PypeServer Gives HVAC Contractors One Platform to Manage Pipe, Plumbing, and Now Ductwork from Design to Installation

Contractors ThatFabricate Both Dry and Wet Can Track Every Piece, From the Design to the JobSite, in One System

FEDERAL WAY, WA, OCTOBER 21 – PypeServer,which makes fabrication software for mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP)contractors, gives HVAC and mechanical contractors one platform to fabricateand track both piping and ductwork. With PypeServer’s recent release of Cloud+version 3.0, Contractors can send ductwork designs straight into their shop'snesting and cutting software, run Mestek Lockformer spiral duct machinesdirectly, and follow every duct package through fabrication, shipping andinstallation. With this new release of Cloud+, the same platform PypeServercustomers use to track pipe and plumbing fabrication can now be used to trackductwork.

Many HVAC contractors work on twosides of the shop: piping, known in the trade as the "wet side," andsheet metal ductwork, the "dry side." The two have historically runas separate operations with different workflows, software and machinelanguages. A contractor doing both often tracks similar information in twosystems that don't communicate with each other, so they have no single place tosee where the work stands across both trades. Detailers hand off a fabricationsheet book to a shop that can't see the design model, so the latest approvedrevision and what is actually being cut can drift apart. And without one viewof the work, field crews call the shop to find out where material is beforethey can install it.

DILFO Mechanical, which alreadyuses PypeServer on the piping side, is moving its ductwork onto the sameplatform.

"PypeServer Cloud+ for sheetmetal is really groundbreaking for the mechanical trade," said Sampson Salinitri, VDC Manager, DILFO Mechanical."They provide the same great product of shop visibility and communicationbetween site, shop and office, along with all the metrics for your organizationto make informed, data-driven decisions for sheet metal, as they historicallyhave for piping. It is extremely convenient to now have both wet and drymechanical working off the same platform for better collaboration andefficiency."

"Many HVAC contractors are running two fabricationshops under one roof. Even if they’ve gone to a digital workflow, the softwarefor the wet side usually differs from the software for the dry side," saidDavidBasiji, CEO of PypeServer. "When both trades are on oneplatform, a contractor works from one record of the job, from the first cut tofinal installation, instead of two systems tracking the same work."

The workflow starts in the designsoftware contractors already use. PypeServer extracts MAJ files from Revit,AutoCAD Fabrication MEP and Plant3D and injects its own item codes sofabrication can be tracked in Cloud+, then imports the files into CAMduct asusual for nesting and cutting. Cloud+ manages revision control so the shopalways works from the latest approved design. If the contractor runs MestekLockformer spiral machinery, CAMduct can be bypassed entirely thanks toPypeServer's direct tool integration, eliminating manual programming, sketchsheets, and data entry. Over time, PypeServer will be introducing more directintegrations with duct fabrication machinery.

Once parts are cut, trackingcontinues through installation. Because PypeServer injects its item codes intothe MAJ file upstream, the labels CAMduct prints carry PypeServer’s QR-codedtracking without the need for a new labeling process. Cloud+ follows each ductpackage through fabrication, staging, shipping and installation, with statusupdated from the office, the shop or the field in a web browser or the iOS andAndroid apps. On site, crews scan a label's QR code to see real-timefabrication status, part details and a 3D Assembly Viewer for placement andassembly checks, so they can find out where material is without calling theshop.

The sheet metal workflow isavailable on the PypeServer Cloud+ platform, with details at pypeserver.com/sheet-metal.PypeServer will demonstrate Cloud+ at the SMACNA Annual Convention, October 25to 28 in Orlando, FL.

About PypeServer

Founded in 2010, PypeServer makes software that helpsmechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) contractors connect theirfabrication work from the design model to the cutting machine to the job site.Its products include machine-control software for a wide range of automated andmanual cutting equipment and the Cloud+ software for project tracking andvisibility across the office, shop, and field.

Learn more at pypeserver.com.‍

Media Contact

Layla Van Buren

PR Account Coordinator

The MicDrop Agency

layla@themicdropagency.com

Source: PypeServer.