Case Study: Straus Systems Inc achieves 4x faster hanger layout and 1/16-inch accuracy with Trimble MEP

HVAC Contractor Facilitates BIM to Transition to the Field

Straus Systems Inc, a Texas-based mechanical contractor founded in 1933, faced the challenge of translating increasingly complex 3D BIM and CAD models into accurate, speedy on-site layouts for HVAC piping, hangers and sleeves. To move beyond traditional tools like string lines and plumb bobs and to capture as-built conditions for retrofit and new construction work, Straus Systems Inc sought a field-focused solution from Trimble MEP.

Trimble MEP supplied the Trimble RTS Series Robotic Total Station and Trimble MEP layout software to download CAD hanger points, establish benchmarks and laser-shoot positions in the field. The Trimble MEP solution increased productivity from about 100 hanger points per day to 400, delivered positioning accuracy to within one-sixteenth of an inch at 600 feet, sped data capture on existing infrastructure by 2–3×, and enabled rapid layout of 396 sleeves in a university lecture hall that would otherwise have taken 3–4 times longer.

Straus Systems Inc

Paul J. Alexander

Vice President