Press Releases

Hard Dollar Appears in Constructech Today - A Better Estimate

The following article appeared in the April 18th edition of Constructech Today:

A Better Estimate
April 2005
Constructech Staff

Often times the key to success lies not only within what software systems you have in place, but with how you leverage the capabilities. Experts believe more in the construction industry are coming to this realization with their estimating systems.

Greg Duyka, sales manager, OnCenter Software, www.oncenter.com , The Woodlands, Texas, believes one of the most widely beneficial methods of using automated estimating software is to track change orders and job costs on labor and materials after a contract is signed.

"The largest risk on any project is labor," says Duyka. "By combining an electronic takeoff showing where the work is to be done with a job-costing module that is linked to the takeoff, superintendents and project managers can instantly compare work in place to payroll spent on installing that work. They will also instantly know if the budget will make it or they will lose money."

Duyka believes contractors that take full advantage of estimating software will see an increase in work. "When an owner or architect sees a contractor using the most modern and efficient methods to create and manage a bid, they tend to want to send more work to that contractor. The contractor in turn can feel confident he has a complete, accurate, and comprehensive estimate that should result in higher profits."

Brad Barth, senior vice president, product management, Hard Dollar, www.harddollar.com , Tempe, Ariz., says more contractors can benefit from realizing the benefits that the data generated from estimating systems has on the rest of the organization.

"There is a lot of information contained within these estimating systems which can be the foundation for generating schedules, running jobs more efficiently, and managing the accounting budget, (among others)," says Barth. "It used to be a matter of companies scrambling to get the best (system) for each of their business processes. Now the demand is for integrated systems that help the bidding through the building process."

He sees two distinct groups of users when it comes to estimating. Says Barth, "Many have estimating systems, but there are those that simply use the systems better. These are the users that are looking for better ways to integrate the information with the rest (of the enterprise)."

«Back

Back to Top