Many of the world’s leading engineering and construction companies use Hard Dollar software to estimate and control project costs. Discover how the software’s live, 2-way integration with Microsoft Project and leading design tools can bring together all the critical aspects of a capital project, including 3-D design, cost, and schedule.
See the video of HD Estimating Software Featured on Microsoft Showcase.
Many times the effort involved in creating a pre-bid schedule seems not to be worth it. We are so busy just getting the quantity take-off done and the direct and overhead costs determined, any time to do a schedule just doesn’t seem to be available. We would like to know:
With Hard Dollar Project Cost Management Software creating a pre-bid schedule is fast. Hard Dollar has the Cost Breakdown Structure that you determined, so all that is necessary is to send it out to a schedule system. The only time involved is in setting up a schedule with all the activities. Since Hard Dollar has the activities (Cost Items), the “setup” of data is already done.
A very preliminary schedule can be created with just the Level One (higher level of Cost Items) items. In just a few minutes, the linking can be done, and a rough schedule created. Instead of taking days, just a few minutes is needed.
The impact is to have a more complete picture of the job and all of its costs, so better decisions can be made before the proposal (tender) is submitted.
Click here to learn more about HD estimating software.
One of the biggest challenges to implementing earned value as a project management system is creating cost-loaded schedules. Time and time again we hear that creating the initial cost-loaded schedule is not too painful, but most engineering and construction projects are continually barraged with changes, making it extremely cumbersome to keep estimates and schedules in-sync as things change. Further, in many companies, estimating software and scheduling software are entirely separate disciplines, each of which may have a different perspective of the project. Earned value forces tighter interaction between these two disciplines, which is ultimately good for both the owner and the contractor. Many of the key elements of earned value require the integration of cost and schedule, including:
Many estimating and scheduling software packages are adding features to address earned value, but currently HD estimating software is the only application that can dynamically link cost estimates to Microsoft Project and Primavera schedules. This live, two-way integration between cost and schedule can reduce the time and effort spent on earned value calculations by 50% to 90%.
A+B bids, which continue to gain popularity for public works projects, are forcing contractors to re-think their estimating and bidding methodologies. In A+B bids, the contractor submits both a price (the “A” portion) and a duration (the “B” portion) as part of the bid package. The state or other government agency financing the project establishes a daily cost associated with the job, and multiplies that daily cost by the duration bid by each contractor. The contractor with the best combination of cost and duration – A+B – is awarded the work.
Because A+B bids typically include significant penalties for completing the project late, as well as bonuses for early completion, contractors must be able to effectively analyze the correlation between a project’s cost and its schedule. Even more important, contractors that can easily perform “what if?” analysis across both the estimate and the schedule have a unique advantage when it comes to A+B bids. A+B bids are driving contractors to re-evaluate the importance of scheduling during the estimating process. Hard Dollar’s dynamic, ‘oneness’ integration with Microsoft Project and Primavera gives our customers a highly compelling advantage when it comes to optimizing a project’s cost and schedule using different resource and productivity scenarios, crew sizes, shift arrangements, and more. Adding the schedule element gives sophisticated contractors an additional criteria on which to compete for business, so it’s not just low bid gets the job.
Click here to learn more about HD estimating software.
Project Cost Management Software solution for the Heavy Civil, Environmental,
Oil & Gas Services, Utilities and Industrial industries.
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