Stream Deck Button to Automate MBS Software Setup
One button press minimizes windows, opens the software, and loads the job so nobody repeats the setup by hand.
- Creator
Southwest Steel Buildings- Company
- Southwest Steel Buildings
- Wastes
Setting up the MBS software job took many manual steps: minimizing other windows, opening the program, clicking through the beginning stages, entering the job name, and navigating to utilities. Each step was a chance to miss something or do it in the wrong order.
The team downloaded the USR file that talks to MBS, then mapped the whole setup sequence to a single Stream Deck button. Pushing that button minimizes everything on screen, opens MBS, runs through the beginning stages, enters the job name, and opens the custom program written to read the file.
Encode a proven, repeatable procedure into a single trigger so the correct sequence runs the same way every time.
What is a Stream Deck Button to Automate MBS Software Setup?
A Stream Deck is a small hardware panel of programmable buttons, each of which can fire a macro or sequence of computer actions. Here it is wired to automate the startup of MBS, the estimating and design software the operator uses.
Instead of a person remembering and clicking through a long chain of setup screens, one button captures that chain. The operator downloads the USR file, highlights it, and presses the button. The macro handles minimizing windows, launching MBS, stepping through the opening screens, filling in the job name, and opening a custom program the user wrote inside MBS to read the data.
In Lean terms this removes overprocessing (repeated manual clicks) and motion (hunting through menus). The knowledge of the correct setup order is no longer trapped in one person's head; it lives in the button and runs identically for anyone who presses it.
Why it works
The value is in capturing a proven procedure once and making it reusable and mistake-proof.
- The correct setup sequence is stored in the button, not in memory, so it is reused every time.
- Standardizing the opening steps prevents skipped or out-of-order actions.
- A new user can run the expert setup without knowing every screen.
- The custom MBS reader program is launched automatically, so no step is forgotten.
How to create this idea
- 1Map the manual sequence
Write down every click and entry needed to set up the software from launch to job-ready.
- 2Identify the trigger file
Note the input the process needs, here the USR file that talks to MBS, so the macro can act on it.
- 3Record the macro on the Stream Deck
Assign the full sequence (minimize, open, step through screens, enter job name, open reader) to one button.
- 4Include any custom programs
Have the macro also open your in-app helper program so the whole setup ends job-ready.
- 5Test and share the button
Confirm it runs the same every time, then use the same layout so any operator gets the standard setup.
Best used when
- repetitive software setup
- multi-step launch routines
- job-based estimating tools
Less useful when
- one-off tasks
- highly variable workflows
- no repeatable sequence
Products and tools mentioned
- stream deck: Programmable button panel for triggering shortcuts and control actions.
Tags
- Problem
- manual setuprepeated clickshuman error
- Lean methods
- standard workautomationmistake-proofing
- Application
- software workflowestimatingoffice
Captured from Southwest Steel Buildings at Southwest Steel Buildings in the video "Lean Engineering - Removing Waste (2 hours down to 45 seconds)", at 00:00:45. On Lean Toolbox. Watch the original video on YouTube ↗
