Construction Software

Posts Tagged ‘solution’

www.maxwellsystems.com Construction software for job cost accounting, estimating, and project management that brings it all together in one solution is an invaluable resource for Mid-State Paving & Excavation, explains owner Steve Wagner. This sitework contractor utilizes Maxwell Systems ProContractorMX as a single solution for end-to-end control of critical business operations. Levering this complete construction software solution, Mid-State can be a better company with the ability to analyze costs and be more competitive.

www.maxwellsystems.com Construction software for job cost accounting, estimating, and project management that brings it all together in one solution is an invaluable resource for Mid-State Paving & Excavation, explains owner Steve Wagner. This sitework contractor utilizes Maxwell Systems ProContractorMX as a single solution for end-to-end control of critical business operations. Levering this complete construction software solution, Mid-State can streamline processes, improve productivity, gain control of financials and costs, and better understand job performance to make improvements on future jobs, which helps improve the company’s profitability.

Any construction business needs a lot of supervision. Its scope is so vast that you need good monitoring of each department to ensure that all are working towards a common goal. If you are using management software that controls and defines all your business processes, it would surely make a big difference.

A construction business has five basic operations that are involved in the entire business cycle. They include accounting, estimating, project scheduling, reporting and analysis, and service inventory. These processes are all vital for the smooth operation of your business, the reason why these must be secured and managed with competence.

Most companies today use different kinds of business software which automates their processes hereby ensuring accuracy and timeliness. Not only that, it gives them additional savings in terms of manpower.

Sage has long been a pioneer in the field of developing business software solutions for different kinds of companies. They have developed a complete system for construction companies as well.

Sage Master Builder is a construction software solution that gives a big boost and a cutting-edge advantage for any construction company that wants to be on top of things concerning the different operations of its business.

The Sage Master Builder can monitor the different construction operations efficiently. It monitors accounting process of a construction business. This avoids any accounting pitfalls encountered without the proper software for it. The software includes the automation of estimating processes which helps increase revenues. It also offers project management and scheduling modules which helps you to properly take control of each project phase. It also monitors inventory which communicates with the accounting module for real-time efficiency. Lastly, it helps you achieve a clear picture of the company’s status on an overall or a project basis.

If you are handling a construction company and you want it to perform with optimum competence, then you should have Sage Master Builder Software in your system. The benefits derived from this software spell a big difference in the overall performance of your company. You are assured of reports, analysis, and accuracy, enabling you to visualize the status of your company which arms you with necessary information and steps to further enhance its growth.

Construction project management is a demanding job, even for experienced managers. The nature of these projects is often unique, and requires effective, proven software to handle all aspects. Construction software needs to be a do-anything, fully integrated package.

Project management needs

Software needs are defined by the nature of the project. In some cases the combination of tasks for project management is extensive, and that’s where possible problems arise with project software.

Anyone who’s ever tried “mix and match” with professional software will know that sometimes it’s a real horror story:

Big documents may not even load.
Some software really can’t handle the huge data loads that construction projects naturally generate. They’re not designed for it, and can actually lose data in the process.
Document quality with off-the-shelf software can be mediocre, and need to be reformatted. That creates more work, per document, than can possibly be justified.
Trying to work with 3D CAD specifications that won’t run on some software is a real trial of patience. It can also waste a lot of time.
Doing reports using multiple forms of software is likely to be a nightmare at best. It’s an incredibly slow, counterproductive process.

An integrated construction project management software solution is the only reliable approach. All the project software is designed to work together.

Covering all the angles- The 360 degree approach

Construction project management software can be customized and configured to the needs of a project. That’s invaluable, in terms of efficiently setting up things like administration, accounts, and other software.

Special project needs can be tailored into a package. This is particularly useful for project managers who may have multiple roles in their own jobs, and need to cover several operational bases with their information systems.

Construction project management

For project managers, access to information at all levels is essential. Construction project management involves a continuous data stream of often complex professional information.

The data stream may include use of:

Construction software
3D software
3D modeling
Engineering drawing
Drafting software
Architectural drafting
Construction planning software
Site management software

Add to this administration systems, reporting, and accounts, and you can see why purpose-built, high quality software is the only real option.

Cost effective project management with software

Integrated project management software provides an ongoing cost saving across the spectrum of operational and administrative functions of construction projects. The integrated system dramatically improves workflow volumes. There are no “technical issues” obstructing project management performance.

Support and backups when you need them

Construction software experts can answer all your question in one consultation. They also provide support and experienced professional advice to optimize and enhance project management systems.

Top quality construction project management software is developed using the feedback of construction professionals. Downtime with these proven systems is therefore practically non-existent. If there are problems, however, your supplier acts as a backup, and remediation starts immediately.

Severa PSA is project management, gantt chart, billing invoicing software automation solution that can be used by architects, engineers, advertising design houses. For more information visit www.severa.com

construction-estimating-software-review.toptenreviews.com | Turtle Creek’s Goldenseal is a very versatile construction estimating software program. It’s sure to serve as a tremendous asset to your company. Home Page: www.toptenreviews.com Blog blog.toptenreviews.com

When you first investigate computer based estimating software, you will find that there are many software vendors selling solutions which range from a few hundred dollars to many thousands of dollars. In fact some estimating software packages can cost upwards of 15-20 thousand dollars and in some cases, as high as $100,000. That is quite a range of price.

Often, estimating software is selected based upon the cost, features, functions, reviews, word of mouth, or other avenues. In many cases, potential customers do not consider how they are doing their estimating processes today, what they would like to improve, how automation can, will, or will not help them, and what an estimating system should do for their business.

In many cases, the construction professional will try and find a way to adapt their business to the way a software package operates, rather then determine the best way to adapt the software to enhance their current way of doing business. In many cases estimating software may not be flexible enough to allow a construction professional to “customize” the software to work in conjunction with the best business practices of the company.

An example of this is the cost information which is provided by many of the more advanced construction estimating software vendors in the market. Often, you will see software vendors either providing their own cost data information (often on a monthly subscription basis), or they will resell industry cost database information such as RS Means or Craftsman.

This is a good baseline for starting to use a construction estimating software solution, but all too often, construction professionals will begin to find that the data is not accurate for their specific geographic locations of work, their local distributors have different prices than what are provided in the software costbook database provided by the vendor and costbook updates provide by the software vendor are not timely enough to reflect local price changes in materials (labor prices are usually pretty consistent over time).

As a result, the construction professional is not satisfied with the software vendor’s estimating solution, the adoption of the software will diminish, and the construction professional will either begin to more and more get frustrated while searching for another software solutions or revert back to their original estimating process. Often this is either a basic spreadsheet or paper and pencil.

This creates an interesting buzz in the marketplace and on construction forums where construction professionals will compare, contrast or complain about various estimating software packages because they do not do the job they were expecting, are not reliable, and in many cases are down right inaccurate…enough so that the estimator no longer has any faith in the results provided by the estimating software. At best, the software is either used for “guesstimates” or becomes “shelfware”.

The problem with this perspective is that the estimating software is perceived as “bad”. In reality, the software might be just fine (operationally), but it is the cost information and cost data which is not correct for the particular construction professional. Also, in many cases, software vendors will “lock down” the cost data either because they make money off of the data or do not want the customer to change the information because they have specific features and functions in the software which are dependent upon the information contained in the cost data (such as estimating assemblies or multi hierarchical costbook databases). This creates a very inflexible solution which requires the construction professional to either adapt to the software or simply decide not to use the software.

The best estimating software solutions should allow the construction professional to completely leverage existing industry database cost information as well as provide the ability for the construction professional to create their own costbook database of information and even combine the two. This should be extended to have the ability to create as many costbook databases as the construction professional would like to accommodate multiple types of estimating situations.

A quick word on the estimating process. The most accurate method of estimating is to use the Unit Cost Method of estimating. This means that each material item in a costbook database would have at least a material and labor cost. Even better if the item provides for the ability to track subcontract and equipment costs and well as labor rates. These costs are then defined for the item at the “unit of measure”.

So for example, you could be working on reinforcing steel in a foundation and putting in 1/4″ diameter, #2 rebar. This item is typically categorized by the LB (foot pound) as the Unit of Measure. There might be a material cost per LB of .78 and a labor charge of .76 to install the rebar for each 1 LB. The Unit Cost Method of estimating would take the material and labor costs and multiply these values by the total quantity (by LB) required for the job. This would give you the total cost of the work for this item in your estimate. You would do this for every item in your estimate. Some people might say this is very time consuming, but this is the most accurate way of estimating the work.

In addition, some construction professionals might say that the material and labor costs are inaccurate. These prices were taken from a national industry costbook database, and in fact, could very well be inaccurate. A good software estimating program would allow you the ability to change any information about this item required to match your own labor and material costs. One important consideration for this is that you should base your current estimates not only on an updated costbook database, but also on the results from historical estimating. This way, you can see if in fact you made any profit from your last job and factor in this experience in terms of changing the prices of items to reflect your profit margin. This is in addition to including standard profit and overhead costs in your jobs.

Some construction professionals will say that all of this cost database construction and pricing definition is very time consuming, but in reality, we have found that most GC’s would require from 300-800 items in a customized costbook database. This would take care of about 90-95% of the typical estimating requirements of the construction professional. This is a far cry from the 30,000-60,000 items which are typical of an industry costbook database….and much easier to update and manage.

So the point of this article is to tell you that the first thing you should consider when looking for an estimating system is the ability to create your own costbook database, and be able to leverage existing industry costbook information to do that. In addition, this should be an easy process and be able to leverage all the capabilities of the estimating software, such as reports or other functions. This way, you will be able to find an estimating software solution which fits your business rather than trying to fit your business into the methods and practices of the estimating system software!