Vision Based Hiring

Engineered Software has been expanding our team these past few months and it has been a pretty exciting time. Since September, ESI’s vision for the future has continued to mold and evolve as our team rethinks how we provide our customers with innovative tools to increase the efficiency of fluid pumping systems through superior pump selection and system simulation software.

We’re not only looking at what products we’re developing, we’re also looking at how we do what we do. We are examining how we communicate with our substantial customer base, how we strive to provide world-class customer service, how we work through our Product Life Cycle, and how teams are structured and interact to produce an innovative and robust development process.

Part of the discussion is around what we want to change, another component is around what gaps exist between the skills we have now and what will be needed in the future. To pursue these future goals, we’ve embraced a culture which speaks up about solutions; pursues a collective, analytical response to problem solving; and provides thoughtful and honest retrospectives. As a whole company, we  strive to be visionaries who weave ideas with the ideas of others, with a management team who works to create a nurturing environment to support and empower our teams.

We’ve also worked hard to identify new skill-sets that will propel our mission, determined to hire people onto the team who possess these skills, share our company culture and believe in our vision. During the interview process, we know when we’ve found someone who fits, because they go from interested in the job to really wanting to work here.

Overall, change is hard, it’s confusing, we’ve all been there and sometimes it’s just not fun….but change is also exciting, empowering and inspiring. And what you’re left with, if you do it right, is a springboard for some exciting future endeavors.

- Christy Bermensolo, CEO

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We would like to introduce our readers to the guest author for this month's entry. This post was written by Engineered Software's newly appointed CEO, Christy Bermensolo, and we would like to welcome her to the new role.

Christy Bermensolo began with Engineered Software in 2006, and brings over 16 years of engineering and management experience to her new position. To learn more about the new leadership changes at ESI, VISIT HERE.


We are also hiring right now and if you are interested in relocation to the Lacey, Washington area, check out our available positions here:

Read the Instructions!

A local news station that I watch has a question of the day and this one I found particularly interesting.

92% of these are thrown away without ever being used. What are they?

Answer: Instructions

INSTRUCTIONS!! Yeah, I know, I am guilty of this myself on occasion, but 92% of all the instructions I receive? That seems pretty high. Especially when you consider the drawer in my office where I "file" all of the important users manuals I keep from various electronics and equipment.

I keep them because I never know when something might go wrong with any of these devices and the manufacture went to all that trouble to print out the booklet for me...

Anyway, when I see a number like that I have to think how much wasted paper we have been sending out for years with our products. Engineered Software no longer sends printed users manuals, but includes them INSIDE our programs now in very informative Help Files. Moreover, when we don't have the right answers in the Help files, we have this cool place on our website called the Knowledge Base where we regularly write articles that cover both technical support topics, product usage support topics, and just plain old informative. Most of the time we direct users to articles we have written in the "KB" and when that doesn't have the solution, we have some of the best support professionals in the software industry.

The biggest thing I notice today is that people seem to be too rushed to read anything, including manuals but like I always say, "If you don't have time to do something right the first time (or read the directions), how could you have time to do it twice?"

There are some seriously legitimate reasons user instructions are included with the products we buy, and although they don't all apply to the software we sell at Engineered Software, this epidemic of not reading directions is important enough to list. Many times companies include instructions with their products having consumer safety in mind or to protect the integrity of the product. Not following instructions can have devastating consequences. An individual may also lose valid information especially if dealing with complex products such as electronics or software.

Product Safety & Saving Lives

In the worst case scenario - you could be harmed or even die! Ask any pharmacist, doctor or nurse, not following the directions on a bottle of medication can lead to poisoning, overdosing, or clashes with other medicines, which end in the very worst ways! And if you ask any safety manager for an industrial job, not following instructions on caustic chemicals or aerosols could cause accidents, injuries or death as well. Plus, you want to ensure the longevity of your investment. What I mean is, typically when you buy a product, you want it to work or last as long as possible. Not knowing the limitations of that product and how NOT to use it, will inevitably result in the product malfunctioning.

Efficiency and Saving Time or Money

ANY paperwork we fill out for the most important things like insurances or taxes, require we do things right the first time or our services may be delayed, penalties included, or worse, we could be audited! Plus the bonus of paperwork being processed more quickly. Reading installation instruction or license management documents for software could save hours of backtracking or customer service calls. No one likes those! Plus, you might learn a more efficient way to use your new gadget, or identify special features you didn't know about.

Education and Generally Looking Smart

As students we learn how to follow instructions in order to perform skills efficiently. As adults, we look to instructions only when we can't figure things out intuitively the first time, but users manuals frequently contain the documentation for all the things we don't think we'll need, until we do. Set-up and installation info, warranty details, and any maintenance or troubleshooting advice are all things we WANT to know about our stuff, but just can't seem to make the time to educate ourselves about them. Knowing these things before something goes wrong will help us not be surprised or disappointed later when we have to go buy another because the warranty ran out.

I feel like a company's user documentation is reflection on the company itself, which is why we put so much effort into our Installation documentation, the Help program in our software, and why we have such a robust Knowledge Base for our customers. Engineered Software sells highly technical products, albeit easy to use, and our documentation is thorough. If you have time, and you want to learn some deep dark secrets (Hints & Tips) about our products, you might just start by reading our user manual in the Help file. In today’s frenzied and competitive world, where people need to digest information as efficiently as possible, the lack of quality documentation can be nothing short of ruinous for a manufacturer.

One last factoid, according to one article I read, 95% of all returned gadgets actually work but were returned because customers thought they were too confusing to user or they just weren't meeting their expectations.

PIPE-FLO v12 Features Poll

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes 18 seconds. Read Later

We are so pleased to have the newest release of PIPE-FLO available. Not only do our customers have new features and functionality, but the Engineering Support team for ESI also reaps the benefits. A poll from our team of engineers reveals four standout improvements that are worth mentioning.

#4 the Property Grid

Starting the top four features list is the newly conceived Property Grid. One third of our Engineers thought this was the feature they appreciated the most.

Take a closer look at the Property Grid:

The Property Grid brings all the system design and calculated information to the forefront making editing devices effortless. This new feature allows many more calculated results to be shown and the flexibility to customize the display of these results on the FLO-Sheet. The Property Grid has an added Property Tips area with helpful hints and links to the Help file.

#3 Messages Window

There is a tie for the #2 and #3 spots on the list. The brand new Messages Window received 50% of the Engineering Teams’ votes. This may be because our Engineering team deals mostly in the support of our users. That doesn’t lessen the value of this feature, because users will also see the benefits right away.

Take a closer look at the Messages Window:

The new Messages Window shows all calculation and design warnings for the piping system. This is particularly useful since PIPE-FLO v12 now allows users to draw an entire system without entering in design data. In earlier versions of the program, PIPE-FLO only reported the most severe warnings. Having the message window allows us to now report ALL the applicable messages for the system and allows us to provide some guidance as to the severity of the warning. In addition, linking it to the system colors and the Help File all provide the user greater visibility to both the applicable warnings and assists in troubleshooting the system.

#2 Sizing Device Improvements (Control Valve Calculation & Selection)

50% of our Engineering Team listed the improved device sizing functionality in PIPE-FLO v12 as one of their top picks. PIPE-FLO v12 has improved the workflow of selecting pumps, and allowed for more comprehensive control valve calculations. Our engineers appreciate having more results available upon calculation of systems, because they know it will improve a user’s understanding of the interrelatedness of components.

Take a closer look at Sizing Devices:

Having dedicated devices for performing sizing calculations make it clear to the user what the objective of the system modeling is. Through years of support, our Engineering Support team has noticed some of our users with existing, operational systems that have pumps or control valves still defined in a state for sizing (ie: pumps operating in the “size pumps for” lineup setting). Modeling an existing system with a running centrifugal pump in the “size pump for” lineup will not reflect the actual operation of that pump or your system.

Creating specific devices for sizing pumps and control valves allow for two things: The ability to readily see which items are acting as designed, and to focus the calculated data on what parameters are specifically needed for sizing.

#1 Group Select/ Group Edit

With over 80% of our engineering team voting, hands down the fan favorite new feature in PIPE-FLO v12 is the Group Edit and Group Select. With the time saved in initial design and editing systems, there’s little wonder why this features gets a resounding hallelujah from the team.

Take a closer look at Group Edit and Group Select:

Groups Select allows you to perform the Group Edit function. There are multiple ways to select items, (and for that matter, deselect) multiple items in your piping system project. Using the Control (Ctrl) Key, plus the selection tool, users can add or remove items from their selection on the FLO-Sheet. They can Select All using the menu or Ctrl + A as a shortcut. The List View window also allow users to select multiple similar devices such as pipes, and change all or some of the defining characteristics. This leads us nicely into the Group Edit feature. Groups of similar items can be redefined. For instance, maybe you want to change fluid zones for a group of pipes with a certain specification. Bam! You can! Change the surface pressure for all your tanks at a certain elevation? Yup! That too! All you need is to use the List View to sort your devices by any of the columns and then Ctrl + Click and you are creating your list to Group Edit.

Honorable mention include:

•    Draw a System Before Adding Design Data
•    Customizable Printed Report
•    More Shortcut Keys
•    New More Useful Help File
•    DataLink ODBC

For more information about these features and more, checkout the Engineered Software Knowledge Base at http://kb.eng-software.com/questions/467/PIPE-FLO+Professional+12+Release+Notes.

Let us know what you think of the new features in PIPE-FLO v12. Leave us a comment and check out the free PIPE-FLO v12 Demo Download here.

I Have a Problem with Issues

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes 48 seconds. Read Later

I have a Problem with Issues...

One thing I have noticed over the years is that the word problem is being replaced by the word issue. It seems no one has problems any more, we only have issues. (And don't even get me started on challenges.) For example, while watching TV the other night, I heard a news caster reporting on a Twitter outage as saying,

“Twitter users are experiencing issues accessing Twitter. Their engineers are currently working to resolve the issue.”

Since Engineered Software offers Software as a Service to our PUMP-FLO customers I understand the necessity for their website to remain up and running at all times. I also understand what it takes to maintain this up-time and what it means when there are unplanned outages. Knowing this, I would imagine that with their primary and backup servers down, and no activity on their site for more than an hour, the engineers at Twitter had a full-fledged problem on their hands.

I wanted to investigate the difference between problems and issues, so like all Internet aged people that want a quick “answer” to a question I did a Google search on "Problem vs. Issue." What I found was a lot of sappy crap written in forums that could be summarized as this; issues can be discussed and corrected, but problems were big and nasty and couldn’t be solved. (I once used that definition of problem in my differential equations class in college, but my professor took issue with that.)

The word problem, is still in limited use, but I have yet to hear a math teacher assign any homework issues.

I then decided to look up the definition in a dictionary so I went to Wikipedia®. They had usage examples of the two words but no definitions. I then clicked on their disclaimer page and found out they make no guarantee of validity. Since I feel as though my blog readers deserved a guarantee of validity, I decided to look up the definitions in a paper dictionary. Webster surely guarantees their definitions.

I went around the office and asked 15 people if I could borrow their dictionary. The responses ranged from, “Let me get my phone” to “What, is the internet down?” along with similar refrains. Only one person in our office of 35 had a paper dictionary and after he found a similar sized book to hold up his monitor he loaned it to me. It was a Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 10th edition. One good thing Merriam Webster’s has a Website that lists their definitions as well, so if you have difficulty finding a paper dictionary in your office I have provided the following links to their Website.

Problem: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/problem

Issue: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/issue

The first thing I notice is that problem has only two uses, and they both relate to questions raised for inquiry or an unsettled question. This is a straight forward definition that can be understood by all.

Issue on the other hand, has NINE uses of the word, ranging from: the proceeds from a source of revenue, the action of coming or going, a means of going out, a financial outcome, a final conclusion or decision, a discharge of blood from the body, something coming from a specific source, and the act of publishing or officially giving out or making available. Item six on their usage list is “a matter that is in dispute between two or more parties.”

So how did we get to the point of calling our problems issues? It surely wasn’t to make the sentence easier to understand. For example, if someone says “I have an issue with my eye,” do they mean they are having a bloody discharge from their eye, or are they saying their eye is having a matter of dispute with their nose? More than likely, they didn’t want to upset anyone around them with their (possibly serious) problems.

I think people have stopped using the word problem because of our phobia with math. Just ask any parent of a high school student taking first year of algebra. Unless the parent majored in math, a physical science, or engineering, the typical response is “I really have issues with math.” What they are trying to say is if they must think too much about their kid’s math assignment they may overload their brain and have a bloody discharge coming from their ears.

So in the future I will always strive to use the word problem when it relates to a question raised for inquiry or any unsettled question. I will still strive to arrive at a solution to my problem, either by by conducting research (Wikipedia and Google don’t count unless the citation can be documented) or until I gain an understanding of my problem and arrive at a solution. I also may sit down with a group of people to discuss the facts of the problem and strive to arrive at a solution that is agreeable to all.

I will leave the word issues to bloody discharges from a body, when a stamp or stock is released, or when I want to have a never ending discussion about something that is ill defined and has no point. Those are my only issues with this word problem of clarity. When I was in the Navy we called them “Sea Stories.”

So this is my stand against jargon, incorrect language usage and unclear communication. I am tired of my industry skirting around problems by calling them issues, so I am taking a stand with this blog post. Let’s all be honest about our Problems vs. Issues and call a spade a spade! Because you can't solve a problem until you admit there is one.

Who’s with me?

You can leave your comments below or send me an email to blogger@eng-software [dot] com. We really do read every one!

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Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation. 

A Wonderful Sunday in Rotterdam

Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes 23 seconds. Read Later

This almost sounds like it will be a travel blog, but not so fast.

I just got back from a two week business trip in Europe and would like to share some of my experiences.  First thing that I must admit is I hate to travel on business. That said I need to disclosed I just went over 1 million miles on United Airlines (that’s actual “butt-in-seat” miles, no bonus miles on that figure). I am a gold member for a variety of hotel chains, and I recently had to send in my passport to get additional visa pages, so I really do spend a lot of time traveling. However, it’s the traveling part I hate, the “getting to the next stop,” not the actual visits or meetings or any of the ground stuff.


I may hate to travel but I truly enjoy visiting customers so I am always looking forward to my next trip. I look forward to finding out how customers do their jobs, what we could do to make their job easier, and discover their daily job challenges. In addition I get to meet a lot of interesting people along the way.
  
So let’s talk about the “glamor” of international travel. 

I always show up at the airport two hours early just to be on the safe side. After checking in with United I discovered my flight from Seattle to Chicago was 100% full, but on the flight to London Heathrow I should have a row to myself. I finished reading my e-mail in the Red Carpet Club in SeaTac, and then boarded the flight for Chicago. I always read a book (paper not electronic) when I fly, I have long since given up working on my computer because of the tight spacing between the seats. In Chicago I discovered the overnight flight to London was full, seems like a flight to Germany was canceled and all those passengers were now re-routed through London. There went the open seats next to me. After I was seated, I started talking to my new row mate. I discovered that he was an engineer and a PIPE-FLO user! That always gives me a kick and I enjoyed his company on the flight to London. 

When traveling in Europe, I try to take public transit whenever possible because it’s so easy to get around. But since my first stop was in the county of Kent outside of London, and I didn’t know if I could get there by public transit, I decided to rent a Fiat 500. Let me tell you about the Fiat 500…
A Fiat 500 has an engine smaller than most soda pop bottles. It is billed as a four-passenger car, but can comfortably fit two skinny super models, or one full-grown man. The next morning I got on the motorway equipped with a local GPS and started driving on the left side of the street, with a stick shift. 

It turns out my customer was in a business park out in the middle of the county, but with a rail station next to it! Later in the day I took the car back, filled it up with gas (wow their gas prices are high), and took the train into London for the next day’s appointments. London was easy to get around using the Underground, and I had an excellent visit with a prospective customer. 

That afternoon it was back to Heathrow to catch a flight to Dusseldorf Germany. The next day I took two trains and a bus to visit a prospective customer. I arrived at 11:00 and started off with my standard PIPE-FLO presentation. They had many questions; I always like it when that happens. After an hour they asked when I had to leave for my next appointment. I jokingly said I have all afternoon, and at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon they wrapped up their last question. That was the longest presentation I ever made, and in reality, it was more like a training course than a demo. That night I had a great meal and looked forward to a weekend in Germany. 

It’s not all glamor in international travel. On business, I always travel light, fitting everything for the trip into a single carry on. Using this approach, I can only take a week’s worth of cloths and on a multi week trip; I have to find a laundry. In the states, most hotels have a couple of coin-operated machines, but I have yet to see one in Europe.

So early Saturday morning, I went in search of a Laundromat in Dusseldorf. I did a Google search and got a list of Laundromats in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, but nothing in Germany.  I then saw what appeared to me as a single, middle-age guy walking out of a local café by himself. I figured that he was not in a relationship and so he had to do his own laundry, right? He gave me directions, and after two hours, I had all my cloths washed, dried and folded, along with the knowledge of how to get the soap, where to insert the money, and the etiquette and practices of a German Laundromat.  

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped to get a sausage for lunch. I picked something that looked like a hot dog, and they gave me this 18-inch sausage in a three-inch bun. The only problem was where to put the mustard, but they gave me a dipping cup for mustard and I was right at home. 

On Sunday, I had all day to get to Rotterdam. Michael Blondin, our Chief Operating Officer was in Milan for a trade show and on Monday morning, he and I were meeting in Rotterdam with our local PIPE-FLO dealer. We both were traveling by train, and planned on meeting at the hotel in Rotterdam. When I got on the train in Dusseldorf the first person I saw was Michael. I sat down in my reserved seat, which happened to be right across from him.

They were doing track maintenance in Holland that Sunday so we needed to take three trains to get to Rotterdam. On our second train, we meet a young woman that was returning to her home in Rotterdam and had a great conversation. She talked about her job with the police department, along with her recent travels to the United States, Italy, and what her life is like in Holland. Before we knew it, we were at the central and were on our way.

When Michael and I made it to the hotel, we went to our rooms, dropped off our things, then immediately went exploring Rotterdam. The last time I was in Rotterdam was 1999, but now there was construction going on everywhere and the city was new and vibrant. We walked around the harbor and I was able to see the variety of merchant ships in port. Being a graduate of the Merchant Marine Academy, I never get tired of seeing ships. We went through their maritime museum on the waterfront and had a great walk on a sunny spring day. 

The next morning we met with Hans Vogelesang of PumpSupport, our local PIPE-FLO dealer. We have been doing business together since the early 90s and over the years, Hans has become a great friend. We talked about our current business development efforts, gave him a sneak peak of the next release of PIPE-FLO, and talked about old times. He then asked if we had time for a quick lunch. With a 2:55 pm flight out of Amsterdam to London, I thought three hours would be more than enough time for a light lunch and a quick trip to the airport. 

When we got to the neighborhood restaurant, he ordered and they brought out an open face club sandwich, with turkey, cheese, and three fried eggs… so much for a light lunch. As we waited for lunch, I watched the minutes tick off and my two-hour buffer began melting away. After an hour, we finally left the restaurant and were on the way to the airport. Then all of a sudden the traffic came to a halt, and we sat there for 15 minutes. I got to the airport at 2:00, fifty minutes prior to my scheduled departure.  By the time I got to the front of the check-in line, they said the flight closed two minutes ago, and I would need to be re-ticketed for a later flight.
 
I went over to the British Air counter and they said that since the ticket was purchased from Orbits, they would need to issue the new ticket. With an hours and a half until the next flight to London I didn’t have the time so I handed them my credit card and purchased a new ticket. I went through customs and made it out to the gate before my original flight started boarding. I asked the people at the gate if I could get on my original flight since I still had a ticket for that flight as well. They said that since I had not checked in and was not on their manifest, I couldn’t get on. Damn!

I got on the next flight to London and we arrived 10 minutes early! That is unheard of when flying into Heathrow. I thought, I am home free and this may be my lucky day after all… I rushed off the plane, went to immigration and saw a long line waiting to get through. They only had three agents at the gates, and often times two of them had to go to their office to make phone calls regarding arriving passengers. After one hour and forty five minutes I made some new friends from Nigeria traveling to London for spring break, and finally got through customs.

I had to drop by the hotel that I had stayed in the previous week, because I left a jacket in the closet. Traveling on the London Underground is amazing. I typed my destination into my smart phone and I was presented with a map showing step-by-step instruction, when the trains left and when I would arrive at my final destination. All was well until I lost my ticket for the Underground. I had purchased an all location daily pass for seven pounds and it fell out of my pocket. In London you need a ticked not only to get on the train, but also to get off. I told the gate attended of my troubles and I must have looked in sad shape because he waived me through. 

Next I had to get the train to Hitchens at Kings Cross station. I needed to purchase a ticked (the ticket machines in England were harder to operate than the ticket machines in Germany), and then figure out what track to go to. As I got the ticked out of the machine, I heard my train to Hitchens would be departing in 1 minute. I made a quick dash to the platform with my carry on and computer back pack. With just three steps shy of the train the doors closed. I found out by looking up at the departure sign that they closed the doors two second early, and right on schedule the train pulled out of the station.

The next train to Hitchens would get me in after 9:00 pm, and I was giving a training class the next day. I was really down in the dumps after such challenging day. I made it to the next train, arrived at Hitchens, got into a taxi at the train station and had a wonderful chat with the cab driver. I gave him a larger tip than normal because he did a great job of cheering me up. I checked into the hotel and had a great night’s sleep. 

After the first day of class I went out to dinner with some of the attendees. We went out to an Indian restaurant for a curry dinner. The service was excellent, the food was great and my dinner companions were a fun group. It seems that one of my German dinner companions became a celebrity that night. He ordered the Vindaloo, apparently one of the hottest curry dishes available. He was warned by the waiter and when it came out he had a bite and asked if he could get some additional peppers to make it hotter.

The waiter came back in 5 minutes with a dish of tiny peppers (in the pepper world, the small the pepper the hotter they are, and based upon the size of these babies I was afraid that my German friend would auto ignite). He put ALL the peppers on his food and started eating without displaying any signs of distress. Two minutes later the manager came around, in five minutes the chef came out, followed by the restaurant owner, they all wanted to meet the man that could eat fire!

The next day I finished up the course, and then headed off to the train station for my final trip to Heathrow. After checking into my hotel, I was ready to try the Thai place down the road, but when I took my shoes off in the room, I knew I wasn’t going anywhere that night. 

The next morning I got on a big United jet homeward bound after 10 days on the road.  Before I went to sleep on the plane, I clicked my heels together on my traveling shoes said, “there is no place like home.”

To me traveling is a way to get to meet new and interesting people. First, the customers that have helped us stay in business and keep our business growing. Second, people (both customers and others) I meet along the way that can share their common experiences and grow in our understanding of each other. Best of all about traveling is the ability to sleep soundly on a long trans-Atlantic homeward flight.

Share your travel experiences or suggestions with me! Leave a comment below or send an email to blogger@eng-software dot com. Thanks for reading!

Thirty Years of Providing a Clear Picture

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes 43 seconds. Read Later

I always like to break a process, list, or ideas down into the fewest number of items, three is ideal. I can easily remember three items, but anything more and I need to write it down.

Creating a list is much more difficult that remembering a short list:

• First you must find paper and pencil to create the list.


• Second you must remember where you put the list.

• Third you must refer to your list when making your points.


• Forth well I can’t seem to remember now, but it was important.

You also must think of your intended audience that is receiving your message. For your ideas to be meaningful, they must be remembered. When I listen, by the time someone is on the second point my mind starts wandering. After their forth idea, I find myself wondering where I put my list of items I needed to pick up after work.

The other day I was in a sales and marketing meeting and mentioned that Engineered Software’s 30-year anniversary is April 3^rd 2012. I then asked the group why they thought we were able to make it as a company to this major milestone. They started listing a variety of items, but Dennis Worrell, our sales manager said we need to keep the list to no more than three items so people will remember.

After the intro you probably though that I came up with the idea myself, that’s why I always like to have smart people on my team to help make us look good.

So here is the list of things that we have been doing for the last thirty years to make our company grow:

1. Created a sustainable company


2. Created products that can be used by a wide variety of people, not just for engineers


3. Play well with others

I’ll be expanding on the items in this blog, and will be covering highlights and providing additional details during our upcoming 30th anniversary year.

Create a sustainable company

From the beginning, our goal was to create a company that can grow to best meet the needs of our customers. We listen to our customers and they said they wanted products that are easy to use, reliable, and helped them better understand how their systems worked.

• Make the programs easier to use. We were an early adopter of Microsoft^® Windows^® with our 1989 release of PUMP-FLO™. It ran using the Windows 1 operating environment.


• We have always had a written test plan for our software products. This ensures we have documented acceptance criteria, and the completed software worked as designed.


• In 1987, we got our first request for product training. Over the years, our customers have helped us progress our training offerings to more than just software. Now we have courses on piping system basics, pump operation and maintenance, and improving system profitability.

Created products that are not just for engineers

I am an engineer and couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. When we started the company, our goal was to provide software tools for engineers. Our first PIPE-FLO^® customers were EPC firms (Engineering, Procurement and Construction).

After a short time, we started selling to owners and operators of piping systems as well. They liked how PIPE-FLO provides them with a clear picture of how their systems were operating, and we liked how they helped us expand our business. Ease of use was high on their list so we strove to make our programs more meaningful to these customers. PIPE-FLO is used to troubleshoot maintenance problems, help operations determine how their plant operates under off-normal conditions, and save the utilities group on energy costs.

In the late 1980s we released PUMP-FLO, our centrifugal pump selection and evaluation program.

Three months after releasing the program, a major pump manufacturer purchased copies for every one of their sales staff. It seems they were using PUMP-FLO to help our PIPE-FLO customers select the best pump for their applications. This leads us to the third key to success, “Play well with others.”

Play well with others

One thing we discovered in the first 30 years of business is that it takes a diverse group of people to run any business. We always strive to learn more about our customer’s workflow and businesses processes. As a result, we discovered that if we could play well with others we were able to offer greater value. As mom always said if you want to play, you need to communicate. Here are a few pioneering examples of how we make our applications play well with others:

• One of the early communication features of Microsoft® Windows was Dynamic Data Exchange or DDE. We incorporated DDE into PUMP-FLO and published our user codes so others could gain access to input data and program results. This allows pump manufacturers to develop and integrate configuration and pricing programs, dimension drawing programs, and document management program seamlessly with our PUMP-FLO.


• Many of our PIPE-FLO customers are hard-core spreadsheet users and asked if PIPE-FLO can send results to their Excel® spreadsheets. We did one better, we made it so PIPE-FLO can provide two-way communications with Excel. Now our customers are writing customized datasheets under Excel and automatically importing design data directly from PIPE-FLO. Others are writing spreadsheets that help them optimize their initial system design.

By developing an easy to use tool that meets the needs of many different groups and allowing our products to play well with others, we have been able to grow and prosper for 30 years.

I would love it if you left a comment or even sent me an email to blogger @ eng-software.com. Also, we are currently welcoming guest bloggers. If you are interested, just send me a message about becoming a guest blogger, and what you would like to write about. Thanks for reading!

Professional Engineer Designation

GUEST POST by Greg Hora, PE

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes 7 seconds. Read Later

"I never knew you wanted to be a gym teacher!" was the response I received from one of my friends after I told them I passed the PE exam. "Well, not exactly…" was my response.

My name is Greg Hora and I’m a Professional Engineer (PE). Many of you reading this blog are yourselves engineers and PE’s. Today, I'd like to write about the PE designation; what it means, why you might want to become one, and what it takes to sit for the exam.

Ok, so what is a PE?

A PE is an engineer who has met their state’s requirements on engineering and is designated as a person who is skilled in the art of engineering. The PE designation was created in order to protect the safety and welfare of the people who will be affected by your work. By becoming a PE, you are in effect stating that you are skilled enough to perform engineering work for the public and the public can be assured that you know what you’re talking about. After obtaining this title you become legally liable for any engineering work you certify as a PE.

Interestingly, most states will typically give you the generic title of "Professional Engineer" and not "Mechanical Professional Engineer" or “Civil Professional Engineer”. I am a mechanical engineer by trade and I have the title of Professional Engineer. Now, does this entitle me to perform electrical or civil engineering work since I have my PE? Not likely… While the title is generic I’m bound by my state's regulations (and common sense) to only perform engineering work within the areas that I'm competent in.

You might be asking yourself...

"I'm an engineer performing engineering duties but I'm not a PE, what gives?" Each state’s regulations will describe this situation a little differently but for the most part there will typically be a section in the rules that exempt people from having to be a PE as long as they are working as an employee under a registered engineer and that their work does not include any responsible position of design or supervision.

As I just pointed out, you are allowed to perform engineering duties without having your PE as long as you’re working under a PE or are not in a responsible/supervisor role. Now, what if you want to move up the corporate ladder into some senior positions? This is where obtaining your PE becomes critical. Some organizations might be structured to allow you to have more responsibility without having your PE, but you’re going to be hitting that glass ceiling at some point without it, Having your PE will also allow you to negotiate better for a raise at your current position.

If you ever wanted to start your own engineering firm, you need to have your PE. Only a PE can stamp and certify engineering drawings or plans submitted to the public.

Not only does having your PE allow you to progress through the ranks at your current company, but it will be an asset if you ever decide to change companies. Imagine a hiring manager looking over a stack of resumes. It comes down to you and one other applicant. Both of you have the required skills and experience, but you have your PE. Who do you think will get the call to interview first?

Pursuing your own PE

If you're interested in pursuing your PE there are a few requirements you'll need to meet. An application to your state board is required before you can sit for the exam. You’ll need to meet education, experience, and approval letter requirements.

For your application to be accepted, you must meet the minimum engineering work experience requirements (measured in years). The education and experience requirements are related to each other and each state will have their own unique combinations of the two. An engineering technology degree will typically require a longer period of engineering experience than a bachelor’s degree. The required experience typically decreases as you go up the degree chain to masters and doctoral, but again this will vary from state to state.

A good place to find your state's licensing board is to look at the PE exam administrator National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying® (NCEES). Their website is at www.ncees.org. Another variable that can affect the required length of experience is whether or not you passed the FE exam after you obtained your degree (this exam used to be called the EIT - there is no difference between the two). You will generally need less engineering experience when that experience time is obtained while you have your FE. One combination of experience and degree that works for all states is four years of experience (while you have your FE) and a bachelor’s degree.

In addition to the engineering experience, you will need to include some letters of recommendation with your application. Again, the requirements from state to state will vary but you will typically need letters from people who are already PEs and who have firsthand experience with your work.

After all of your material is sent into the state board, and your application is approved, all that is left is for you to pass the PE exam. You'll take the exam in whatever discipline you applied for. The exam is multiple choice format and given over a single eight hour day with a break for lunch. The exam is open book meaning you can bring all of your reference books in for help.

So there you go!

Obtaining your PE is a rewarding experience. It will open up avenues in your career that are not otherwise available and lead you to more challenging experiences. I wish you all the best in your journey to become a PE!

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If you would like to read more from Greg Hora or take advantage of some of the resources he offers, check out his website and blog: www.peprepme.com/

Let us know what you think. Leave a comment or send us and email, we read them all! blogger@eng-software.com. No need to login to leave a comment, but we do ask you keep it clean and work appropriate.

Spruce Goose

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This past weekend my youngest daughter and I flew to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville Oregon. McMinnville is a small town in the Willamette Valley approximately 30 miles south west of Portland. The Evergreen Museum (they Tweet!) is a world class aviation museum and is the home of the Hughes H-4 better known as the Spruce Goose.

We were in the massive cargo area of the Spruce Goose listing to a volunteer, who happened to be a retired engineer. He was explaining to a young person in our group that all the calculations to design the massive plane were done with a slide rule. A 12-year-old girl asked what a slide rule was and the guide was attempting to explain what a slide looked like and how it worked. The more he talked the more confused she looked. Finally, I stepped in and said the best way to find out was "Just Google It." Later I saw her with her Smartphone looking on Wikipedia to find out how the slide rule worked.

Later in the day my daughter and I were looking at a SR-71 Blackbird and I mentioned that this plane was developed by Kelly Johnson’s Skunk Works crew (See my November Blog) once again only using slide rules. Being a daughter of an engineer she had already listen to one of my demonstrations with a real slide rule in her youth so she had a better understanding of the accomplishment.

Later in the space portion of the museum, we saw the keyboard for the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) that was developed to program the computers on the Apollo command module and Lunar Excursion Module. It had 19 keys and weighed in at 21 pounds. The keyboard had a Verb key and a Noun Key. The Verb key instructed the computer that the next number sequence being entered by the astronaut was a computer instruction, and the noun key instructed the computer that the next number sequence was data. The information could be entered in either octal or decimal. No mouse, no screen, no window, just hard-core computing. The term user interface had not been invented yet. When using early computers you had to think like a computer and enter data like a computer. I would imagine that the astronauts spent many hours learning about and practicing using the Apollo Guidance Computer for their moon mission. The AGC was one of the first computers based on integrated circuits with over 2,800 individual integrated circuit chips connected to form the 2848 words or erasable memory and 36,000 words of read only memory. It was a marvel of science at the time, but now a computer like that would reside on a single chip and you would be hard pressed to find a single chip with so little memory.

After a day at the Evergreen Museum, I got into my airplane for the flight back to Olympia, WA. It is equipped with a Garmin G-1000 integrated glass cockpit. I started up the system, programmed my flight plan into the GPS, checked the current weather using satellite radio, activated my terrain warning and aircraft collision warning systems and then set off. Once I got to cruising altitude, I displayed the moving map, complete with the current satellite weather, and activated the autopilot to fly the plane back to Olympia. At Olympia, I loaded the instrument approach into the G-1000, set the autopilot to fly the approach and all I had to do was fly the last 200 ft until touchdown. This is far from the drama that Neal Armstrong experienced in the first moon landing.

No matter how old you are, it is amazing how much progress has been made in your lifetime.

As engineers we are able to perform very involved calculations on our computer (desktop, laptop, netbook, or smart phone), search the internet to select equipment from manufacturers supplied data, and then e-mail the design to the client for their review. All this without the need to use a slide rule (pre 1970), pocket calculator (circa 1974), programmable calculator (circa 1978), or microcomputer (circa 1980).

So next time you use your smart phone to, take a picture, create a video, video conference with your kids, get directions, access the internet, update Facebook, send a tweet, play a game, or even make a phone call think of the intrepid Apollo astronauts with their 22 pound AGC and their moon landing.

What common technology that you use everyday are you most astonished by, grateful for or just plain can’t live without? Let me know by leaving a comment or sending me an email to blogger @ eng-software.com.

Or better yet, maybe you have some gadget or technology that you’d like to tell everyone about in a full blog? We are welcoming guest bloggers. Just send us a message if you would be interested in becoming a guest blogger.

Corporate Culture In Tough Economic Times

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This month, Engineered Notes has invited a guest Blogger to join the conversation. Michael Blondin is the Chief Operating Officer at Engineering at Engineered Software, Inc. and has nearly 15 years experience in business joining Engineered Software in 2005. Feel free to comment on this post or send your thoughts and suggestions to the blogger email, we will make sure he receives any and all of your feedback.

Corporate Culture In Tough Economic Times

If you’ve ever been involved in a failing business, you have a solid understanding of what it is like to work in an environment where your only goal is keeping yourself employed, while trying to find the quickest way to a more stable opportunity. Deadlines slip, focus is lost, and each person is looking out only for their own self-interest. I’ve been there - working for a small (50 person), growing, privately held technology company in 2001, who was days away from our IPO before the bubble burst, and the staff was cut in half over a sixth-month period. And this wasn’t some half-brained start-up, this was a solid company with 20 years of history of treating employees and customers the right way. What changed in that six-month period that brought the organization to its knees? The company’s corporate culture.

Fast forward almost 10 years and I find myself again working at a small (35 employee), growing, privately held technology company in the middle of a global economic meltdown. Only this time there is no panic, no loss of focus. Instead there is a deeper concentration, renewed focus, and a dedicated desire to grow out of the recession, not be swallowed up by it. How are we making this happen? By keeping a focus on maintaining our company culture – who we are, how we got here and how we will continue to succeed in the future.

Company culture is defined as the, ‘values and practices shared by a company’s employees’. A company’s culture can change over time, being influenced by a variety of factors. Some of this can be subtle, such as individual employees entering and leaving the company. Others can be overt, such moving office buildings to a new location where everything is new – it just makes people feel better about showing up to work. Company culture is most tested during times of high stress – the release of highly anticipated products, sharp changes in revenue (both positive and negative) and changes in leadership are a few examples.

What, as leader of an organization, can you do to continue to promote a positive company culture during times of high stress (such as the current economic situation)? Here are a few keys:

Communication: Positive, negative or indifferent, employees want to know the state of the business. For a publicly held company there is all kinds of information available through SEC reports and other required financial documents. In a privately held organization, this information is much more difficult to come by for employees. Therefore, honest and straightforward communication is key. If you need to cut costs to lower expenses, fine, but tell employees why. You may find that employees come up with ways to cost cut on their own to pitch-in on reducing expenses. If a new product is failing to meet expectations, let them know. Of course, don’t forget to communicate those positive product roll-outs that meet or exceed expectations as well.

Focus: The biggest issue for the company that I worked for in 2001 is that we completely lost the focus of why the business had been successful for 20 years. Management kept coming up with new ideas for ways to drive revenue – so many ideas  that sales people didn’t know what they should be selling, marketing didn’t know where to spend dollars and product development wasn’t sure of which products to be concentrating on. Here at ESI we have kept focus on the task at hand – continuing to develop and grow our core products - while expanding our product offerings in a measured and controlled manner. The key is that we have never taken our eyes off of the development of our core products. They are what brought us here, and they will be what continues to sustain us in the future.

Customer Support: At the end of the day, it is the customer who puts money into the bank account that pays our bills. If the quality of customer support and interactions decline, years of goodwill and trust can be gone in an instant. Companies looking to save a few dollars by outsourcing development and support have found this out the hard way, with unsatisfied customers. The problem with an unsatisfied customer is that they will look elsewhere for products in the future. At ESI we have remained dedicated to the end user – which continues to lead to happy customers. And happy customers leads to the continuation of a positive corporate culture as employees feel good about their products and the company they work for.

Employee involvement and empowerment: Nothing is more rewarding than watching an invested employee (or group of employees) who feel empowered to get things accomplished showing off the work they have completed. We have a general strategy at ESI to hire good people, give them the proper training and support, then stay out of there way as they get the job done.  By keeping employees happy in this manner we have maintained an extremely low turnover rate – which leads to a stable company culture where employees know they will be treated fairly, both when things are going well and when the sales are more challenging to come by.

As the economic slowdown continues through its third year across the globe, I know that ESI is going to emerge as a stronger organization as we work to grow through this recession. How is that? We have kept our company culture in tact – by openly communicating with employees, maintaining focus on what we do well and our goals to expand, providing top notch support of customers and keeping our employees involved and empowered.

As we grow, I look forward to the coming challenges of maintaining our company culture as we expand our employee numbers, customer base, products sold and markets served.

Now it’s time to hear from you. Have you survived a company who's corporate culture was destructive to the longevity of the company? Better yet, have you worked for (or still work for) an organization that has such a positive, energetic corporate culture that it's worthy of an award? Let us know! Please feel free to share your experiences, or opinions on this blog entry or any other subject that is of interest. Email blogger@eng-software.com

Cultivating Innovative Game Changers

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Sometimes, in our professional lives, we are lucky enough to be a part of something really great and amazing. An event or discovery so big that it could be considered a “Game Changer.” At Engineered Software, I have had the opportunity to share three game changing moments, and take great pride in being involved with a team that made these events happen. The key to having these moments is to be aware of the possibilities and to be open to innovation. Innovation is not just about the creativity your team possesses, you have to be able and willing to implement those ideas.

My first game changer occurred in 1987 while developing our PUMP-FLO program. PUMP-FLO was developed as a Microsoft version 1 application. This was long before Microsoft had perfected the development environment; and we often referred to Windows 1 as Bill Gates science project.

After working many long hours on the program, my partner gave a shout out and said to come and see what she had done. On her monitor was a pump curve showing the head, flow, and efficiency of the select pump with the impeller diameter meeting the specified design point. I stared at that pump curve for a long while and realized that we had a game changer. We had a program that could present a list of pumps meeting a customer’s design point, using a manufacturers supplied electronic pump catalog, and then dynamically draw each pump curve for the calculated impeller diameter. We realized at that time that the days pump manufacturers needed to supply paper pump curves for pump selection were numbered.

The second game changer was in 1994 when we were working on PIPE-FLO version 5. In previous versions of our hydraulic analysis software, the customer had to establish the piping system connections using lists of pipelines and nodes on the computer screen. It required them to mark up a paper drawing of the piping system, and then using the list interface, manually enter the connection information prior to performing the calculations.

The objective of PIPE-FLO version 5 was to eliminate the need to use the list interface to build the piping system model. The goal was to create built-in drawing tools in the same program that allowed you to enter design data for the pipelines, pumps, components, control valves, and tanks right on the computer screen. We were creating a program that used the drawing to automatically configure the piping connections and displayed the calculated results on the flow diagram. When I first saw the program in operation, I realized the program interface looked like industry standard flow diagrams and P&IDs that our customers were used to working with. Not only did it make it easier for them to create the system, it also made it easier for others involved to understand how the total piping system operated.

This past May I witnessed my third game changer. We were in the final stages of developing our newest web application. One of our major design goals for PUMP-FLO Premium was to allow the user to save their projects on secure servers, thus providing them with access from any computer with internet access and a browser. A second, more ambitious design goal was to allow collaboration between the various pump stakeholders.

One month prior to the scheduled release date all our design goals were met except the collaboration feature, and we didn’t know if it would make the release date. This time I got a call from our PUMP-FLO Project Manager, who asked me to check out the e-mail that she had just sent me. I opened the e-mail and clicked on the attached link, my browser immediately went to a pump list that she had shared with me. I was able to view the list of pumps and display the pump curves for each pump on the list. She then said to display the pump curve for a specific pump; she changed the pumps impeller diameter on her browser, and my browser update the pump curve with the new impeller diameter. Collaborative-interactivity.

This collaboration feature is truly a “game changer.” Using this technology, a pump supplier can make a pump selection and share their selection with the customer. The customer can then evaluate how the recommended pump will operate in their system while talking to the pump supplier. Once the pump has been purchased, the pump supplier can transfer the ownership of the pump project complete with all pump performance data and linked documentation to the owner / operator. They will be able to look at the supplied data, along with all the associated document list for the life of the pump. This ability to collaborate across the internet allows everyone involved in a pumps life cycle to share data, and gain a clear picture how the pump is operating in the customers system.

The nice thing about game changers is that come in all sizes. Some make major changes to the world, and others have less of an impact. The most important thing about game changers is they may come from an idea about how to do something easier, but it’s the hard work of a team that pulls it all together. So the next time you think of a clever idea, follow it through until you can change the game. When you do, please send me an e-mail and tell me about your successes.

Now it’s time to hear from you. What barriers do you have to the execution of your ideas? How have you overcome these challenges to create a “Game Changer?” Please feel free to share your experiences, or opinions on this blog entry or any other subject that is of interest. I can be reached at blogger@eng-software.com.

The Most Important Subject in an Engineering Education

One of my favorite things is to speak to students at engineering school. Typically, it is conjunction with a presentation I am making on fluid piping systems, but most presentation end with a Q&A session. It seems many of these young engineers are wondering what their professional life will be like after graduation.

I typically get the question, “What’s the most important subject in an engineering education?” I love that question because it shows they are thinking ahead and want to make sure they have all their bases covered prior to graduation.

My response is always the same “Sales 101.” That causes quite a stir, after all, they are just finishing up all the engineering classes and here someone is saying they need sales training. The puzzled student then asks why.

The response typically goes like this:

Me: “Do you want to get a job and be paid for what you do after graduation?”

Student: “Well that’s a silly question, yes of course! How else will I pay off those incredible student loans?” (aka. year abroad backpacking through Europe)

Me: “Then you need to be able to sell yourself during the interview so you get the job in this tight job market. Once you have a job you’ll probably want to get a pay increase as your experience grows.”

Student: “Well yes, how else will I afford my first Ferrari 612?”

Me: “Then after awhile you’ll become a group leader and you’ll want to get you group the best project, so you’ll need to sell your team’s ideas to your manager.”

Student: “Hopefully. I definitely want to work on projects that I can be proud of and that I find interesting.”

Me: “Since everything about engineering has to do with money you need to sell yourself, your group, your ideas, your company’s products or services to your customers. That’s why Sales 101 is so important.”

Student: “Wait, what? Sales 101? But I thought I was going to be an Engineer...”

Now the sad thing is I have never seen any college or university offer a sales 101 class, or any other class dealing with selling. I certainly haven’t seen it offered to anyone going for their engineering degree. The only reason I can think of is:

A. Too difficult a subject is to understand
B. Too easy to warrant the effort for a lofty professor to create a class
C. Common knowledge that is understood by everyone

From my experience I would say no to all of the above. It is a skill that can be boiled down into a few easy steps that will take a lifetime to master.

After nearly 30 years in this business, here is the list I have found to be most effective.

1. Know your customer
2. Shut up and listen to your customer
3. Understand what your customer really needs and wants
4. Don’t oversell, have the discipline to sell only what the customer needs or wants, and shut up about all the cool features that they don’t see a value in

I find the best references in understanding the sales processes are the business books that are available everywhere. Go to Amazon and enter “Selling Ideas” and see how many books you can get for $10-15 containing gems of wisdom that will help you sell your ideas. Let me know which books you've found useful.

Now it’s time to hear from you. Please feel free to share your experiences, or opinions on this blog entry or any other subject that is of interest. I can be reached at blogger@eng-software.com.

Defining Success

One of the major milestones in developing a small business is building the right team to meet the needs and expectations of their customers. At Engineered Software our first team members were engineers and programmers. We were very fortunate in finding the right people to join our team because we hired interns from local colleges and if they worked out well we would offer them a job after graduation.

In 1990 we started hiring people to help us run the business (entering and tracking leads, selling the software, and fulfilling orders) that’s when the wheels fell off the bus. We put ads in the newspaper (this was long before the Internet and Job sites), got a list of applicants, asked some superficial questions, and if they sounded good we would offer them a job. We expected them to do their job, sell our products, and let us get on with writing software.

It seemed like my partner and I were spending more time taking care of people problems than developing the business. Sometimes we felt like we hired people to sit around and watch us work. In addition we had constant turnover of the support staff further compounding the problem.

In looking back, the reason we had problems finding the right person is we didn’t know what we were looking for. Since everyone in the company up to this point was a "techie," none of us had absolutely any experience in running a business.

All of my business knowledge had come from reading business self-help books; you know the kind written by consultants to help them get their consulting business off the ground. So I figured it was time to find a book on hiring the right people, I purchased Interviewing and Selecting High Performers, by Richard H. Beatty. I learned why we continued to hire the wrong people for the job, and more importantly what to do to fix the problem.

It turns out we hired the wrong people because we didn’t have a good idea of what the right person's qualities were. Following the wisdom on my paperback business consultant, we developed a list of things including:

• A detailed job description
• Identified the tasks a person in this position would need to perform
• The traits this position would require to be successful in this position
• What required work experience was needed
  
• And even developed the interview questions.

In other words we had a definition of a “perfect candidate” for the position. We were then able to compare each applicant to our “perfect candidate” benchmark so we could easily tell when we had the right person. In other words we took the time to “Defined Success”.

Over the years I discovered that a good definition of success is needed for every project, whether it’s a new software application, the addition of a program feature, or making a major purchase of equipment. If you know what you’re trying to achieve with a project, it’s much easier to accomplish. Some people call it a Business Plan, Job Description, Request for Proposal, but I always like to succeed, so I like to have a clear “Definition of Success.”

Now I must be honest with you, not every project we started has been a wild success; we are just like every business we have had our share of failures. But when we look back at each troubled project we discover that it was lacking a good definition of success.

That's all I have to say, now I would like to hear from you. Please feel free to share your experiences, or opinions on this blog entry or any other subject that is of interest. I can be reached at blogger@eng-software.com.