(BRK.A), (BRK.B)
Berkshire Hathaway’s MiTek USA has announced that Cincinnati-based McCabe Lumber has implemented MiTek’s SAPPHIRE Supply, resulting in a 50% reduction in the time required to generate estimates and material take-offs.
McCabe Lumber is a long-time user of MiTek’s SAPPHIRE Structure for designing and manufacturing prefabricated components.
Using SAPPHIRE Supply, the newest SAPPHIRE module, McCabe can now create the most-accurate 3-D BIM structural frame in the building industry. With SAPPHIRE Supply, a wide range of structural products can be designed for roofs, floors, and wall applications, including proprietary EWP products, dimensional lumber, and MiTek’s USP Structural Connectors’ metal connectors.
SAPPHIRE Supply can also estimate non-structural materials such as drywall, roofing, and housewrap. A flexible formula-builder gives SAPPHIRE Supply users the power to define their own accumulation rules, further increasing accuracy.
McCabe Lumber has a staff of 120 and generates $40 million in annual revenue, Its customers are predominantly high-end custom production home builders and professional remodelers.
“With SAPPHIRE Supply, our material counts and delivery stages are so accurate, we see a clear path to reducing the error and waste rate from as much as 8% down to 2%, which is near-perfect accuracy,” said Dave Renchen, McCabe Lumber’s Estimating Manager.
“SAPPHIRE Supply uses a single shared structural model, and that offers McCabe a unified solution for efficient, consistent and accurate modeling, estimating, on order fulfillment across their organization,” explained MiTek’s Brian McCormick. “SAPPHIRE Supply eliminates the classic problem of inconsistent sales estimating, because it delivers accurate modeling and estimating on every structure.”
© 2017 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.