How Renick Brothers Accelerates Project Delivery Using SysQue Intelligence

At one time, Dominick Florentine, Director of Virtual Design and Construction at mechanical contracting firm Renick Brothers, did not believe the hype that using MEP detailing software in conjunction with Revit would truly automate model development.  

He confirms, “I’ve been drawing in CAD for almost 20 years. A few years ago, the owner  wanted to switch to Revit because he saw it as the future. I was not on board because I thought I could draw much faster in AutoCAD.”

He was right…sort of. 

Since 1948, Renick Brothers has been providing mechanical contracting services for customers throughout Northwestern Pennsylvania. The company and Florentine, in particular, has been drawing in CAD for more than a decade. With the transition to Revit pending, a Trimble SysQue representative encouraged Florentine to give it a try. 

Today, Florentine is a believer. He adds, “While you can’t draw superfast in Revit, the content it provides down the road saves so much time. Essentially, Revit powered by SysQue shapes a streamlined and automated workflow that isn’t possible in AutoCAD. No matter the complexity, SysQue kicks in and turns simple data into intelligent content. I’m working smarter because of the features and functionality of the software.”  

Since a large majority of the models Renick creates are designed by the engineers in Revit, there’s a lot of object intelligence at their fingertips. These are great starting points and SysQue does the laborious tasks, like breaking joints, adding connections, and others. 

“The goal is to work smarter, not necessarily faster. Revit combined with SysQue empowers our detailers to create constructible models that are ready for fabrication—AutoCAD can’t do that,” he says.

He especially likes the way SysQue applies specifications to Revit fittings and straights. A recent project included some extremely large ductwork—up to 258-inches by 38 inches.  “We don’t have a specification set for anything that size,” says Florentine. “We had to get the specification from SMACNA. We simply added the specs into SysQue and the system automatically builds to those requirements.”  

But Florentine’s favorite thing about Revit is the scheduling tools.

“It’s beautiful. Everything I draw is 100% extractable, so I always have an accurate count within the schedule direct from the model. That’s the way to accelerate project delivery with intelligence.”