Modern Joist Design Software: Faster, Safer, Smarter
Steel joists hold up commercial buildings. For the engineers and sales teams who design them, time and accuracy matter. SEP helped rebuild their critical desktop app—making daily work faster, smarter, and better for both business and building safety.
Opportunity
Designing safe buildings requires custom joists. Our client needed modern software to speed estimates, reduce steel use, and support daily work.
Services
Results
- Hours-long tasks now minutes
- Lower steel costs
- Reduced environmental impact
Client
Building Stronger Structures Nationwide
Our client is one of the largest providers of high-performance structural steel joists, joist girders, and deck solutions for commercial steel construction projects. As the nation’s second-largest producer, they are known for a broad product offering that helps optimize steel construction from design through delivery.
They supply fabricators and erectors with timely estimates, meticulous detailing, and rapid RFI resolution. For owners and developers, they provide early design input and support services that keep projects moving efficiently.
About The Client
Service Area
Nationwide, U.S.
Founded
1999
Revenue
$250M
Industry
Manufacturing & Construction
Opportunity
Old Tools Slowed Critical Work
Every commercial building requires joists tailored to its size, design, and location. Engineers and sales teams needed a way to design and estimate quickly, while keeping steel use as lean as possible to cut costs and reduce environmental impact.
For years, the client relied on an internally built app for design and estimating. Over time, it became hard to maintain, with outdated technology and limited scalability. A modern solution was needed to keep projects moving, reduce errors, and support day-to-day work across multiple sites.
What We Did
Automated Testing
Desktop Development
DevOps Automation
Forecasting/Estimation
Line of Business Application Development
Product Discovery
Product Management
Product Strategy
Solution
Rebuilding a Daily Tool with End-Users in Mind
Rebuilding the joist design app wasn’t just about upgrading software—it was about giving engineers and sales teams a tool they could rely on every day. SEP approached the work with users at the center, focusing on how the new app could make their jobs faster, easier, and more accurate while supporting the client’s long-term business goals.
Listening First
SEP worked side-by-side with engineers, sales staff, and designers across the U.S. to understand how the app fit into their work. We hosted collaborative product discovery sessions in our Product Design Studio and ran design reviews at client sites, ensuring the new app worked the way users needed it to.
Design for Real Work
Because each site had its own process, SEP focused on user research and interaction design. Paper and high-fidelity prototypes were tested directly with engineers and sales reps. Their feedback guided the design, ensuring the new app made complex work simpler and faster.
Replacing a mission-critical tool meant moving carefully. SEP rebuilt the backend first, then transitioned features step by step from the old tool to the new desktop app. This hybrid approach allowed teams to keep working without disruption while seeing improvements right away.
Modern Architecture
The new app uses a WPF desktop client and ASP.NET Core services running in Docker containers. This shifted heavy calculations from user computers to servers, improving performance and scalability. SEP collaborated closely with client engineers using Azure DevOps and co-make development methods.
“They feel like part of our team.”
Most of the developers on our side were pretty junior and inexperienced. Working with SEP gave them opportunities to mature, learn new technologies, and grow—even our senior developers benefited. We don’t see SEP as contractors; they feel like part of our team.
Onsite Deployment
SEP delivered the app in phases, traveling to each site to train users and observe real-world use. Feedback from engineers and sales teams drove refinements and informed future product improvements.
Tech Stack
.NET 
C# 
Docker 
SQL Server 
Test Complete 
WPF/MAUI (.NET) Results
From Hours to Minutes in Joist Design
The rebuilt app transformed daily work for engineers and sales staff. Tasks that once took hours now take minutes, and bulk actions save time every day. With smarter joist analysis features rolling out, the client expects meaningful steel savings—reducing costs and environmental impact while supporting more efficient projects.
Hours-long tasks now take minutes
Bulk actions speed daily work
Smarter analysis reduces steel use
Lower costs and reduced material waste