the total. One in 10 construction workers are injured every year, so worksite safety is paramount. Here are some of the newest worksite safety technologies that can help prevent injuries:

• Object Detection technologies
o Complete object detection systems include back-up cameras and pulsed-radar object detection. Cameras give operators a view of what is typically their biggest blind spot, and radar identifies objects and people hidden from the operator’s view and sounds an alarm.

• Fatigue Detection technologies
o A camera installed in the cab that monitors pupil size, blinking and how long eyes stay shut determines fatigue detection. If the system senses the operator is falling asleep, an alarm sounds and the seat vibrates.

• “Smart” wearables
o Safety gear with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), sensors and bio-monitors has all hit the market within the last several years. The
most common are RFID systems that alert workers and equipment
operators when they are both moving through a work zone.

As it becomes more evident that technological innovations will shape the future of the construction industry, it’s up to you to determine if your company is going to embrace these new construction technologies or be left behind. We here at Caterpillar encourage you to re-think the process of using, managing and owning heavy equipment by incorporating these new technologies to help make your equipment more productive and efficient, and your business more profitable.

Thanks again Caterpillar for this article. What new construction technologies are you planning to implement at your firm? How will it integrate with your existing systems and automate or enhance your workflows? Which of these safety technologies hold the most promise? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

The post The Most Revolutionary New Construction Technologies appeared first on Hagen Business Systems.

In today’s Bluebeam tip I’ll step you thru scanning a page from an Owner’s Manual and export the part numbers to Excel.

For those who do not want to watch a video, there are two basic steps:

1. Scanning the Document to PDF

File | Create and choose From Scanner or Camera then follow the prompts displayed to select your scanner or camera, page size and document attributes (Black & White, Grayscale, etc)

2. Export to an Excel Workbook

File | Export and choose Excel Workbook | Page Region and then draw a rectangle around the data, including the column headings. Bluebeam Extreme does the rest!

Here are a few other ideas of how you could use this:

Accounting: Import the expenses from a credit card statement so you can sort by expense type and subtotal in Excel.

Business Development: Grab the top business lists from local publications for leads and their phone numbers.

What other ideas will you come up with to export to Excel?

The post Pulling Data from a Scanned PDF into Excel appeared first on Hagen Business Systems.

These Tweets were ramping us up for the start:

Starting up, teams at work and when the next AEC Hackathon is taking place:

Presentations Begin:

And the Winners Are:

For active links to all these posts, go to live #AEChackathon feed, @AEChackathon Tweets, the AEC Hackathon YouTube Channel or their website 

Now you might realize why Twitter is one of my favorite sources for learning and keeping abreast of emerging technologies.  To read all my construction and tech tweets on Twitter please follow me or just tune in (no Twitter account necessary)

The post AEC Hackathon Recap (June 27-28, 2015) appeared first on Hagen Business Systems.

This video shows a resilient flooring tool, an area measurement) that then has the depth entered.  This method saves time in that you get multiple calculations in one measurement.  I’d use this method if I were a general contractor or a wall and flooring contractor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgv-kbYJbGg&feature=youtu.be&t=6m30s

The feature for taking off wall area was introduced back in 2014 with the Bluebeam Revu 12 release.  If you have an earlier version of Revu and would like to upgrade to the latest release, Click here and email me your contact info. I’ll help get you upgraded.

For more Bluebeam estimating tips you may want to read these previous posts:

Estimating and Layers

Manual Counting Ends with Visual Search

Multiple Monitors for Estimating Take-off Productivity

Show all Measurements in an Estimating Take-off

The post Bluebeam Revu Tips: Estimating Wall Area appeared first on Hagen Business Systems.

How to Send via email to EverNote

You can obtain your EverNote email address from your account information then control where the note is stored by specifying it in the email subject line. If you need help finding your email to EverNote address you can get complete instructions from in their knowledge base.   The syntax for emailing to EverNote using the Email Subject is: [Title of note] ![optional date for Reminder] @[notebook] #[tag]  If you have a few projects going, you’re probably have separate notebooks for each project.  Then use the tag as the type of document: RFIs, Submittals, Photos, Specifications, Revisions, Sets, etc.  what’s really cool about EverNote is it’s auto-filing feature for email.  Auto-filing will look for similar notes inside your account and apply the same notebook and tags.

How to Send via email to Box

In Box you have to enable a folder to allow uploads via email.  You do this by navigating to the folder you want, then click on the More dropdown, then go to Folder Properties > Email Options. Each folder gets its own email address. Box also isn’t storing the email but just the file attachments.   In this case you may want to create scripts for each project and/or project sub folder for those RFIs. Sets, etc. You can set notifications (to the folder owner only) if you have a project administrator that will file the documents to the proper sub folder and you want to send multiple documents (RFIs, Specs and images) all in one email.  Copy the email address assigned to your folder and  use it in your script.

How to Send via email to DropBox

DropBox doesn’t have a native send attachments via emails yet, but there is a 3rd party solution called Send To DropBox that is trying to fill the gap.  All attachments will reside in one folder with Send To DropBox and currently you cannot share the attachments folder with anyone else.   I expect that with DropBox’s acquisition of MailBox they’ll eventually offer a way to email to a project specific folder. You can get around this if you instead use the If This Then That App (IFTTT) and grab this recipe. The recipe lets you specify the folder you want the attachments to go to in Dropbox.

What is a Script?

Scripts provide one button access to numerous functions that are performed in sequence.  It’s kind of like a macro in Excel as it can save you many keystrokes.  It looks a bit like programming but easier.  If you need help drop me an email or ask your techie guy or gal. As an example, Bluebeam provides a “Flatten and Email” Script with Revu Extreme  since you’ll often you want to share hyperlinked PDFs like plan sets with others.  It can also be used for numerous other functions like adding headers and footers, stamps, reduce the file size, rotate pages and more.  If you count the number of times you do these repetitive functions each week, you’ll likely be asking why you only have Revu Standard or Revu CAD.  To learn more about what Bluebeam Extreme can do for your company sign up for our free “Making the Case for Revu Extreme” Webinar June 17 at 11:30 am Pacific (You can request the webinar recording if you’ve missed it, by clicking Here.)

Creating Your Script
I’ve created one for each app and placed it in my custom Tool Bar “Send To Mobile” but I’ll just step you through one.  You’ll find Script under the Document tab in Bluebeam Revu Extreme.  Start by Clicking the Script Icon and then click Add to get to the Script Editor.  First you’ll name your Script.  I’ll name mine “Flatten and Send to Box”.

Next, you can choose an icon from the list or import one.  You could grab the Box logo off the web, or a photo of your project if using a “Box” specific email address.  My sample shows the logo. Then in the Actually script I start with the Flatten command.  Since I’m choosing to upload plans, I want all my markups flattened so I don’t need to specify any additional settings for the flatten function, Just put an open and closed parenthesis after the command.  The second process I want to run is email and it is here that I add my folder specific email.  I have limited who is allowed to upload to this folder to collaborators only and my Upload Plans Folder is a subfolder of my Sample Project Folder.

The script for Evernote is similar, except you’ll use your EverNote email address and likely add in the title, specify the project notebook and tag it using the subject line. As an example for updating specifications to EverNote,  the email subject would be “Revised Specs as of 6/15/15 @Project 100 #Specs”.

For DropBox, if you are using Send to DropBox,  all email attachments are dropped into one file folder so you better have good filenames for your attachments.

Add the script to your toolbar
On the Document Tab, click on the down arrow next to the Script icon.  With your mouse, hover over the name of the script you want to add to a toolbar and click on the yellow Pin to the right of the script name.  This displays all your toolbars.  You can add your script to an existing toolbar or select New Toolbar from the bottom of the list and give your custom toolbar a name.

If you’re thinking I need help in making scripts, custom profiles, etc, just Email Me Your Contact Info.

The post Sending PDFs to EverNote, Box and DropBox appeared first on Hagen Business Systems.

Finding your center isn’t about Yoga. Whether you want to hang a chandelier or start laying carpet tiles you’ll want to start in the middle of the room. If you start with a square or rectangular room, you could find the center by placing two Diameter measurements and rotate one 90 degrees to see where the diameters cross. This method won’t work though if you have a an arch on one side of the area, like in this hotel foyer (above).

In this case the ideal tool to use is either the Rectangular Sketch Tool or the Area Measurement Tool and in the properties deselect Show Caption and Check the Centroid. The centroid is the geometric center so the shape of the space will impact your results.

The Centroid function is also available in the Volume measurement tool and numerous sketch tools including the ellipse, polygon, and polyline. Note that Sketch Tools are only available in Revu 2015 and are found under the Markups Tab. If you don’t have Revu 2015 (look under Help | About to find what version you have), give me a call and I’ll help you get upgraded.

For those readers who have Bluebeam Revu Standard or CAD editions and are interested in what the benefits are of having Extreme we’re hosting a free Webinar “Making the Case for Revu Extreme” on July 17, 2015 at 11:30am pacific time. Click here to learn more about this webinar and to RSVP.  We hope to see you there.

The post How to Find Your Center with Bluebeam Revu appeared first on Hagen Business Systems.

How many times during your estimating take-off do you right click and add an item to a layer? You use layers to place like items together (all the electrical, all the the flooring or all the insulation, etc.), so you can toggle these layers on and off, to isolate trades and to keep your take-off ordered and uncluttered. When using one drawing to take-off many trades, layers helps but adding an item to a layer each time you take-off an item in Revu is time-consuming. There’s a quicker way.

Estimating professionals take-off like items together. By chunking your work you are naturally more efficient as your mind works best when focused. Once you take off all the plumbing (or electrical fixtures, etc) there’s a quick way to add all of them to a layer using the flatten tool. Just check the box next to Assign Layer then type in the Layer name (overwrite the default ‘Markups” in the text box). As you add Layers, a drop down choice will show you your previously entered layer names. Remember to keep the unflatten option checked so you can add any missed items and to then create or export your report summary to .CSV format (Excel) later. If you haven’t used the layers function you’ll want to turn the Layers Tab on in your left panel using the Tab Access (It’s an upside down orange triangle on the command bar). Then check/uncheck any layers you want to display/hide.

You could alternatively use CTRL-A in the Worklist then Right Click and Create a New Layer, but this doesn’t get all your markups out of the way in the Worklist for the next set of related take-off items like the Flatten Tool does. What else do you use Flatten for? The flatten function in Bluebeam Revu is important to use so you don’t accidentally move markups that should remain in place and it makes the markups printable. It’s also important when you email PDFs to others (who may not have Bluebeam yet) so that hyperlinks work in those other PDF programs.

For more tips on Estimating with Bluebeam, these topics may be of interest to you:

Multiple Monitors for Estimating Take-off Productivity

Show All Measurements in one Estimating Take-off item

Improving Estimating Take-off Accuracy

The post Bluebeam Tip: Estimating and Layers appeared first on Hagen Business Systems.

How’s this for trench safety? (Photo by Ernest Brooks, Trenches of the 11th Cheshire Regiment at Ovillers-la-Boisselle, on the Somme, July 1916.)

OSHA’s new Hazard Communication Standard goes into effect June 1, 2015 and will require pictograms on labels as a safety measure. These new labels are there to alerts us to the specific types of chemicals hazards. They serve as a reminder to warn us of danger and to take special care. These visual cues should heighten our awareness so why not place them on your plans to remind employees as they enter work areas what is present? Use Bluebeam to help you with safety talks, acting as a visual aid.

Why visuals are so important to safety

Trench Safety and Job Site Hazards (photo by Sherry Eklund of Desert View Aerial Photography http://www.dvaerialphoto.com)

It only takes us 150 milliseconds for a symbol to be processed and 100 milliseconds to attach a meaning to it. Every safety meeting should incorporate visuals, not just speaking or text. They are also easier to recall. That’s why pictograms are on the labels of hazardous material and having your team review the locations of these materials can be life saving. These pictograms may be incorporated onto the site planning for stationary hazards, or preexisting conditions. It’s great for remediation or environmental cleanup projects and will help your employees return home safe and sound. Adding visual symbols on HAZOPs, P and IDs and construction safety studies are also a good idea. Besides placing signs or symbols, shading work zones with open trenches, equipment traffic flow or crane boom reach, possible falling objects, etc is beneficial too. How bout scaffolding locations on the jobsite and lift placement. The list goes on.

You can find OSHA’s pictograms in vector quality (.EPS format) on the Department of Labor website (https://www.osha.gov/dsg/hazcom/pictograms). Add these tools to a new safety tool set in your custom “Safety Profile” and you’re ready to go. If you aren’t familiar with how to create custom profiles, custom tool sets or custom tools you may want to review these previous posts (below) or request our OSHA Hazard Pictograms tool set in our Safety Profile for Revu (for free): Email Me Your Contact Info.

Hagen Business Systems Inc can create custom profiles, tool sets and tools for your teams. To request these services, send an email with your business contact information to Email Me Your Contact Info.

The post Bluebeam Tips: Construction Safety Hazards using Pictograms appeared first on Hagen Business Systems.