aSa News Learn about upcoming events & see what’s new at aSa. >p. 3

Tags With CRSI Barcodes Special barcodes on mill tags make receiving stock material easy and automatic. >p. 4

| T h e C o m p l e t e R e b a r S o l u t i o n ®

R E I N F O R C E RW i n t e r 2 0 1 5

Enhancements on Deck Newest version of aSa incorporates changes to help with all phases of your business. >p. 8

w w w . a s a r e b a r . c o m

ASA SOFTWARE

FORUM 2015

MARCH 24-26!

Volume 22, Number 1

EDITOR Jerry Born

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jason Butina

AUTHORS Jason Butina, Jerry Born,

Becky Hamilton, and Scott Leib

LAYOUT & DESIGN Jerry Born

2 R E I N F O R C E R WINTER 2015 MORE INFO ONLINE www.asarebar.com

Applied Systems Associates, Inc.5270 Logan Ferry RoadMurrysville, Pennsylvania 15668 Web: www.asarebar.com

Toll Free: 1.800.CALL.ASA Phone: 1.724.733.8700Fax: 1.724.325.5553

aSa Australia: +61.429.227.891 aSa India: +91.9870284190 aSa South America: +57.3164967867

Need Help?

Contact aSa

Whether you have a quick question or one that is more involved, our sales and consulting teams are ready to assist you and help answer your questions.

1.800.CALL.ASA

Customer Servicecustomerservice@asaHO.com

Reinforcing Applications Support racsupport@asaHO.com

CAD Support cadsupport@asaHO.com

Business Applications Support bacsupport@asaHO.com

IT Supportitsupport@asaHO.com

Sales websales@asaHO.com

To subscribe to the Reinforcer, visit www.asarebar.com

© Copyright 2015. The Reinforcer is published semi-annually by Applied Systems Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. aSa is a registered trademark and service mark of Applied Systems Associates, Inc. All other product and company names are the property and/or trademarks of their respective owners. Reproducing part or all of this publication for purposes other than personal or internal reference use without express written permission of aSa is prohibited.

Letter from the President R E I N F O R C E R

As aSa celebrates its 45th anniversary on February 2, it’s both a time to look back and a time

to look forward. In 2014, I had the privilege of traveling to a variety of places including

Santiago, Chile; Saõ Paulo, Brazil; and many cities in India including Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur,

Jamnagar, and Chennai. During my travels, I was intrigued to see the differences in culture and

food, but also how construction practices and workflow vary from place to place.

In Santiago, the landscape and the city have a

beautifully rich history. And while I have been to Saõ

Paulo many times, each visit brings a new glimpse of

this large city. Of course, one of the highlights is the

Brazilian barbecue! In April and December, my two

journeys to India were particularly profound. India is

a country of contrasts. On the one hand, India is high

tech, launching satellites into space and building 21st

century airports and rail systems. At the same time, the country is very traditional, evidenced

by the camel transporting rebar in Jaipur! Streets are filled with cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles,

bicycles, rickshaws, people, and the occasional dog, cat, cow, goat, or camel.

While aSa has had estimating and detailing customers in India for about 15 years, interest in aSa

reinforcement software has been growing in recent years. Irfan Nakadé, our representative in

Mumbai, is busy demonstrating and installing aSa software for some of India’s largest and smallest

contractors, as well as detailing and engineering firms in the region. In early 2015, aSa established

a presence in South America, adding Roberto Gallo Zambrano as our representative in Medellin,

Colombia. Roberto will help with sales, implementations, training, and follow-up support. See

page 12 for more details about Roberto.

aSa’s international presence makes our product line stronger as we add new features to address

diverse requirements in new markets. So, whether you are shipping your rebar on an 18-wheeler

or by camel, aSa has you covered!

Plan to attend aSa’s upcoming Fantastic Four-um, March 24-26 in Pittsburgh, to learn more about

the newest aSa products and to meet our US and international staff. I hope to see you there!

I wish you a happy, healthy, successful, and peaceful 2015!

Best regards,

Scott D. Leib

President/CEO

45 Years and Computing ...

3WINTER 2015 R E I N F O R C E R

VIEW MORE aSa PRODUCT AND REBAR INDUSTRY NEWSON THE WEB @ www.asarebar.com

The Complete Rebar Solution®

Free Videos and User Guides Online

aSa NEWS

Clients enrolled in our subscription plan can take advantage of free videos and user guides on our website. We have plenty of helpful videos to help you to get the most out of aSa software, as well as PDF user guides for all of our modules. To see a complete list of videos and user guides, log into our Support site and click Print user guides and watch training videos or search our KnowledgeBase.

aSa News

Jim Leib Receives Distinguished Service Award The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI)

presented the CRSI Distinguished Service

Award to Jim Leib, founder of aSa. The award

is presented to individuals or organizations

for outstanding dedication, commitment,

participation, and leadership in CRSI and the reinforcing steel

community. The award was presented November 3 at the

Chairman’s Dinner at the Swissôtel in Chicago.

Upcoming EventsWorld of Concrete February 3–6, 2015 Las Vegas, Nevada

aSa Software Forum March 24–26, 2015 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Current supported versions of aSa software include:

• 14.1 - Released July 2014

• 13.1 - Released December 2013

12.2 and all previous versions have been retired. Our consultants will continue to provide phone and e-mail support for all products, including retired versions. However, we will not make any code changes — including patches, upgrades, or enhancements — for versions that have been retired. If you require a change to a particular product, and your version has been retired, you must upgrade to the newest version.

Current Supported aSa SoftwareNew Faces on the aSa Consulting Team

aSa Introduces ProRebar for Revit App aSa ProRebar® for Revit® allows you to take off material

from your Revit model and create a file containing all the

information needed to automate fabrication, delivery, and

installation activities with aSa rebar software solutions.

For more information on this and other aSa products

and services, visit our Solutions web page:

www.asarebar.com/solutions

You may have already talked with aSa’s newest

consultants if you’ve called for IT or Rebar

Financials support recently. Fred Dawson,

Technical Specialist, is aSa’s primary contact

for IT related questions. Fred also helps manage

aSa’s internal network and computer systems.

Jerrod Brandon also works in the IT department,

helping customers with computer maintenance

and hardware issues. With Linda Bendel’s

retirement last year, aSa welcomes Connie Sowa

as the newest member of the Business Systems

Consulting team. aSa also recently hired

additional software developers. Meet all of our

staff at the aSa Software Forum March 24-26.

Fred Dawson

Jerrod Brandon

Connie Sowa

Jim Leib

4 R E I N F O R C E R WINTER 2015

INDUSTRY

MORE INFO ONLINE www.asarebar.com

LEARN MORE ABOUT aSa EVENTSON THE WEB @ www.asarebar.com/aboutasa/events.aspx

Fabricators receiving stock from mills that don’t use the standardized barcode format must manually enter receipt information into the system, print separate bundle inventory tags, and apply them to each stock bundle. If your supplier does not include the CRSI standard 2D barcode on its stock tags, tell your mill representative that this is a value-added service that is important to your company.

Mills Producing Tags with CRSI Recommended BarcodesSpecial barcodes on mill tags make receiving stock material easy and automatic.

B y simply scanning mill tags with the CRSI recommended barcode format,

fabricators using aSa Bundle Inventory can load receipt data for each stock

bundle into the database.

Developed by the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI), the 2D standard is a consistent format for embedding material and heat data from each stock bundle into a barcode.

“We’re happy to have hopped on board with aSa,“ says David Gales, Sales and Marketing Coordinator for AltaSteel. He continues, “Providing this service to our customers has allowed them ease and convenience in their receiving.“ AltaSteel

began including the CRSI barcodes on its mill tags in summer 2014. The Edmonton company provides rebar in all common sizes to fabricators throughout Western Canada.

Another company that recently began providing this service to its customer is EVRAZ Rocky Mountain in Pueblo, Colorado. EVRAZ supplies coiled rebar to customers throughout North America and according to National Sales Manager

Jon Kinnischtzke, “Recently completed IT upgrades will enable us to meet CRSI industry 2D barcode standards going forward.”

Several Gerdau and Nucor mills also use the CRSI mill tags. CMC provides a data file for each shipment that can be imported into aSa Bundle Inventory.

As reported in the Winter 2013 Reinforcer, Cascade Steel in Oregon also provides the barcoded tags on its stock bundles.

5WINTER 2015 R E I N F O R C E R

LEARN MORE ABOUT aSa STAFFON THE WEB @ www.asarebar.com/support/staffdirectory.aspx INDUSTRY

The Complete Rebar Solution®

See Exciting New aSa Products at World of Concrete 2015 in Las VegasVisit aSa booth N2516.

I f you are looking forward to seeing some new and exciting products from aSa,

then you‘ll want to visit aSa booth N2516 at World of Concrete - February 3-6

in Las Vegas, Nevada. We will showcase our entire line of software, hardware, and

shop automation solutions, plus some exciting new innovations.

In addition to its core product line, aSa will be featuring next generation CAD products ProConcrete™ and ProRebar®. ProConcrete is a powerful 3D modeling tool for concrete and rebar. It is the only rebar modeling package designed to work with both AutoCAD® and MicroStation®. aSa ProRebar is the aSa add-on to complement ProConcrete. It enables you to take off material directly from your model to the aSa

database. Once taken off, bar information is available to the entire suite of aSa modules.

The updated aSa Opto-Shear Console will also be on display. One of aSa’s goals in redesigning its industry-standard shear console is to bring it onto the Microsoft Windows platform. It also enables you to run stand-alone or connected to your aSa database. The new console has a clean, modern look and feel, with an

easier-to-read touch-screen, plus many other features.

Following the success of World of Concrete 2014, this year’s event will be the largest exhibit held in over six years. With more than 630,000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor exhibits and over 1,300 exhibitors, there will be plenty to see and do.

Plan to stop by booth N2516 for hands-on demos of aSa’s Complete Rebar Solution®.

Register online at www.worldofconcrete.com. Use CRSI code A25 for discounted admission

to the exhibition.

“People are afraid of what they don’t understand.” (Jonathan Kent, Man of Steel)

Join us at the 2015 aSa Software Forum - let aSa take away your fears and give you the super power of knowledge. The aSa Software Forum is a special meeting that takes place every two

years. All clients enrolled in the aSa Subscription Plan are invited. With various sessions to choose from each day, from basic to advanced, there’s something for everyone. For 2015, we’ve also added more hands-on workshops so you and your peers can practice the skills you learn in class.

This forum’s theme is superheroes and villains. The event is March 24-26, 2015, at the Sheraton Station Square in Pittsburgh. Your registration includes all breakfasts and lunches, snacks, a special dinner, hospitality nights, and much more. The forum is designed to provide training and gather feedback from aSa users.

It’s also a great way to network and make friends in the industry. There will be plenty to do outside of the classroom, too. We have fun activities planned for each night. Tuesday evening, superheroes and villains will unite at the Hulk Smash Hospitality. Join us for an unforgettable evening filled with music and fun. Have your picture taken at our photo booth. Tons of awesome hero

Fantastic Four-umFantastic Four-um

Mark Your Calendar for some EXCELLENT TRAINING ...

Networking ...

... with industry peers

M A R C H 2 4 - 2 6 P i t t s b u r g h

aSa Software Forum

March 24 - 26

Register Today!

asarebar.com/forum

props will be on hand. You’ll also have the chance to win some really cool prizes. It will be a smashing good time!

Wednesday night, show off your super powers at the Carnegie Science Center’s Highmark SportsWorks®. Are you the bravest, fastest, or strongest? If you think you are, put on your cape and join us for our Bootcamp Academy for Superheroes (B.A.S.H.).

Here, you’ll be able to put your skills to the test - take a ride to see what’s inside of a superhero’s body, climb a rock wall, and test your speed against an Olympic sprinter. These are only a few of the nearly 30 different activities you’ll be able to experience. Dinner will also be served to all superheroes (and villains).

You don’t want to leave the forum early this year. We end the event Thursday afternoon with a “super” session on our Next Generation software development. A post-forum happy hour follows from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Don’t miss out on any of the fun! Visit our website - asarebar.com/forum - for more details and to register online. Register by January 31 to take advantage of our early bird discount. We look forward to seeing you in March!

“Overall, the training sessions were well presented. Time was left for questions, and in many cases the questions added to the material that was being presented or even led to unplanned sessions on lesser used functions.”Greg Wilcox Salit Steel

“I was very impressed with the friendly nature of the staff and of the generosity of the aSa family. Scott (Leib) went out of his way to help my wife feel welcome … aSa is a great family business and a company with good values; it was a pleasure meeting you all.” Charles Renner Gerdau Kansas CityFantastic Four-umFantastic Four-um

Networking ...

... with industry peers

and, win prizes!!

Have Fun with other superheroes & villains

Register Todayasarebar.com/forum

M A R C H 2 4 - 2 6 P i t t s b u r g h

8 R E I N F O R C E R WINTER 2015

TECHNOLOGY

MORE INFO ONLINE www.asarebar.com

Enhancements on DeckFrom Estimating to Field Placing, the newest version of aSa incorporates changes to help with all phases of your business.

Estimating Report Enhancements. A popular feature from an old DOS version of Estimating is back. The “quick segment” summary that simply lists each segment and its weight now displays on the cover page of the report. Additionally, we’ve made the summary section of the Estimate report incredibly

flexible. You can now define and save any number of customizable summaries, then add them to the report as needed. Three new summary types are available: Fab Class Summary – lists weights by fab class (heavy, light, and straight); Placing Summary – provides a variety of information for each placing code in

the estimate; and Matrix Summary – completely user-defined … you pick the fields to use for the rows and columns.

CAD Project Manager. Now, you can view and manipulate all of your 2D and 3D project information in one place. A customizable grid shows all of your jobs,

O ur newest release, v14.2, is currently in beta testing. Clients enrolled in

our software support subscription will receive an e-mail notice when it is

available for general distribution. What can you expect from the new update?

A lot! Read on.

READ SOME OF OUR CLIENT SUCCESS STORIESON THE WEB @ www.asarebar.com/aboutasa.aspx

p CAD Project Manager. At the heart of the new Project Manager is a grid listing all of your jobs and drawings in a tree format. Best of all, the grid is totally customizable, allowing you to sort, filter, and group data any way you like.

u Field Placing Web App. The Jobsite Entry screen in aSa’s new Field Placing web application lets you update percent placed for each placing code with just a couple taps of your finger.

9WINTER 2015 R E I N F O R C E R

VIEW THIS AND PREVIOUS ISSUES OF THE REINFORCERON THE WEB @ www.asarebar.com/aboutasa/asanews TECHNOLOGY

The Complete Rebar Solution®

“Each module we’ve added has benefited us in the way we wanted … aSa has really helped us to grow.”

which you can expand to view the associated CAD drawings and ProRebar® models. When you click on a row in the grid, a side panel displays the related details. Easily add, delete, or modify your job and drawing data without leaving the Project Manager screen.

Fabricated Mesh Enhancements. A few years ago, aSa introduced the ability to create custom mesh sheets. Recently, the designer was enhanced to be even more flexible and easy to use. New in version 14.2, you can now add cutting and bending lines to the

mesh sheet picture. The lines appear on the Production Work Order report as an aid to the shop crew.

Production Updates. You can now substitute bend classes in the Production screen by dragging and dropping control code items onto pictures that represent each class. When you drag and drop an item, the weight of material assigned to each affected bend class automatically updates. A color-coded indicator shows whether you are below, near, or over your defined capacity. Additionally, we have added several new

reports that show historical data. For example, you can now view accumulated production statistics for all runs over a given date range.

Field Placing Web App. Our new web application lets you record placing progress for a job right from the jobsite. Simply log into your tablet or mobile device and select the job. A list of the job’s placing codes displays, along with the percent placed for each code. Simply tap the up (or down) button to update the percent placed based on the current week’s progress.

What’s the process for installing a major release?

First, you will receive a notification from aSa that a new version is available.

1. Enter a distribution request on our website.

Note: Distribution requests are handled in the order they are received, and we typically receive a large number of requests when we first announce a release. Your patience is appreciated.

2. A consultant will contact you to schedule your installation, and the DVD package will be shipped to you.

3. The consultant will contact you at the pre-scheduled time to assist you with installing the software distribution.

4. After installing the main distribution, you will install the newest cumulative update. Updates are specific to the version you are running. For example, after installing v14.2 from DVD, you will download and install the latest 14.2 update from our website.

10 R E I N F O R C E R WINTER 2015

FIND OTHER HELPFUL TOPICS IN OUR KNOWLEDGEBASEON THE WEB @ www.asarebar.com/supportHOW TO

MORE INFO ONLINE www.asarebar.com

Do you prefer to keep your hands on your keyboard? If so, you are in luck! Many buttons in Rebar Financials can be selected via keyboard combinations. Below is a listing of the most common keyboard shortcuts available. Notice that the Flashlight and Magnifying Glass tools even have their own shortcuts, F4 and F5 respectively. Hint: If you hover your mouse over any button in Rebar Financials, a tool tip displays the keyboard shortcut for that button.

Keep Your Hands on the Keyboard

O&A with aSa’s ConsultantsWhen I run Production, I get a “Missing path” error. How can I fix this?

A “Missing path” error displays when the program tries to write information -- such as

interface instructions or shearing files for an Opto-Shear Console -- to a local or network

folder and can’t. Typically, this is because:

• the specified path is missing or incorrect

• the folder exists but the system does not have permission to write to it

Solution:1. Open aSa Client Configuration Utility (Start > (All) Programs > aSa ex Rebar

Software > aSa Client Configuration Utility).2. Click Production.3. Verify that valid paths are set up for all items, particularly Prd Shear Controller and

Other Equipment Interfaces.4. If the paths are valid, make note of them. Contact your system administrator and

make sure you have “write” permissions to the folders.

D O I T Y O U R S E L F

Need a Support Login?

The Support area of our website contains numerous downloads and resources that are available only to clients enrolled in the aSa Software Subscription Service. If you are a supported client, you will need a username and password to log into the site.

To register, log into our Support webpage, then click the Register button.

Need Answers? The KnowledgeBase in the Support area of our website contains FAQs, videos, and printable guides. Log into the Support website, and click Search our KnowledgeBase.

• Finish (CTRL + F)• Save (CTRL + S)• Cancel (CTRL + L)• Delete (CTRL + D)• Next Number (CTRL + N)• Rename ID (CTRL + R)• “Flashlight” navigator (F4)• “Magnifying Glass” lookup (F5)

11WINTER 2015 R E I N F O R C E R

DOWNLOAD OUR CONTRACT ESTIMATORS AND DETAILERS LIST ON THE WEB @ www.asarebar.com/support NEW aSa CLIENTS

The Complete Rebar Solution®

WELCOME FABRICATORS and SUPPLIERS

WELCOME CONTRACT ESTIMATORS and DETAILERS

North America

Alamillo Rebar Bakersfield, CA

Cavert Rebar, LLC Rural Hall, NC

Ceco Concrete Construction, LLC Tampa, FL

Corrosion Resistant Reinforcing, LLC Walton, KY

Erie Haven, Inc. Fort Wayne, IN

Gerdau - Knoxville Mining Prod. Knoxville, TN

Download the aSa Contract Rebar

Estimator/Detailer Directory

Midwest Rebar Fabrication Des Moines, IA

Olympic Rebar LLC Zillah, WA

Pacific Steel Group Santee, CA

Pasco Concrete Construction, Inc. Greenville, NC

Rebar Supply LLC Ft. Myers, FL

Stantru Reinforcing Steel Fontana, CA

Armaco, Inc. Chateauguay, QCEstimating License

Mexico

Anteus Constructora S.A. de C.V. Zapopan, Jalisco MEXICO

Howard W. Bennion Fairfield, CABar List License

Doug Roberts St. Petersburg, FLEstimating License

Austral ia

Emco Steel Pty Ltd Milperra, NSW

Herzog Steel Fyshwick, ACT

Transfab Reinforcement Australai Pty Ltd.Clayton, VIC

aSa Customer SatisfactionMeet Becky Hamilton, aSa Client Services Coordinator.

Roberto Rojas-Correa Fort Lauderdale, FLBar List License

Willis Rebar Suisun City, CA Estimating License

Becky Hamilton, who has been a member of aSa’s administrative team for seven

years, was recently promoted to the role of Client Services Coordinator. In her new position, Becky is responsible for ensuring customer satisfaction before, during, and after

any engagement with aSa. For example, if a consultant is traveling on-site to your location to install software and provide training services, Becky will be in touch with you several times throughout the process to make sure everything is going well and to address any issues that may arise. Becky also ensures that day-to-day customer

service tasks, such as creating software license keys and shipping distributions, are handled promptly and professionally. Additionally, she is very involved in coordinating our annual Customer Satisfaction Survey and planning Software Forum

activities. Even though she has taken on a new role in the company, she continues with some of her previous duties, including helping Lisa Buchholz with tag sales and assisting Multimedia Services with various projects.

I am excited to take on this new role. I am looking

forward to growing relationships with our customers.“ “

— Becky Hamilton

Poland

CMC - Rzeszow Rzeszow, POLAND

Becky Hamilton

“I’m really, really excited to be working with aSa!” says Roberto Gallo Zambrano, aSa’s newest consultant. Roberto, who lives in Colombia and speaks Spanish and English, continues, “I look forward to making many good friends at aSa and also with contacts in the steel industry in South and Central America.”

Roberto brings a unique background to his role at aSa. After finishing school, he worked at the Banco de Occidente (Western Bank) in Barranquilla, first as a messenger, then in banking operations. Next, he worked at the steel company, Aceros Ferrasa (now part of the Techint Group) beginning in 2005.

About five years later, Roberto’s supervisor at Ferrasa started a new steel

company, Servicios y Aceros Seracer, and asked Roberto to join him. At Seracer, Roberto was responsible for customer service and special client projects. There, he gained experience with rebar software implementations. “I am extremely grateful to (supervisor) Mr. Humberto Villegas, for all I learned while working with him at Ferrasa and Seracer,” says Roberto.

Through sales visits from Tim Berg (Vice President for Business Development) and Mario Esquivel (Reinforcing Consultant), Roberto came to know about aSa. He says the offer to work with aSa is a “great opportunity” and that he truly appreciates the friendly welcome he received from the aSa staff.

Roberto will be working as a consultant with aSa’s

Reinforcing Applications Consulting group and also helping with sales in his region. “I’m looking forward to learning more about aSa solutions and visiting Pittsburgh for the software forum in March,” he says.

“The reinforcing steel industry is growing really fast in South America,” Roberto notes. His location makes Roberto ideal for providing support and service to fabricators in his region of the world. aSa now has two fluent Spanish-speaking consultants, Mario and Roberto.

Roberto lives in Itagui, which is in the metropolitan area of Medellin in Colombia, with his wife, Natalia Villegas, and two daughters, Manuela Gallo (5 years old) and Martina Gallo (3 years old).

12 R E I N F O R C E R WINTER 2015

INTERNATIONAL

MORE INFO ONLINE www.asarebar.com

Meet Roberto Gallo ZambranoWe are pleased to welcome a new consultant serving Latin America.

A s the

construction

and reinforcing

steel markets grow

in Latin America,

so does aSa’s need

to provide support

and sales in

the region.

LOOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ASA PRODUCTSON THE WEB @ www.asarebar.com/solutions