How do you keep up?

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Author Message David Axt (David_axt) New member Username: David_axt Post Number: 2 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - 01:58 pm:    It seems these days that many companies are buying up other companies or merging with other companies. I wrote a spec 3 months ago. In the window section alone...one company went out of business, another one got bought up, and a new company started up. How can I keep up with these constant changes? Mel Cole, FCSI, CCS, NCARB (Mel) New member Username: Mel Post Number: 2 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - 02:17 pm:    One of the methods I use is to go to the website of the Specification Consultants in Independent Practice (SCIP) <www.scip.com> and click on Products. You'll find a list of changes that are taking place there. Lynn A. Javoroski (Lynnjav) New member Username: Lynnjav Post Number: 2 Registered: 03-2001 Posted on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - 02:34 pm:    You can't. But neither can anyone else, so at least the playing field, such as it is, is level. You do need to let your product reps know that if they don't keep you up to date, they will be dropped from your spec. However, with companies coming and going, it's harder, because the reps are also coming and going! One thing I do when I have doubts is to check on the web. It's liable to be more current than Sweets, First Source, or any of the master guide specs that are only updated twice a year or less. The other thing is to just keep your ear to the wall - read trade magazines, newspapers, talk to other specifiers and designers as much as possible and generally try to keep abreast of changes in the constructon industry. And as I said before, know you're not going to be able to be 100 percent accurate, but neither is anyone else. As for the contractor who calls you on it and tries to belittle you for not knowing, he/she is just trying to make him/herself important at your expense. Ignore it. Colin Gilboy (Colin) Junior Member Username: Colin Post Number: 4 Registered: 05-2000 Posted on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - 03:01 pm:    One of the new features of 4specs is a listing of the companies I find that have changed or disappeared. You can reach it from the 4specs home page. I recently recognized that someone needed to track this in a searchable way over a long period. If you search for Vincent Metals (recently merged with Alcoa and becoming Integis Metals) in the yellow search box, you will find the information. The blue search box is a copy of my database, and only searches active companies. This is going to be part of my lunch presentation at the SCIP meeting discussing how to use 4specs. If you find others, let me know and I will keep the list updated. I will be delighted to maintain this list instead of doing it on scip.com. I expect this will be a permanent reference to company changes. David Axt Junior Member Username: David_axt Post Number: 3 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - 03:05 pm:    Thanks Mel! That is exactly what I was looking for in a website. BTW, I notice that the page has not been updated in 6 months. If I have product/manufacturer change info, where should I send it? Dave Metzger New member Username: Davemetzger Post Number: 6 Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - 03:16 pm:    Thanks Colin, that listing of changes will be a real service to the profession. I'm looking forward to your lunchtime talk in June. David E Lorenzini New member Username: Deloren Post Number: 4 Registered: 04-2000 Posted on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - 07:20 pm:    Colin, You're welcome to incorporate the Product Change information posted on the SCIP web site. I'll send you a copy of the text by separate email. The page was really an opportunity for members to participate by contributing information as they discovered it. I realized that no one (including me lately) was contributing, because I would find several important changes a month myself. The new format of this forum makes it much easier to use and it looks great. David Cline New member Username: Dcline Post Number: 1 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 01:22 pm:    Our company, Designer Information Services (DIS), works to keep firms up-to-date with product information. Although we don't work with every manufacturer we serve as a resource for many products and services. BTW, David, we visit John Jeffcott in your office in Seattle. Colin, I would be interested in including some links to discussion groups and product change information on our website too. Call me. David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Junior Member Username: David_axt Post Number: 5 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, April 03, 2002 - 05:00 pm:    David, I spoke with John Jeffcott and he does not recognize your name or your company's name. I also searched our library database and could not find your name or company name. Are you sure that you have been to Bassetti Architects recently? David Cline New member Username: Dcline Post Number: 2 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, April 03, 2002 - 10:09 pm:    David, Jeff wouldn't know my name, but he might remember Joe Moceri. Joe is our Northwest architectural rep who calls on your office. If not, we'll have to work on being a better resource to your firm.