Qnect Blog | AEC Industry

As we enter into 2024, I wanted to reflect on what I’ve learned over my past year joining the Qnect team. I’m amazed at the growing interest in early connected models and other related trends like AI and sustainability and how that is shaping our company’s direction.  As I see customers adopting Qnect to deliver more efficient and sustainable steel structures, steel connections remain at the heart of the process. As Allan Paull, Senior VP with AECOM Tishman said at NASCC 2022 “If I can connect the steel early, the rest of the project follows.” Working through how the steel connects is so critical to mitigating risk on the project, not just the steel but the other trades that depend upon the frame getting erected. I bet we can all agree, thinking through the connections is a key to efficient steel delivery. Working with a team that understands connection design but also detailing and constructability is crucial and is a testament to the success our customers are seeing. I wanted to share some of the advances we’ve made in 2023 and what is coming down the pike in 2024.  

In the fast-paced world of construction, efficiency and accuracy are key to success. Construction Managers are always on the lookout for innovative tools and methods to streamline their processes, reduce costs, and secure more competitive bids. One such game-changing approach is the use of Early Connected Steel Models, which involve modeling and connection engineering during the design phase. In this blog, we'll explore how these models not only cut down on bids but also enable Construction Managers to provide precise Bills of Materials (BoMs) for bidding purposes. This was a hot topic for many Construction Managers at CMAA last week.

As we enter the summer season, many of you are planning your school breaks and getaways. With it also being half way through the year, I wanted to reflect on current market conditions in construction and the continued urgency to reduce project uncertainty.

“If I only knew then what I know now.” How often do you wish you could peer into the future just a bit? With Qnect, you kinda can. The speed and accuracy of Qnect means that you can test a number of different connections extremely quickly. This is like looking into the future because you can make revisions, decisions that previous to Qnect would take days if not weeks to make. 

This special webinar, specifically tailored for members and supporters of the Steel Tube Institute, demonstrates how HSS vertical bracing is made more efficient using Qnect’s powerful connection design and optimization tool.

Now available, Export to PDF. Qnect's customers have been asking for this and we deliver. Just like Qnect, export to PDF is a simple and painless way to turn your detailed Qnect reports into a sharable and for some more manageable format.

In celebration of the U.S. structural steel industry, you’re invited to a special webinar with Qnect as we host a SteelDay event on Friday, September 25! In this webinar, you will learn about technology advances that help steel detailers and fabricators.

In late August, we hosted a webinar focused on the power of analytics presented with Qnect data. The full video is below and then just below that is a transcript with screen shots. We had a great attendance and a solid Q&A session after the main presentation. There is also a 7 minute BONUS video that can be found here where you will learn more about future plans around the content presented in the webinar.

The Qnect development team took on a monumental task when they added Vertical Bracing Connections to the product roadmap. They were confident they could make it work but they knew it would take time and testing. 

The hard work paid off. Qnect received a 2020 Hot Product Award for “The world’s most efficient vertical bracing connection.” 

[Scroll down for the webinar recording] Qnect hosted over 100 attendees for the Webinar introduction of vertical bracing. Vertical bracing completes Qnect’s full spectrum of optimized connections from gravity connections to moment connections and the lateral bracing system. What makes Qnect’s vertical bracing so efficient is the extensive use of their patented, iterative process for optimizing all of the engineering variables.

After the holiday rest, we had a productive and, I’ll say, exciting time on the product development side of the house. Most of the enhancements are working behind the scenes so you won’t notice too much on the User Interface side but you will notice a few items.

It was a busy 2019, which ended in a productive end of year for product enhancements. In addition to the Release Notes found in the app, we wanted to highlight just a few for you here.

Qnect's Analytics webinar, that took place live on January 22, recieved strong engagment from the audience and generated some insightful questions that we include in the video as well as at the end of the transcript.

This special GC-focused webinar took place on November 20th, 2019. The webinar focuses on reducing time to construction for the general contractors. Learn about the connected model, preventing schedule drift, getting uniform bids from fabricators and much more. Qnect provides so much more than software and super service to help them be more successful.