STROITELI - magazine for building materials and technologiesyear IV, issue 3, april 2007

New Planning Software from Bosch for architects, engineers and consultants

New Planning Software from Bosch for architects, engineers and consultants

Bosch Security Systems is introducing Windows-based Planning Software that supports the activities of architects, planners and specifiers at different stages of a fire alarm project. In the initial stage, it can make a first (approximate) price estimation of a new building based on the building type and size before full details of the building are in place. It can also make an estimate of system size, battery calculation and pricing based on the expected number of peripherals. And in the detailed planning phase, it enables the user to precisely design the fire alarm system including allocation of peripherals on different loops in accordance with the actual topology and type of application of the building.

With the new Planning Software by Bosch, engineers and consultants can create tenders through the use of a wizard covering all product categories of a fire alarm system in a very little time. Selection is simple, only the quantities of each product need to be added. All products are identified by their generic names known from the standards instead of manufacturer-specific names and abbreviations, allowing the user to create a tender without requiring detailed product knowledge. Additional relevant product information is automatically displayed when the cursor moves over a generic name.

Moreover, once the system specification has been created, a complete plausibility check can be made to ensure that no important aspects and accessories have been left out, thus guaranteeing that the bill of goods, which forms the basis of the price calculation, is complete.

The Planning Software provides a set of outputs in different formats and, moreover, provides important input for the effective installation of the fire alarm system. For Architects, Consultants, Specifiers (ACS) with an international focus or located in multi-lingual countries; the output can be created in various languages.

A separate monitor screen provides a full overview of the fire alarm system on various levels. This includes the appearance of the products in a preview together with the technically most relevant information for the products; details of the various loops, including current consumption, loop length, quantity of the various product types and the remaining capacity of each loop; plus details of the fire alarm system for each panel in a network, such as total number of detection points, and number of loops per panel. In addition, for a structured overview, each panel and loop can be given an appropriate name.

As additional products may be requested, depending on countries, regions or even projects, the Planning Software provides a maximum flexibility by allowing the user to add his own choice of third party products. The user can also customize the tender templates provided by the tool, including automatic inclusion of the own company name and logo in all documents created by the tool.