Startup Idea: Automated Seat Plates Detection Software for Wood Truss Stacking

Startup idea to design an add-on or a standalone software that integrates with the MiTek engineering software used by a wood truss manufacturer. The software would automatically detect and mark trusses that need seat plates in the cover sheets, eliminating the manual process of using a highlighter and thus saving several man hours daily.

I work for a wood truss manufacturer. We use MiTek engineering software to design our trusses and to print out the paperwork that the builders need. We print out cover sheets from our MiTek server through internet explorer. These cover sheets go to the people who stack the trusses together. The stackers are also responsible for placing the seat plates on the jobs. Seat plates are thin pieces of metal that go between a concrete wall and the wood truss. Trusses that rest on wood do not get seat plates. In the same truss pack, you will have some trusses that rest on concrete and some trusses that rest on wood. Our building plots have a small icon that shows if the truss is sitting on a concrete wall, a wood wall, or on another truss. Those plots are too bulky to be given to the stackers. Instead we print out the cover sheets which show a small image of the trusses and use a highlighter to mark the areas that need seat plates. I know that information is coming through on the MiTek server. There is just no easy way for the screen to display that information. A program or a Explorer add-on that could mark the areas that need seat plates would save us several man hours per day. I have looked through our settings in our server and our Internet Explorer settings hoping for some solution. I am not extremely tech savy, so I found nothing helpful. Currently we use man power and a highlighter.

Submitter: Necole Ivey (view contact info) (note-this is different than the email I use for MTurk)