Profis user, Hilti Specifier, NO MORE 3

[Prestressed Guy]

After 6/31/21 Profis software will no longer work and if you desire to design a Hilti product you will need to pay them a licensing fee for the privilege of helping them to sell more of their product. I have been running Profis and Strong-tie's Anchor Designer software side-by-side for the past year and there is no discernable difference in the results or ease of use. The Strong-tie software is still free. knowing that this change was coming, I have been switching my designs from Hilti to Strong-Tie. Every time that I create a detail that lists the anchor, I pay the vendor for the use of that software.
Today, I have sent the following email to Hilti
To: hnatechnicalservices@hilti.com
Subject: Changing specification of all fasteners on projects from Hilti to Strong-Tie after June 30 2021

Good day.

For all 29 years of my engineering career, the general notes of my projects have listed in the standard specification “Hilti or approved equal” for all mechanical and adhesive anchors. After June 31,2021, my general notes will read “Strong-Tie or approved equal” and the drawings, details and calculations will list all Strong-tie products.

I cannot in good conscience continue to specify a proprietary product for a company thereby increasing their profits while that same company is requiring me to pay for software to design their proprietary product for their sole benefit.


I am sending a similar email to Strong-Tie letting them know of the change in my general notes and speciation's and thanking them for their continued support of the engineering profession with their non-licensing fee based software.

 

[jaskamakkara]

It's just been replaced with Profis Engineering (profisengineering.hilti.com), it is still free for the basic version which appears to have the same functionality as the old version of Profis.

 

[phamENG]

I went through the same thing, and then found what jaskamakkara is talking about: [URL unfurl="true"]https://ask.hilti.com/article/profis-engineering-faq/8a01ye[/url]

Hilti is sufficiently ingrained here that I got push back when I started changing my commercial jobs over to Simpson. The residential guys celebrated because they hated having to go somewhere other than Home Depot to buy their anchors. I really like that Hilti includes masonry in their program, which I have to deal with frequently. I haven't seen that in Simpson's software.

 

[JedClampett]

I'm not doing anything as drastic as blackballing Hilti, but I've been using the DeWalt software and adding them (plus Simpson) to my specifications.
Some of the people in our company noticed that the Hilti 500-V3 had higher allowables than the other two (Simpson and DeWalt), so running the other anchors' programs might be prudent if they're "or equals" anyway.

 

[bones206]

I don't think a company that sells products has an obligation to support the engineering community by providing free software. You can still design their anchors with a spreadsheet or a piece of paper if you want to. ICC-ESR's are free and publicly available. PROFIS is a brilliant marketing tool for Hilti and they've made an internal decision on what features they are willing to provide for free and which advanced features they want to be compensated directly for. If that decision causes a resentful backlash, then they made a poor marketing decision. But I wouldn't take that personally.

The issue that bugs me more is that engineers that work for Hilti basically wrote the super-complex ACI code provisions that made software like PROFIS almost mandatory for routine calcs.

 

[canwesteng]

Yeah, the free web based Profis appears to actually have more functionality than the PC based app did. HILTI does a great job supporting the product on the industrial side, but I can see switching to Simpson for residential

 

[dik]

Concur... if they provide a service that encourages the use of their products, that's a different matter. As long as you have confidence in the product specified, then anyone that provides assistance in design should be encouraged and rewarded by use of their product.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[MIStructE_IRE]

For years we did these by hand on a one liner calc. Allowable load x edge distance reduction factor x spacing reduction factor and that was it. The simple anchor has become so much more complicated than it needs to be!

 

[dik]

That was before the ACI got involved

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[Illbay]

1. It isn't true that the Profis standalone software will no longer function. If you don't believe me, load it and see. What they've said is they will no longer SUPPORT IT, meaning it won't receive continuing development, bug fixes, etc.

2. My only problem with the new online web-based product is that, compared to the desktop software, the interface just plain *stinks*. I expect software of this type to be intuitive to use for the seasoned designer. I find myself stumbling around trying to figure out the most basic things like changing the size of the plate, etc. Also, it is now couched in terms that seems to imply it's ONLY for column base plates, rather than the generalized anchored plate design as before. For instance, I use Profis most often to design plates that support beam-brackets in a concrete wall here at the facility where I work. It's not that the *new* Profis won't do that, but all the initial conditions point that way and I have to do a LOT of editing to get it to look like what I'm actually designing.

3. I have found the only practical way for me to use *new* Profis is to load up *old* Profis, set up my model, and then import it into *new* Profis for final design. The *new* Profis interface is so buggy and ham-fisted that I just cannot use it to initiate as well as finalize a design.

"No one is completely useless. He can always serve as a bad example." --My Dad ca. 1975