At the Computer for Construction ’99 and A/E/C Systems Fall show held at McCormick Place North in Chicago this past November, a number of web-based software and products were introduced to the industry. Listed below are some of the highlights.
Construction Data Control Inc. demonstrated Job2Date, a web-enabled data management system, and Resource International offered ProjectGrid.com, a customizable project management/ collaboration tool. Edgewater Services Co. Ltd. presented project EDGE, an Internet-based project management application. In addition, BST Consultants Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc. introduced web-hosted project and financial management solutions.
Meanwhile, Primavera Systems Inc. and PurchasePro.com announced the release of PrimeContract.com, an e-commerce marketplace for construction companies, subcontractors, project owners and suppliers. Agresso Corp. demonstrated Agresso 5.2.1, the latest version of the Agresso 5 Business Information Management Systems, and EVOLV showcased ProjectCenter 2.0, an application that offers a secure website for an entire project.
Finally, Meridian Project Systems extended online business opportunities to the design and construction industry, with Prolog WebSite 2.0 and Bidcom Inc. demonstrated Bidcom Mobile, an integration of mobile hand-held computing and the Internet for construction professionals to manage locations in real-time. Additionally, The Blue Book of Building and Construction offered three new Internet-based products: BB-Bid, an online bid management system; EBB.net, a web marketing service; and Page 1, an Internet advertising program.
For more information on any of the products mentioned above, please e-mail: [email protected].
Here’s a look at some other recent software releases:
Take nineVersion 9 of the Forefront Construction Management Software for contractors is now available from Dexter + Chaney. According to the software designer, the software offers more than 200 new features, including a Forefront Document Imaging System and MegaSearch help capability.
The document imaging capability assists with information storage and retrieval while reducing document clutter. Contractors can store countless pages of documents that they accumulate on jobs that may lead to a reduction in the amount of office space devoted to file cabinets.
MegaSearch allows the contractor to find information in Forefront instantly on customers, jobs, vendors, employees or any other variables by entering a few words or numbers into the look-up box. A match on any field will result in a match for the entire record and yield the information that the operator is seeking.
New for 2000Eagle Point has released their Eagle Point 2000 civil/survey software series that includes modules in the civil engineering and surveying fields and enhancements to several of the modules.
The enhancements include the new Command Line COGO, which provides the user with the ability to perform COGO operation without the need to interact with dialog boxes. Drafting annotation shortcuts were added allowing for fewer keystrokes, while multiple users can now access work on the same project simultaneously in a networked environment. Support of multiple drawing documents allows the users to work with plan, profile and section drawings all open at the same time.
According to the company, the Command Line COGO, multi-user access and multiple drawing interface are capabilities that users have been requesting since the release of the 1999 version of the program.
Contact capabilityA new general surface-to-surface contact capability from Algor Inc. is now available for the company’s Accupak Mechanical Event Simulation family of products. Engineers use the products to simulate real-world behavior of mechanical designs involving motion or impact in order to obtain a stress analysis at each instant in time.
General surface-to-surface contact enables engineers to quickly set up contact scenarios, including the effects of friction in a simulator.
