Dowco Tekla Structures Learning Network
Ewen Dobbie, Arvin Eugenio

Despite the sense of impending recession in the North American marketplace earlier this year, there seems to be no slow down in the building and construction industry. The ‘players’ in the industry are in a word – BUSY and a steady stream of Tekla Structures licence sales are indicative that many businesses and offices are gearing up and expanding.

It’s been repeatedly quoted that ‘all good businesses, small or large, rely heavily on training to improve employees’ productivity and to remain competitive in the marketplace’. We of course, couldn’t agree more. At Dowco, we continue to emphasis weekly training classes for all employees. We have also watched those companies (Fabricator and Detailer customers) who committed to ongoing training, continue to succeed and grow their respective businesses.

We are pleased to report that we are now seeing a new trend towards online Tekla Structures training. To this end, the feedback we receive from many of our customers on our Dowco Tekla Structures Online Learning network is encouraging. We will continue to enhance these training modules and plan to introduce more advanced topics in the New Year.

Internet-based training courses are becoming more common these days, as popularized by many colleges and universities. Not only does it offer the convenience to student, full-time or part time, but also helps balance duties for individuals who are busy both at work and home.

As for our online Tekla training course, please note we are offering this free of charge to all Tekla Customers who have Tekla annual maintenance contracts. For anyone one else, it will be offered at a reasonable annual fee.

The online course is easy to use; just open your internet browser and click through the lessons and instructions. We will continue to make it more user friendly, allowing mainstream usage from the newest of hires to the most experienced veteran. The course is available 24/7, and individuals can learn where, when and how they want to and at their own pace. This should be appealing for the employee looking to increase his/her skill set but is too busy to learn the software in the office. For more information on the Dowco Tekla Online Learning or the AISC Online Steel Detailer training, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

It’s not new news that there is a huge shortage of experienced and qualified talent in all sectors of the industry. The steel detailing industry has been, and will continue to be hit hard as the demand for detailers increases.