Name: Ash Parshotam

Tel: 011 303 2600

Product details

Vendor: TechnoCAD

Product name and version: RebarMate

Telephone: 011 803 8834

e-mail: sales@technocad.co.za

1. What industry is the software being applied in?

We use RebarMate in our structural engineering design offices.

2. Describe the application where the software was utilised.

We use RebarMate for a variety of structural engineering applications, such as high-rise buildings, reservoirs, foundations, mine shafts, etc; in fact anywhere we require reinforced concrete to be used.

3. List the features of this particular software package.

RebarMate allows you to detail and schedule just about any type of structure. The software works seamlessly inside AutoCAD and can be used to detail to the SABS code of practice as well as to the BS code of practice. There is lots of error checking, which is carried out automatically by the software. You can schedule to a variety of schedule formats and these can be customised to suit. When scheduling, you can schedule a whole drawing, or just a portion of the drawing.

4. Does the software allow for upgrades?

The software is upgradeable with upgrades being released about 18-24 months, but sometimes enhancements are made available prior to a major upgrade. In addition, the software is ported to each new release of AutoCAD. We are currently a beta test site for the next release of RebarMate, which has some exciting new features.

5. How is the after-sales support handled?

We can obtain support via email and telephonic support is also available. We like the fact that if we need support, we can talk to qualified engineers, who understand our industry.

6. What sort of licensing agreement is used on this particular software?

Licensing is controlled by a software protection device, which needs to be attached to the computer on which you wish to work. This gives us complete flexibility, allowing work to be done away from the office if required (ie, we can take a licence home if we need to). The software can be loaded onto as many computers as we like.

7. What impressed you the most about the software?

We like the ease of use of the product and the fact that it works seamlessly inside AutoCAD. Traditionally, reinforced concrete detailing and the production of the schedule, are time consuming jobs. However, with RebarMate we have enormous productivity gains, as the production of the bar bending schedule is simply a 'button-push'.

8. What was the pre-dominant feature (or features) that made you decide on this particular software package?

There are lots of extremely useful features inside the RebarMate software. In particular, we like the ease of use, seamless integration with AutoCAD, and the fact that we can use the software on just about any structure where we need to detail reinforced concrete. Automatic scheduling and error checking definitely increases our productivity and therefore profitability.