Estimating Software Lights The Way To Productivity Gains For Roofing Contractors

Are you ready to handle the coming metal construction boom or are you still ‘dancing in the dark’? With the statistics for the U.S. construction industry looking as good as they do now, is your business ready to tackle the inflow of work?

Ray Smith, Managing Director, AppliCad USA

According to Ray Smith, Managing Director of AppliCad USA, many roofing and siding installers are still missing out on the massive productivity gains to be had from a thoughtful implementation of a professional software solution.

“I am absolutely gobsmacked about how many contractors are still dancing in the dark, if I may quote Bruce Springsteen for once. Paper trails, calculation errors, rework due to inaccuracies seem still to be the industry’s accepted ‘normal’ in this, the 21^st century.”

When prompted about why that may be so, Smith contemplates the many conversations he has had over the past 40 years.

AppliCad’s Roof Wizard block cutting creates metal cutting layouts that minimise material waste and optimise material usage.

“From what I have seen, people just don’t want to spend any time learning new things, no matter how much benefit it could yield. This has been my biggest frustration. I hear people say ‘I have no time to learn the software because I am too busy’, or ‘I am off fishing’! Wow, I say, because what people don’t understand is if they just were to spend the initial time learning a professional software, they would be less busy fixing mistakes and probably have way more time to go fishing instead of doing and redoing take-offs.”

Smith also sees the current trend towards mobile apps which, for example, allow the roofer to show a potential client what a roof looks like in blue or green. “As a client, I can look at photos like that online, I don’t need an app for that. What I’d be more interested in is whether a contractor can give me the best price for the quality I want, and that contractors spend as little time as possible on my roof and leave the site safely and tidy. And clearly, on commercial and industrial scale, these apps leave a lot to be wished for. People are after quick, silver-bullets like these push button apps, but they are shooting themselves in the foot.

This screen cap of Roof Wizard's Panel Cutting List Summary shows one of the important benefits of the panel block-cutting function: low material waste.

Take, just for example, AppliCad Roof Wizard’s block-cutting function. Smith knows of no other software or app that has similar functionality.

AppliCad’s Roof Wizard block-cutting creates metal cutting layouts that minimize material waste and optimize material usage. This is something no other roof software or trendy app has, according to Smith.

“What I hear back from the market is: ‘This looks complicated’. Well, yes, that’s because it is. But our software makes it as easy as possible for you to optimize your time and materials spent. Nothing worthwhile pursuing has ever been easy in life. Learning takes dedication and time at the beginning, but the rewards are huge.”

Smith explains what usually happens when using the block-cutting function. “Due to the fact that materials arrive on site accurately cut and in the exact quantities and shapes needed, contractors can...

• Save money by reducing material waste by as much as 20%

• Save time by reducing install time because each and every piece fits perfectly – one cut yields two panels

• Improve accuracy and quality of jobs by getting it right the first time, every time

• Reduce hazardous time spent on the roof because the estimators have optimized the materials in the ‘dress rehearsal’, safely from their PC

• Build trust with clients for the professionalism of a roofing business because they quite visibly don’t waste time or leave a huge pile of scraps behind.

"We know that learning takes time away from the business initially," Smith admits, "but we know it is time well invested. We have even created an ROI calculator to help in decision making, and we do offer a range of training options to choose from, to fit every learning style."

Smith invites professional roofing contractors to Roof Wizard for 30-days for free. Click the following links to get started 

AppliCad Roof Wizard free 30-day trial

Roof Wizard software training

About AppliCad

AppliCad USA Inc. is a specialty CAD applications software development company focused on the needs of the roofing, cladding and solar industries. To learn more,visit  www.applicad-usa.com.