SysQue, Thoughts?

[ben]

We are beginning to dip our toe into Revit, possibly making the switch from Fabrication CADmep, but it doesn't really do us any good if we can't spool real world parts for fabrication, and I hate the process of "riffing out" everything to Fabrication; it's dumb to have to rely on CAD when using Revit, besides the process is a real pain in the neck. What is everyone's thoughts on SysQue? Good, bad, otherwise.

[RTourvilleH6TFE]

Yes the mechanical side does still use the fab parts but the electrical uses rvts. eVolve Electrical has come a long way. 

[ben]

Anyone else using both SysQue & Vic Tools notice that after SysQue's latest update they added in a new parameter in fittings called Pipe Length? Now when you do spools or try to figure out your total pipe length it's including the length of the fittings? Also putting fitting in the spool sheets with pipe lenghts?

[Keith_Wyble]

Doesn't surprise me. They are constantly changing things that leave other items or settings broken. Rarely do I get a response that it will be fixed. Their response is its on their road map which means you have to deal with it or fix it yourself.

[arthur]

our company has been using Sysque for the last 6-7 years for plumbing.  i'm not going to say that the program is 100% flawless, but i doubt there's a program out there that is.  regardless, we've been very satisfied with the program.  any issues we've had was promptly resolved.  i'm the proverbial "old dog, new tricks" kinda guy and i still found the program to be easy to learn and use. ya it's expensive to start, but i think we've gotten our money's worth.

[towen789BL]

Yes sir. I agree very nice program.

[Keith_Wyble]

Yes I agree, from what I have seen in our company the plumbing and piping is much better than the ductwork. The main issue we have had with plumbing is Sysque will update the library/database without telling anyone and then our piping systems have to be redone to get the fittings to report the proper information for spooling and fab.

[brett]

Goose chase-

by the way did you resolve your issue with sysque?  We provide a very comprehensive plumbing and piping content service - no subscription [email protected]

[ben]

Vic Tools helped me with that.

[brett]

I could not agree with you more! - "Revit lives in the land of perfect and doesn't understand what construction is."

Also agree on Vic Tools especially for the price.  MSuite is also a very good tool, but none of these include comprehensive content and fully developed services for plumbing and piping.  this is a piece that draws people to subscription based content.

[Keith_Wyble]

The problem we have found with subscription based content like Sysque. Sysque is in control the data and will change the data without telling their customers.. They update the content and then all our schedules and date reporting not longer report the data we were using and we are the ones that have to rebuild the systems so we can order and prefab.

[ben]

Give your fittings regular names link in the box instead of stupid computer programmer names like what the arrow is pointing to:

and then enable this setting in SysQue

Then use this for your description in Vic Tools

Then you'll have nice spool sheets that turn out like this:

[Keith_Wyble]

I like the idea but the labor to go through and change that info on multiple pipe systems due to the variety we use is something Sysque should do or they should give customers the option to update or not. Our spool sheets turn out fine. The issue is when Sysque changes the info and the reporting on reducing Tee's gets mixed up as an example.

[arthur]

our company has never run into any issue with Sysque updating data without our consent.  every time Sysque has found outdated Revit families in our catalog, we've always had a dialog box pop up asking if we would like to update the families.  and even when we do update our catalog, our spooling schedules still remain intact.  

[ben]

We use multiple systems as well. The first project I did this on was an underground project, so I got my PVC fittings all setup the way I wanted and put the info in for each fitting. Yes, it was a little time consuming. The next project I did it on involved grooved fittings, so before I started I put the same info in for all my grooved fittings, and just kept doing that each time I used a new system. I basically copied & pasted it from 1 fitting to the next so the layout was consistent, and just changed the fitting model/number and the description. All that information stays with your system file when you update, so it keeps all that information. the only thing you have to do after updating is reclick on the "both" in the settings.

[Keith_Wyble]

For Ben and Arthur, That's the frustrating thing is we keep asking Sysque are we the only ones having this issue. We don't get much of an answer and aren't getting tangible results from them. I mostly do the duct work which is another disaster of it's own. I'm not sure if we are doing more on the side of reporting and schedules that others aren't so we are having more issues than most users....

[ben]

You're definitely not the only ones having issues. I had one where they added a parameter called "pipe length" to fittings instead of using the name "fitting length". It was causing a problem with Vic Tools because Vic Tools uses the term "pipe length" for displaying the length of the pipe in the spool sheets. I told SysQue it was causing a problem and they should change the name of their parameter for the length of their fitting to "fitting length", but their answer was basically that my problem wasn't their problem. Vic Tools ended up changing the name of the parameter in their software to make the fix for SysQue's (I don't want to use the word f***up), but rather their poor choice of parameter naming; and renamed theirs something like "Vic pipe length".

[Keith_Wyble]

Yes, That's exactly what I am talking about. They change parameters, they change the fitting names and then we get a question mark on the pallet (which just happened again today). So not we have a project we have been working on for a few months or over a year and now either the old or new does work or populate properly.

[ben]

I don't like doing updates in the middle of a project. I usually wit until it's done.

[arthur]

i'm going to have to disagree with this.  it would be like trying to install an android app onto an iphone and then asking apple to make some changes to their os to make the app work.  vic tools is a direct competitor to sysque.  sure, it would be awesome customer service for sysque to make those changes, but all in all, it's not their responsibility to allow a competing app work on their product.

[ben]

That's not a good comparison because Vic Tools doesn't work on the SysQue platform. They are both 3rd party software to Revit, they work/operate on the Revit platform. Yeah they don't have any obligation to make their add-on software work with other add-on software, but Vic Tools isn't working on the SysQue product/platform. I said they picked a stupid name for their parameter for a fitting by calling it pipe. If I pick up a fitting, I call it a fitting; I don't call it pipe. Bad parameter naming is what caused the conflict between the two add-ons. And actually I believe apps whether, apple or android, have to go through testing to make sure they conflict with other apps.