Management + Systems

S&P Software Consulting + Solutions GmbH, part of the S&P Group, has been advising the international construction products industry for more than three decades with regard to the development and sustainable operation of design software.

The S&P Group was founded in 1991 as an engineering office by four university lecturers from Leipzig Technical University in Germany. Over the past 30 years, it has developed into a group of companies with more than 400 employees in 10 locations. The range of services available covers all phases of construction planning and supervision, as well as the development of software solutions on behalf of the international construction products industry.

In December 2000, due to the considerably increasing demand for professional software solutions, S&P Software Consulting + Solutions GmbH was created as an independent company within the S&P Group – taking over all consulting and development activities related to customer specific design software. All of S&P Software’s solutions are tailored to the specific requirements of each customer – there are no standard software solutions that it makes available to the market.

As part of S&P Software’s portfolio, it offers solutions in the areas of fastening technology, timber connection technology, mounting rail technology, solar substructures, structural reinforcements and lightweight metal construction. “Since our development teams consist not only of software developers but also of civil engineers, we not only understand the creation of software, but above all know the structural engineering requirements of users for user-friendly and intuitively operable state of the art software,” explains Dr Ing Mirko Neumann, managing partner at S&P Software Consulting + Solutions. “Thanks to our close links with universities, colleges, as well as research and testing institutes, we are able to provide our customers with the highest level of technical and content related advice.”

Software solutions from S&P Software are always developed on behalf of the respective customer and in close cooperation with them. Each software product is tailored to the corresponding individual requirements and developed precisely on the basis of this requirement profile. “As different as the respective boundary parameters are – from the exclusive use of the software in the building product manufacturer’s company; the use by planners, engineers, and fitters; for use in individual construction projects; the adaptation of the software for distribution in the private label business; through to the use in the process of developing new building products – the software is tailored to the individual customer’s requirements,” states Mirko. 

In addition to its diverse expertise in the field of structural engineering, and the development of state of the art software solutions, S&P Software supports the construction products industry in the development of new products and design procedures, as well as in approval procedures and ultimately in the ongoing support of the developed software solutions through hosting, maintenance and servicing.

“Within the construction sector we have been working on several areas that we believe will be key topics for the market. For instance, the design of anchors has been undergoing permanent expansion for decades,” reports Mirko. “A whole series of experts and expert groups (in which we are also involved) are constantly working on improving the design approaches and verification procedures. From our point of view, the topics that are of particular interest include verification of the stiffness of the anchor plate, fatigue design, extension of the design for round and triangular anchor arrangements, design in the case of interaction between several anchor plates, as well as the harmonisation of anchor theory and rebar theory. These topics are very complex and are sometimes the subject of controversial debate, so it remains exciting to us as a business.”

Mirko concludes: “S&P Software, like the entire S&P Group, is growing significantly, contrary to the general economic trend in Germany. In terms of software development for a global market, there are growth opportunities not only in the area of fastening technology, but in all areas of structural engineering. That is why we will continue to develop these topics to create value for ourselves and, above all, for our customers.”