Masonry Magazine February 1974 Page. 8
A Dodge/Scan subscriber uses a special patented viewing table to project construction drawings back to original size and accurate scale in his own office for estimating and bidding purposes.
Microfilm Take-off System
Helps Contractors Bid Jobs
Shortages and rising prices of gasoline have fueled increasing interest in the Dodge/Scan Microfilm System, a reproduction service that mails filmed construction plans for bidding purposes daily to 5,000 subscribers, including about 200 firms in the masonry market.
"Former subscribers are even calling up to say they want the service back because with the cost of gasoline going up they can't afford to chase after plans," says Wesley A. Fraser, vice president of marketing in the F. W. Dodge Division of McGraw-Hill Information Systems Co., New York, N.Y.
This and other advantages of the service were described in an exhibit entitled "Dodge/Scan-the Modern Take-Off System," which appeared at the MCAA annual convention in Las Vegas in February. Included in the exhibit was a Scan viewer, a special patented viewing table that enables users to project microfilmed drawings back to original size and accurate scale in their own offices for take-offs and estimates.
The exhibit was part of a Dodge/Scan masonry promotional campaign that includes a specially prepared booklet entitled "The Masonry Industry: A Guide to More Profitable Estimating." This booklet presents a step-by-step discussion of how to use probability forecasting in preparing bids in order to make allowances for unforeseen circumstances, such as bad weather, that arise during construction jobs. The booklet is available free from any F. W. Dodge office.
In response to surveys, the 5,000 Scan subscribers have cited the saving in time and travel otherwise needed to obtain and review copies of project drawings and specifications as the service's leading advantage.
Other advantages, according to Dodge, include the ability to screen even more jobs over a wider geographical area, increased accuracy in the preparation of bids, elimination of deposits for sets of plans, availability of the filmed plans for last-minute verifications, and retention of the microfilms as permanent records requiring little space.
Guessing Game Promotes
Masonry In Minnesota
The Minnesota Masonry Institute employed a novel take-off on estimating to promote the use of masonry construction at the recent 53rd annual convention of the Minnesota School Boards Association in Minneapolis Auditorium.
The MMI exhibit featured a full-scale model of the new Henry Sibley Senior High School in Mendota Heights and invited passersby to guess the number of exterior face brick used in its construction. The estimates ranged from 200 to 115,000,000. But a guess of 241,500 was closest to the actual number of 239,025.
Minnesota Masonry Institute president Sid Mosman termed MMI's first participation in the school board convention a success. "Our aim," he said, "was to display outstanding examples of masonry schools through models and pictures. Many convention attenders viewed our display with interest and requested literature."
MMI executive director Tom Richardson credited the following architects with furnishing exhibit material: Hammel Green & Abrahamson, Inc.; Matson Wegleitner & Abendroth Architects, Inc.; Bissell Belair & Green Inc.; Armstrong, Torseth, Skold & Rydeen, Inc., and Ellerbe Architects-Engineers-Planners.
Construction Employers
Elect McGlone Chairman
The board of directors of the Council of Construction Employers, Inc., Washington, D.C., has elected Thomas J. McGlone chairman and Robert E. Linck vice chairman for 1974.
McGlone, who since 1970 has represented the international association of Wall & Ceiling Contractors on the CCE board, is president of T.J. McGlone & Co., Rahway, N.J., an acoustical, drywall and plastering firm.
Linck is president of Warren-Ehret-Linck Co., a Philadelphia-based construction and merchandising firm dealing in roofing, sheet metal, waterproofing, siding and insulation.
Hunter Heads Up MIA
Neil Hunter, executive vice president of Hilgartner Natural Stone, Baltimore, Md., has been elected president of the Marble Institute of America, McLean, Va.
Elected with him were Lido Pellegrini of Conolly Marble, Mosaic Tile, Downsview, Ont., Canada, vice president; Frank McCue, McCue Marble Corp., Glenview, Ill., secretary, and Marcus Baum, Colonna & Co., Long Island City, N.Y., treasurer.