Funds UPdateVolume 5, No. 3 / FALL 2011

In this issue...Benchmark: An Opportunity to Grab the Future . . . . . . . . . . 4

NEMI at AHR Expo . . . . . . . . . 6

Could You be a Safety Champion? . . . . . . . . . . 8

601 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 240Alexandria, VA 22314

T h e c o m b i N e d N e w s l e T T e r f o r i T i , s m o h i T a N d N e m i

The Next Generation of Emerging Market Opportunities . . . . 5

Revel Project Photos by Jon Galloway

66391_Funds.indd 1 10/3/11 1:06 PM

2 Funds UPdate

iTi Q

uart

erly

B enchmark—with its extensive menu of features and applica-tions, its attractive price (free)

and ease of use—remains a well-kept secret for hundreds of union sheet metal contractors.

“We tout it as software, but it’s more than that. Benchmark is really all about skill, expertise and people—well-trained people, selected for this training because of their attitude and aptitude. When contractors opt to use Benchmark, they get the software, but they also get a first-class employee, thoroughly versed on how the pro-gram works and how it can fit into a company’s overall business plan,” said veteran detailer and JATC instructor Charles Dario.

The huge Revel Casino project in New Jersey is a case in point. Encom-passing 7.8 million square feet over 20 acres and three million pounds of sheet metal, it was too large for any one sheet metal contractor in the region to handle alone. The Thomas Company, where Dario works, was the only one in the region that had signed on for Benchmark. “We decided to use coordination software when we started drawing the job and we have been extremely successful, particularly in the sheet metal installation and overall coordination effort,” Dario says.

Dario, who has been working in computer-aided design (CAD) since “when we were still using punch cards and writing the code” in the early 1970s (he currently works as an instructor at the Local 27 JATC) says: “the experience was a wakeup call for other union contractors in the region. They don’t want to miss the boat the next time.” Benchmark training classes at Local

27 are filled up as soon as they are an-nounced, he says.

Some contractors expressed con-cern because the software is licensed to the individual detailer who is trained and certified by the union, but the Revel experience in New Jersey un-derscores the competitive value to the employer. Because it is totally compat-ible with other commercial software, any data generated by Benchmark is fully accessible in other systems.

Experienced users concede that putting the software into operation re-quires some time and attention. “The upfront set up takes time. As with any new program, we have to bring in company standards, instructing the program on how we want drawings to look,” says Frank Saladonis of Apollo Sheet Metal in Portland, OR.

Once that was done at Apollo, he says, the obvious benefits are very persuasive.

“The main objective is to enable our guys to build from it and install what we build from it. I think we can.”

For Glenn Wright, the transition to Benchmark has been smooth. A de-tailer for the Porter Company in Man-chaca, TX, Wright is enthusiastic about Benchmark’s range of capabilities. His firm, which is the second largest mechanical contractor in the region,

ITI QuarterlyWhat They're Saying About Benchmark®

❱ What Benchmark® DoesBenchmark applications include:

❱❱ Project Management

❱❱ Drafting

❱❱ Fabrication

❱❱ Fitting Input

❱❱ Estimation

❱❱ Field Installation

❱❱ Total Station

❱❱ Administration

❱ Benchmark®

A Perfect Fit

❱❱ Detailer: Can reuse estima-tion pick-off for coordination drawings.

❱❱ Estimator: Can use the data to capture costs and create multiple bids from just one drawing pick-off.

❱❱ Fabricator: Drawing details download quickly and easily to the coil line and plasma table—cuts down on waste and saves time.

❱❱ Project Manager & Field Installer: Track the model and instantly identify the status of each installed part.

❱❱ Installers: Crews insert hang-ers in precise locations using Total Station.

❱❱ Administrators, Billers, Management: Enjoy better cost tracking, business plan-ning. Overall administration becomes more accurate and simpler.

❱❱ Company: Profits rise, expens-es shrink competitive edge sharpened.

66391_Funds.indd 2 10/3/11 1:06 PM

fall 2011 3

iTi Q

uarterlyexpects to be implementing a number of Benchmark features beyond just drawing. “We couldn’t be happier, especially with the support we get from the help desk. With other programs, we would get a list of excuses, or they would blame problems on us. Not so with Benchmark,” he says.

Once all the program’s features are in place at the Porter Company, Wright says, he looks forward to the edge the company will enjoy. “When we start writing specs based on the drawings, it’s going to be wonderful.”

A strong proponent of ITI’s train-ing programs, Wright suggests that expanding the availability of online training in various aspects of Bench-mark might encourage more contrac-tors to opt in on the software.

Tim Heath of Madison, WI, who does business as Cad Man, has been using CAD programs since 1994. He’s a certified Benchmark educator, cur-rently working to secure his own Leed certfication. Heath sees a strong con-nection between green construction and Benchmark, especially in Wiscon-sin where state regulation requires all public projects costing more than $5 million to be pre-coordinated—a requirement that Benchmark® easily fulfills. “This system does everything we need to do up front to make a project right from a green perspective.”

Benchmark has already enabled Heath to grow his business. “I feel like we’re standing on the edge of a major breakthrough for our industry. Any sec-ond now it’s going to happen,” he says.

Duane Perry, of Scobell Company in Erie, PA, says the best thing about Bench-mark is that it was written for sheet metal by sheet metal workers. “Other programs are geared to engineers, but Benchmark aligns all the sheet metal processes in a step-by-step fashion making all jobs along the way more efficient, less time consum-ing and less costly. The drafting function is much more intuitive than anything I’ve ever used before. It thinks the same way I do.”

McNerney Hall at Edinborough Col-lege near Erie is the first project, start to finish, done by Scobell using Bench-mark. The college is very happy with the finished product, he says.

As companies gain familiarity with all the applications that Benchmark

contains, they will experience even more savings. For instance, Perry points out, “on the fabrication side, sending drawings directly to our ma-chines now takes 10 minutes when it once took four hours for someone to do it by hand.”

The same is true of installation, Perry adds. “All our drawings are installation worthy from the start, mak-ing the job of the field foreman that much easier.”

At Hawaii Air Control in Honolulu, Clyde Fujimoto is puzzled that some contractors are still clinging to their old CAD programs. “I hope ITI keeps pushing this software. It’s taken an awfully long time and a big investment to get it this far. You would think the companies would see the benefits and jump right on, especially in view of the

price: it’s free, while other commer-cially available software can cost up-wards of $15,000 and those programs don’t do as much as Benchmark. How can you get better than free?”

Even though Hawaii Air Control sends its fabrication work to subcon-tractors, Fujimoto says key benefits for his company include the impressive 3-D drawings for clients and the capa-bility to resolve any installation prob-lems or conflicts right in the office.

Fujimoto, who completed his Benchmark training last November when his company sent him to Detroit to take the training, is currently the only certified Benchmark user in Ha-waii. He was among the top 12 finish-ers in the detailer competition held last March in Las Vegas.

Jim Meyers, Bright Sheet Metal, Indianapolis, was a SMACNA repre-sentative on the task force that de-veloped Benchmark: “We don’t have the management problem that some might have because we’ve been in on the development of Benchmark since the outset.

Speaking of Bright’s plans, he says: “We’re ready to rock and roll with it on a super big hospital project. We are the lead on that project because Benchmark will assure the client of compatibility with the other trades that they require.” Bright has 10 detailing stations. “We’d be paying thousands of dollars for another com-mercial program to outfit 10 stations,” Meyers says. ■

❱ www.sheet metal-iti.org/ catalog/default.asp

Benchmark training classes in drafting, fabrication, estima-tion and project management are available now. Class tuition is free to members in good standing in any location; participants pay for travel and lodging. For addi-tional information on Benchmark training classes, along with other courses offered by ITI, visit www.sheetmetal-iti.org/catalog.

❱❱ Did we mention? Training is free for any SMWIA member.

66391_Funds.indd 3 10/3/11 1:06 PM

4 Funds UPdate

iTi Q

uart

erly

Guidance Counselors, Educators: Get the Facts About a Sheet Metal Career

ITI’s website (www.sheetmetal-iti.org) is a gold mine of information about the opportunities available to young men and women who want to earn a good salary while they build a career in the sheet metal industry.

Students pay no tuition and there are no charges for books or equipment. Classes are taught by instructors who have hands-on experience in the trade. ITI’s appren-ticeship programs give students the opportunity to put their classroom knowledge to work immediately and graduates start their careers free from student loans.

The ideal candidate for the sheet metal industry is a young man or young woman who easily works as part of a team, with solid math and reasoning skills, enjoys working with their hands, is reliable and responsible. Contact the ITI at sheetmetal-iti.org for more information, or call: (703) 729-7300. ■

Benchmark® Gives Contractors Opportunity To Grab and Hold On to the Future

The sheet metal industry of the future is a sophisticated place where technology provides end users the assur-ance of the greenest, most efficient and most econom-

ical systems through Building Information Management (BIM). ITI is making that future closer and easier to grab and hold for the members of the Sheet Metal Workers In-ternational Association (SMWIA) and signatory contractors with its Benchmark (formerly CCS) BIM Training Software.

In recent months, 84 contractors have opted to come into the Benchmark fold. Yet, there are still hundreds of SMACNA contractors hanging back. Some are reluctant be-cause they have large investments in expensive off-the-shelf CAD software; others may be unaware of the unique features that the program offers to reduce costs, improve efficiency and profitability, and speed up performance on complex projects—from the bidding process to final completion of mechanical systems, even expediting billing and accounting.

Best of all—it’s free!Benchmark provides SMWIA contractors a competi-

tive edge to access eight three-dimensional, real-time,

dynamic applications that increase productivity in build-ing design and construction coordination.

ITI trains SMWIA members in the use of Benchmark software and licenses those trainees to use it—all at no cost to individual contractors.

Benchmark enables contractors to go from concept to completion with ease, constantly accessing and building on a company’s data base and eliminating the need for mul-tiple entries at different phases of the construction process.

Compatible with other nationally recognized soft-ware suites—such as Navis and Revit—Benchmark is a seamless fit in the software toolbox of any size firm. Benchmark can perform all the software tasks that other commercially available packages perform, and more. For most contractors, Benchmark will be the only BIM and modeling software they will ever need. Contractors who may be heavily invested in other commercial CAD programs will find that a Benchmark-certified detailer will have no difficulty in getting up to speed working with those programs. The training is that good. ■

What Can ITI Do For You?

W hether you are a contractor, a young person shopping for career opportunities, even a JATC trainer—the answers are all in one place—on the

ITI website (www.iti-sheetmetal.org).Click on the “Resource” button for a list of classes and

training opportunities. Contractors wondering what the ITI edge might mean for them can review the training programs and certifications that open doors to new business lines, or to make current lines of business more profitable. Trainers

can check on texts and training materials and new offerings. For those who prefer, the same information is available on a CD that can be ordered free of charge directly through ITI either on the website or by calling (703) 739-7200.

Because the site is frequently refreshed and updated, it’s a good idea to visit on a regular basis.

ITI’s website is constantly evolving and adapting to make navigation easier and to enable visitors to explore ITI’s many offerings efficiently. Give it a try. ■

66391_Funds.indd 4 10/3/11 1:06 PM