What Is The Best Steel Detailing Software?

It almost impossible for a business owner to choose the best steel detailing software if they are not familiar with the software market without guidance as there are so many questions to answer that they may not even consider in the first instance, and in many cases steel detailing software vendors often battle on a technical level as opposed to understanding and addressing the principal core needs of a business or particular businesses concerns that are inherent in the adoption of any new technology.

In helping new businesses owners decide what is the best steel detailing software for their business the focus of this website is therefore based on an executive overview, real business considerations in today’s market, real user feedback, general market views and public domain information.

As an executive overview it must be said that all three steel detailing software packages are fit for purpose having delivered in the most competitive world markets for many years as can be clearly seen from the company websites, so this in reality is not up for debate, nor is the question of which software package is the oldest as the technology market clearly shows that up to date technology in a majority of cases outperforms on a number of levels.

The technology market is also riddled with numerous companies that have failed to invest in the development of their own platforms only to lose market share to more capable technology.

Best Steel Detailing and Steel Engineering Software

The full Advance Steel overview can be found here and an overview of the other top steel detailing software companies in this comparison can be found on the following separate pages - Strucad, Tekla.

Key Software Selection Criteria

Given that all three steel detailing software solutions are capable and can meet your business needs this then leaves the other important business considerations that need to be addressed and these are:

How easy is the software to learn? This has to be one of the most critical questions a business has to ask itself as in most cases in today’s market a business is under pressure to deliver and cannot afford to have an extended learning curve.

How easy is it to find staff that can use the software? If a member of staff moves on or is promoted how easy will it be to train another member of staff or find a new member with a reasonable not excessive salary expectation.

How good is its interoperability with other platforms? The migration and re-use of data is a crucial and growing need for fabricators and steel engineering and design companies whether it is in industry standard formats such as AutoCAD or CIS/2 (analysis and manufacturing) or even solids if you deal with manufacturing companies.

What is the initial investment cost and ongoing cost of ownership? What do you get for your money? Do you have to pay for extras like CNC output, additional file import and export such as SDNF and AutoCAD solids and what is the ongoing cost of annual maintenance, upgrades and support?

How flexible is the drawing output? If your business is dealing with Architects, Structural engineers or other Cad users this aspect can be very important. The ability to only be able to supply basic drawings or to have to re-draw in AutoCAD is not practical from a productivity point of view and should not be requirement in this day and age.

Conclusion

Based on AutoCad Advance Steel is a clear winner using the selection criteria adopted as this applies to most businesses seeking increased productivity and profitability gained from the adoption of specialist technology, there will also be scenarios where the situation may not be so clear cut. For example if project data is required in a defined native format by the principal contractor or perhaps the business has managed to recruit a steel detailer or design engineer that is already a competent user of one of the other steel detailing packages, then either StruCad or Tekla would be the best choice according to the circumstances.

Equally if a business is fairly insular and simply relies on supplied drawings for fabrication or only requires a detailing package for internal workflows then some of selection criteria that place Advance Steel ahead of the pack will not apply so it will have less of an advantage when you are deciding where to invest.

Ultimately though the best steel detailing software will be the one that that addresses the majority of the investing businesses needs and issues that they have identified.