Likelihood to Recommend Our operation uses several pieces of what we call specialty equipment (not used every day on every job). The foreman when finished will give a location of where this equipment is left, this many times can be very vague and lead to a lowboy driver trying to block around to find the piece or driving down a street he cannot get turned around in. With the GPS devices, the driver can pinpoint exactly where the unit is and if he has room to turn around at that location.
Read full review Navisworks is a key tool if doing any 3D model coordination with other trades. It will allow you to view your model content with others to know for certain that your design is accurate and can be assembled. Navisworks also comes with a lot of additional tools to make this process easy.
Read full review Pros #1 is support! HCSS is by far the best software support of any product we have ever used. Unlike most software companies HCSS utilizes their support calls to help upgrade their software. When you here them tell you that they will write down a particular issue you come across during a support call if they can't help you then and there they will research and get an answer to you extremely fast. If the software will not do it, you can bet there is a good chance it will be on the list of enhancements you will see come out in the near future. Estimating software is very extensive. Their software is capable of handling the smallest estimate all the way to the largest joint venture estimate. It has advanced features that make it extremely useful for analyzing job materials, subcontractors etc. HeavyJob is an extremely useful tool for the field to keep the office up to date with job costs. Everything is at the Foreman's fingertips on Tablets to allow the information from the field to get uploaded to HeavyJob manager which then can export to accounting. We are also able to give our Foreman the ability to deal with the Daily and weekly safety needs (Tailgate Meetings, incident Investigation, observations etc.) right on the Tablets thru HeavyJob. Read full review Model Viewing, the navigation tools are really easy to use for walking through the model, especially if viewpoints are set up for key locations. The take-offs work really well and can be very quick and easy if the model was built right. Read full review Cons All their apps are on mobile devices. Although there is not a clear company policy on Android versus iPhone. Updates for features lag behind on Android. Some apps are exclusive to one platform making it hard to fully interconnect all programs. Read full review A link to BIM 360 Model Coordination is a serious shortcoming. It used to be easy to link to models loaded to BIM 360 Glue for more in depth clash detection. I would have liked the ability to export a simulation created in Navisworks to 3DS Max for a more immersive animation with decent material mapping and better animation tools. I would like to be able to view/create BIM 306 Docs/Field issues directly in Navisworks. In the current workflow we have to use other file formats to work within BIM 360. It would be more productive to be able to navigate the model through Navisworks and to create viewpoints and issues from within Navisworks. Read full review Usability As mentioned, user interface appears messy and complicated at initial onset. Training is necessary but becomes easy to maneuver through after solid daily use.
Read full review Support Rating I have never had a bad experience or heard of one in 4 years of doing business with HCSS. That is unheard of even with the hurricanes and flooding in Houston area it feels like HCSS was always there and willing to help in every way.
Read full review Autodesk owns Navisworks, and it seems to have a pretty good support network. A lot of the troubleshooting or support information is provided through an online database, so you most likely would not be getting any personal attention with your issues. Since there are so many users for Navisworks, there is a lot of information on the web.
Read full review Implementation Rating I was not employed with PPI upon implementation. I would prefer to reference my previous statement, that each company needs to evaluate its culture and address your implementation accordingly. The purchasing company should assign an employee as point person and really take charge of not just the technical side of the implementation (HCSS pretty much handles that), but focus on company culture and training.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Other estimating products I have used consist of ICE/MC2 and MS Excel. ICE was not a good fit for our company, as they have awful technical support and offer very poor training. MS Excel is great for simple estimates where there is not a lot of data being compiled. However neither hold a candle to the power of HCSS Heavybid
Read full review Navisworks is a master tool if we want to do any 3D model coordination with any trade of a building. It allows us to view our model content with all elements to visualize and understand for certain where our design stands in terms of accuracy and how all things can be assembled on site. Navisworks also comes with a lot of additional tools to make BIM process easy.
Read full review Return on Investment The biggest ROI for us was the ease of adoption by field personnel. Read full review It helps in coordination on BIM projects. We have had major project coordination saving millions on jobs. Helps us win more projects as we can coordinate them Used to use the animation tools for site logistics. Now we use game engines. Lennart Andersson Director of Virtual Design & Construction, Senior Associate Vice President
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