Robert S. Weygant

During college, I started Summit Exteriors, a general contracting firm in New Jersey and Arizona. I worked my way through college as a residential contractor specializing in exterior design and construction. I continued the business after college, going on to build four new homes, and hundreds of remodeling projects, finally transitioning from residential roofing, siding and home building to low slope commercial roofing in 1997. In 2000, I closed up shop when offered an opportunity to work for GAF Materials Corporation in Wayne, NJ managing their Technical Services and Architectural Information Services initiatives. These roles led to becoming the technical specialist for the marketing department responsible for new product development. I was closely involved with the development and launch of 4 new product lines in both residential and commercial applications. In 2005, I left GAF to start my own business.

In 2005 I formed Sumex Design, a company that specialized in CAD development and Guide Specifications for building product manufacturers. Through ARCAT, Inc., Sumex Design has written guide specifications for over 100 manufacturers, including GAF Materials Corporation, Carlisle, Versico, Soprema, and Several others from Division 7. In 2006, I began the development of a BIM initiative to begin the development of manufacturer specific components for the Architectural Community. Since 2007, I have developed over 6000 manufacturer specific components for over 250 clients. In 2010, Sumex Design Incorporated itself, has a staff of 12 developers and is and is preparing to launch new initiatives in Building Information Modeling for Manufacturers, Architects, Specifiers, and contractors. In 2011, we will be offering three new services:

• Technical Documentation Management Services will provide to manufacturers a “Technical Information Czar”, to bridge the gaps between the R&D, Technical, Marketing and Sales Departments within an organization, and maintain the critical performance, testing and codes information about products.

• Conceptualization Services will allow contractors an opportunity to deliver a highly detailed graphic visualization and quantity take-off of a project prior to its inception. This minimizes costly change orders and allows owners the ability to select and conceptualize what actual products will look like within their space.

• Knowledge Management Services will allow Architects the ability to have BIM components complete with appropriate information at their fingertips, as well as an individual who can maintain the information behind them. A BIM project contains a highly detailed set of information, which changes frequently and rapidly. Having an expert at their fingertips who can maintain and manipulate this information quickly will allow them to focus on the actual development rather than the components themselves.