Digitizers are devices that automate the takeoff process of construction estimating. In addition to saving estimators time, digitizers provide more accurate results than the pencil and ruler of yore. In this five-part series, we examine the benefits, and costs, of using digitizers for construction estimating.

Like a lot of estimators, John Stewart used to sit in front of blueprints with a ruler and tape and manually pull off dimensions and enter them into a spreadsheet. It was tedious, time-consuming and not always accurate. Then he discovered digitizers.

"It was almost like somebody turned on the light," recalls Stewart, the national president of the American Society of Professional Estimators in Nashville, Tenn., and chief mechanical estimator for Keating Building Corp. in Philadelphia. "I said, 'Where has this been all my life!' I would say that it cut my takeoff time literally in half."

For today's construction businesses, the possibility of doing takeoffs with rulers and remaining competitive is increasingly remote, especially in the light of the time savings a digitizer can bring to the takeoff process.

The takeoff process is defined as using either manual or electronic blueprints to "take off" the quantities one needs to complete a construction estimate. William Kautter, general manager for GTCO/CalComp (pronounced ji-Tee-co), a key supplier of digitizers for the construction industry, says estimators could quickly see a 10 to 50 times increase in their speed at doing a takeoff when using a digitizer.

"When you do things by ruler it is just very cumbersome and there are things you can't do easily like calculate the area of an irregular shape," he explains. "With software and a digitizer you take the pen, put it on one point, hold the button down and you just trace around the shape until you come back to the beginning. The software calculates the area for you in a matter of seconds. To do that manually would take a skilled person maybe a minute or so. The time savings is huge and the increase in accuracy is huge."

*** There are three types of digitizer devices on the market. These will be examined in the next two parts of this series, beginning with Part 2 -- Digitizers for construction estimating: Hardboard and roll-up devices.