A Cut Above the Rest: Improving Measurements in the Metal Industry

By Dani Sheehan. 

The MetalVue Program helps you on your way to make more with metal.  

Metal had a great turnout at this year’s Florida Roofing Expo! Heidi J. Ellsworth joined Rob Soper, senior business development manager for EagleView, and John Sheridan, MCS influencer and owner of Sheridan Metal Resources LLC, for a live interview during day two of the event. They talked extensively about Sherwin-Williams' MetalVue program and how it can make it easy for any contractor to add metal to their list of offerings. 

EagleView is an imagery company that utilizes airplanes and drones to capture images of structures that are then run through their software programs to extract highly accurate roofing and siding measurements for contractors. What puts EagleView above the rest is that it’s not just a top-down image you get from satellite. As Rob shares about the process, “when we fly, we capture not just the top down, but we capture all four common directions of the structure from about a 45-degree angle at around three to seven thousand feet above the surface...so the resolution we capture allows us to get [better] clarity and accuracy with the report.” 

EagleView is also part of the Sherwin-Williams Roofing Passport platform that is available as part of the MetalVue program and can significantly reduce the barrier to entry in the metal business. This platform is completely configurable for individual contractors or manufacturers and as Rob explains, “you can create cut lists that are down to a 16th, or you know a fraction of an inch in any direction, and it automates the entire process,” so roofers aren’t having to get up on the roof and hand measure. 

From an installing perspective, John is amazed by this technology and “how it has been able to morph from measuring shingle roofs that are pretty much a straight up measurement, to factoring in all the differences in a metal roof that you have to factor into that cut list.” 

As Heidi stresses, we need to get more contractors into metal and get more skilled labor doing metal installation because it is a craft. Thanks to Sherwin-Williams and companies like EagleView and Sheridan Metal Resources, we’re able to build this ongoing initiative to help contractors learn about full metal systems. With the MetalVue program, you not only affiliate your company with a metal manufacturer, but you also receive all the support you need from sales training through installation, and access to incredible technology that simplifies the entire process.