Basic notions of ESTIMATION
The Catalogue Module
The catalogue is the heart of the company. This module contains the material, the tasks, the working methods, the equipment etc. In short, it contains all the expertise of the company. This expertise is sometimes referred to as the "knowledge base". This expertise is contained in all the items in the catalogue.
Catalogue items
An item is an element of the catalogue with which a project is realized. Each item has a cost according to a reference unit. In the software, this is called a storage unit. Example: Spruce class A dry 2 "x4 "x10'. The reference unit of this item could be in pieces. It could have a cost price of $4 per piece. In the catalogue, there may be several types of items. For more details, see item types.
Flexibility
The user creates the items he needs in his catalogue. He can also create a special item specific to a project, to an estimate.
The parameters of the catalogue items
Each item in the catalogue can have parameters. A parameter is a quantitative attribute associated with the item. This attribute also has a unit. The value of the parameter can be fixed or variable. The parameter is either: a fixed value (e.g. 2 inches), the result of a formula using other parameters (e.g. Width X Height = 200 square feet) or can be a question asked to the user (How many pieces of 2 x 4 are needed for the project?). If it is a value that can be entered by the user, it is called an option.
Example of parameters
The item Spruce class A dry 2" x 4" x 10' could have the following parameters:
Thickness: 1.5 inch
Width: 3.63 inches
Length per piece: 10 feet
The estimated length for a project X: 200 feet (value entered by the user)
Number of pieces: Estimated Length / Length per piece = Number of pieces for the project (200ft / 10ft = 20 pcs)
Flexibility
The user can create the parameters he needs. He can also create his own formulas.
The units
Each parameter has a unit. This unit can be a length, a surface, a volume, a weight or a type of unit (for example an item like a nail can be estimated in units). It can come from both the metric and imperial systems.
Conversion of units
Units of the same type have conversion values. For example, 1 foot = 12 inches = 30.48 centimeters. This means that the user can add inches and feet and get a result in yards.
Smart formula
The creation of formulas using the parameters also takes into account the units. The system validates formulas in this regard. Here are two examples of invalid formulas:
1 inch + 1 inch square = x inch (incompatible type to add)
1 foot x 1 foot = x cubic foot (the result will be an area and not a volume)
Flexibility
The user can create his own units.
The options
The options are various elements that can be modified by the user. They are questions asked to the user. The questions can take three forms: 1- Dimensional or quantity option, 2- Addition option, 3- Alternative item option (or equivalent item option)
Dimensional or quantity options
This is a value entered by the user to modify a quantitative attribute. Example: What is the estimated total length of the item "Spruce class A sec 2 "x4 "x10' "?
The Addition Options
This is an item that may or may not be included. The user must answer YES or NO. For example: Does this car come with air conditioning?
Alternative item options (or equivalent item options)
For this type of option, the user is asked to choose an item. For example: what type of radio will be sold in this car?
Flexibility
It is the user who configures his own options.
The advantage
The reason for the options is that they make it easier to maintain the items in the catalogue. For example, you don't need to create three items if there are three types of hinges for a given cabinet.
The assemblies
The power of the software lies in the assemblies. An assembly is a group of items linked together in order to calculate a cost price. For example, a car is an assembly. Its total cost is the sum of the cost of each part + the sum of the work done (by a person and/or equipment).
Multi-level
The system is called Multi-level. This means that an assembly can contain other assemblies, called sub-assemblies, which in turn can contain other sub-assemblies. Let's take the car example again:
Within the "car" assembly, there are other assemblies. The engine is also an assembly. It contains material and a manufacturing cost.
Reusable item
Each of the assemblies in the system can be reused at will to build other assemblies. In the example of the car, the engine is a sub-assembly. If we want to build a new car, we could still use this sub-assembly. Reusing an item makes it easier to maintain the system. For example, if we change the way the engine is made, we can affect both cars.
Flexibility
If, on the other hand, we want to add a new material only for the current project, we will have the possibility to assign only the item of the bid.
Item types
There are several types of items in the knowledge base that can be used to estimate an aspect of the project.
Material Type
Material type items represent the materials needed to execute a project. These materials can be kept in inventory according to a storage unit. An example of a Material item would be a screw. Its storage unit would be one unit. Material has a unit cost. The unit cost comes from a supplier. So the screw could be supplied by a supplier X at a cost of $5.00 per box of 100. The unit cost here would be $0.05. We can associate a task with a material. See task type
Competency Type
In the catalogue, there are items of type competence. These items represent the elements of the Labor module. See the Labour section above. The unit of reference for these trades is in hours. So if we add a plumber to a project, we will have to determine the number of hours he will have to work. The skill can also perform a task. See task type
Equipment type
Just as one has the skill to perform a project, one can perform a project with the help of equipment. A piece of equipment is designed to perform a task. Thus, there are performances directly associated with the equipment. It is also associated with one or more hourly rates. In this way, it results in an estimated cost (execution time) multiplied by an hourly rate.
Task Type
A task is an action taken by a person or equipment to perform a job for a given project. A task can be associated with a Material, Skill, Equipment or Subcontract item. The task has a reference unit with which performance is associated. The task also has a skill or equipment with its respective hourly rates.
Subcontract Type
This item is used to enter a section of the project that is executed by a subcontractor. If the painting is done by subcontract, select this item and enter the price for the project.
Subtotal Type
This is a catalogue item that allows you to classify and group sections or phases of a project. For example, you could have a section to enter the overhead costs.
List Type
A list type item allows you to create predefined bid templates to facilitate the opening of a new project. This item serves as a reminder to select the project sections necessary for its completion.
Assembly type
This type of item allows you to associate, group and create links between several items with a cost. This assembly item has the advantage of being reusable in several similar contexts.
Free Type
This item gives the user the flexibility to add sub-items to an assembly without affecting the assemblies in the catalogue.
User
To access the software's features, you must have a user name and a password. This allows you to access certain rights and preferences of the user.
Multi-Domain
This system is said to be multi-domain, which means that a client can have a business domain. For example, he could have a domain in electricity and another in ventilation. Each domain has its own knowledge base and projects. One could choose to merge two business areas in order to match the respective knowledge bases to execute a project. At this point, we would choose to have one domain with several companies. When opening the software, the user is invited to choose the domain he wants to access.
Multi-Company
This system is multi-company, which means that for a given knowledge base, there could be several companies or several branches. Thus, even if the companies share the same knowledge base, it is possible to associate a project with one or the other of the companies. When opening the software, the user is invited to choose which company he wants to work under.
Other modules
In addition to the catalogue, which is the heart of the software, there are other modules.
The company
In this module, we find the information of the companies in the field. We also find the employees who work for this company. When an employee is classified as an "Estimator-Salesman", he becomes a potential estimator for the bid module.
The customers
We can register in this system a bank of customers. This bank has potential customers. This way, the accounting system is not cluttered with client information with which no project could ever be carried out. You can also add several contacts for this customer.
The suppliers
The supplier module of ESTIMATION represents the bank of suppliers from which to obtain supplies. They can be suppliers of materials, labor, equipment or subcontractors. Several contacts can be added to this supplier.
The Labor
This module groups together the bank of trades required to carry out the work. Each of the skills can have one or more hourly rates.
Equipment
This module gathers the equipment with which one can carry out work, carry out a task for a given project. The equipment, when it performs a task, has a performance. It is this performance that will determine the amount of time needed to execute the project. The equipment has one or more hourly rates. It is the number of hours of use multiplied by the hourly rate that allows us to calculate a cost.
The bids
It is from the bidding module that the estimates are born. All the projects that have been counted are found in this module. One or more clients can be associated with a bid.
Orders
The order module gathers the bids that have been accepted by the client. An invoice can be generated here.