America’s Largest Steel Producer is Lead Investor
in SaaS Connection Optimization Company

Qnect is welcoming Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) as the lead investor for Qnect’s $3.8 million funding round. Qnect provides software and digital engineering to optimize connections and production throughput for better steel project efficiency.

“We are proud to be able to partner with Nucor. Their investment recognizes the power of our software and is a gratifying endorsement from such a prominent leader in the steel industry,” says Jef Sharp, CEO of Qnect. “Qnect helps everybody in the industry with early data and optimization cost benefits that make steel the best choice.”

Introduced to the market in April 2016, Qnect’s cloud-based connection software is designed for steel detailers, fabricators, engineers and others involved in the structural steel workflow. Qnect projects have recognized savings from earlier delivery of shop drawings, improved fabrication throughput, reduction in connection costs, and streamlined approvals and revisions.

With Nucor’s investment, Qnect will strengthen its market position in North America and key international markets.

“This investment in Qnect emphasizes Nucor’s commitment to continuous improvement, our dedication to our customers and our belief that technology will continue to drive the steel industry,” said John Hollatz, President of Nucor’s Vulcraft / Verco Group. “Nucor is looking forward to working with Qnect as it delivers on its vision of bringing significant efficiencies to the design, fabrication, and erection of steel structures and provides stewardship to the construction process.”

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Nucor and its affiliates are manufacturers of steel products, with operating facilities primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Products produced include: carbon and alloy steel — in bars, beams, sheet and plate; hollow structural section tubing; electrical conduit; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; metal building systems; steel grating; and wire and wire mesh. Nucor is North America’s largest recycler.

In an increasingly competitive world, it’s essential for fabricators, detailers and EORs to utilize tools that allow them to work faster, lower costs and accelerate revisions. Thankfully, Qnect is answering that call with B+Op. It’s not a chemical or algebraic formula. B+Op is simply an acronym for Bolt Optimization. B+Op includes a combination of bolt, plate, angle, weld and labor optimization for each engineered joint in a steel structure.

QuickQnect users, such as Julien Locus, Program Manager with fabricator Metal Perreault, lauds bolt optimization for its ability to “maximize efficiency while maintaining required engineering limit states.”

For decades, standard vertical bolt spacing has been a consistent 3 inches between bolts. This consistency was important to maintain quality control and conformance. As CNC equipment became more sophisticated and easier to manufacture the practice of 3 inch spacing didn’t evolve at the same rate as the CNC equipment. And for connections, there is only a T/2 requirement that must be met in order to satisfy the AISC code. As long as T/2 is satisfied, and the instantaneous center of rotation and all limit states are satisfied, then 3 inches is not required.

Not surprisingly, “B+Op” is a big help to fabricators looking to optimize their connections. “Fabricators in particular benefit greatly from bolt optimization,” Locus says, “the way it saves both time and money makes it a must for all projects.”

But it’s not just fabricators who benefit from bolt optimization. Erleen Hatfield, formerly of BuroHappold and Thornton Tomasetti, explains that “engineers who design connections also benefit, because B+Op gives them the ability to quickly study different connection variations. Ultimately, the General Contractor or Owner can be the primary beneficiary, as B+Op saves substantial costs to a project.”

QuickQnect user Michael Nelson of Meyer Borgman Johnson, succinctly breaks it down like this: “Bolt optimization allows each connection to be uniquely designed to suit its exact condition. The alternative, more typical practice, of using standardized details has an intrinsic conservatism in that it tries to cover as many different conditions as possible. By narrowing the scope of each connection design to just one connection, bolt optimization ensures that each connection is just that – optimized.”

As Chief Drafter at Canam Group, Line Cusson understands the power of B+Op, perhaps putting it best that “there is really no reason not to be using bolt optimization, nor do I think there is a project that wouldn’t benefit from it.”

Join Qnect’s connection experts at NASCC 2018 for two free, hour-long workshops offering tips and tricks on how to optimize the connection and detailing processes to work faster, lower costs and accelerate revisions.

NASCC 2018 Show Special

With our big news we are offering a big promotion to kickstart your next project with Qnect. From April 16th until June 15th, 2018 Qnect will offer a 20% discount off the cost of the first 500 tons on your first Qnect project.