USP Structural Connectors acquires interest in Structural Soft

BURNSVILLE, MINN. — USP Structural Connectors and Structural Soft LLC have entered into an agreement under which USP has acquired an equity interest in Structural Soft. Structural Soft has recently introduced an innovative lateral design software, LateralWorx 2010.

Developed specifically for wood-framed structures in high wind and seismic environments, this versatile program for single and multi-family homes and light commercial buildings offers engineers significant time savings in the calculation of lateral loads and design of shear walls.

“This is a very exciting venture for USP. We see the growing power of automation for structural design and the critical role it will play in the future. The speed and efficiency that Structural Soft’s new software offers is impressive and USP is committed to this progressive technology,” the company said.

LateralWorx is an integral part of the BuildingWorx whole-house design platform which is the most comprehensive and intuitive set of structural design tools for the light-frame construction industry to date, officials said. The next module to be released is FramingWorx which offers vertical load analysis and framing design for the whole building. It is fully integrated with LateralWorx and offers whole house design capability as a complete solution for engineers, designers, suppliers and dealers.

“This is a very exciting venture for USP. We see the growing power of automation for structural design and the critical role it will play in the future. The speed and efficiency that Structural Soft’s new software offers is impressive and USP is committed to this progressive technology,” said Stephen Duffy, president of USP. “We look forward to the bright future of this partnership with Structural Soft as well as supporting the development of their next innovative product for general framing applications, FramingWorx.”

Sal Akhter, vice president of sales and marketing for Structural Soft added: “Design efficiency and value engineering are two important features of the BuildingWorx family of products that offer significant time and cost savings,” said Akhter. “FramingWorx and LateralWorx were developed from the ground up by engineers with real world whole-house design capability in mind, from roof to foundation. Structural Soft is adding capabilities to serve different markets from engineers of record to designers in production departments of lumber yards and fabricators.”

For more information about USP Structural Connectors or Structural Soft, please visit www.uspconnectors.com, or www.structuralsoft.com, respectively.