Microsoft Corp. has released a video case-study and blog compiled after spending time with Seattle-based Coffman Engineers learning how engineers and staff are using the Microsoft Surface tablet to change the way they do business. 

Coffman Engineers, which has a large office in Spokane, was an early adopter of the Microsoft Surface tablet and has used every version of it since its release for various applications, such as computer-aided design (CAD) software. 

The Microsoft Surface tablet has been implemented widely as a laptop replacement for many Coffman employees, so much so that Microsoft had taken notice. Earlier this year, a Microsoft production team spent time in Coffman’s Seattle and Spokane offices and on several job sites talking with Coffman staff members about how they use the Surface. According to Wes Peper, Coffman’s corporate IT manager, finding a tablet that was powerful and portable was key in selecting the Surface.

“We have engineers running some pretty intensive programs, and they didn’t believe me at first that Surface Pro 3 could run what they needed. But now they love this thing,” Peper says. “With Surface Pro 3, we can take notes, adjust displays, and actually do 3-D modeling and heavy calculations with programs like Bluebeam and SolidWorks whether we’re onsite with a customer or in the office.” 

In the office, the Surface docking stations transform the tablet into a desktop replacement and increases information-sharing among offices and teams through cloud applications. Coffman says it has found that embracing this new technology has increased efficiency and saves time and money in the office and out in the field. 

Coffman Engineers is 36 years old and provides clients with multidiscipline engineering services, including civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, fire protection, process piping, instrumentation and controls, corrosion control engineering, project management, commissioning, and land survey services. 

In addition to its offices in Seattle and Spokane, Coffman is in Anchorage, Alaska; Bozeman, Mont.; Hagatna, Guam; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Oakland and Los Angeles, Calif.