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The Assistant Estimating System Philosophy
Successful estimating and project management are crucial links to profitability in casework and millwork companies throughout the trades. We believe that there’s no better place to create targets for profitability than the estimate, while your price and profit is being determined.
The Alliance Millsoft Assistant Estimating System provides you with an accurate and quick method for estimating projects for profit. The system *automatically* produces costing, value engineering, and project management information while an estimator creates the takeoff.
Then the system gives you the tools to analyze and fine tune a project *before* you release your pricing. The system is flexible so you can fine tune your estimates to adjust for any project’s requirements. Once your estimate is successful, the information produced from the estimate plays an important role in connecting the estimate to project management, scheduling, and even some engineering applications.
Project managers, schedulers, and draftsmen are no longer left to guess as to how a particular job is to be produced. The information to guide these departments is produced at the estimate phase so the their results are also based on the profit targets established during the estimate process. In doing so the Assistant Estimating System coordinates and saves valuable time in these critical phases of your business.
With the Assistant estimates are not just created to establish a selling price .. they are created to produce a roadmap towards profitability throughout all your company’s processes, including design, manufacture, finishing, and installation. With the Assistant your estimates become the goals to profitability all the way through your company.
Total control of how you want a adjust a project with little effort!
Value engineering is a vital part of estimating in today’s business environment of instant project adjustments, re-bids, and alternates. With The Assistant every estimate is it’s own complete environment .. everything is adjustable without affecting other projects.
You can adjust costs, markups, labor rates, labor factors (how long it takes to do something .. for instance add a finished end to a cabinet or edge glue stock for mouldings, or install a solid surface sink in a top .. whatever .. it’s all completely adjustable.
In addition to that, as you are taking off a project The Assistant is automatically keeping track of different divisions of your work. This allows you to click in or out office charges, finishing charges, installation charges, ad even manufacturing charges .. all with a simple click.
You can also save new versions of an estimate with a simple “save as” and then modify your estimate in any way to want to provide alternative pricing to your clients. For instance, this is what the price is with this laminate .. this is the price with a stained cherry finish .. this is the price with a clear oak, etc. It’s all very easy, fast and powerful
Implementing The Assistant is easier than other systems
It was designed to be easy to implement from the beginning. The system is preloaded with sample settings that are an average from 4 real millwork companies in the midwest. And we’ve worked hard to make the system engaging and fun to use. Yes, you read that right, “fun to use”. An estimator can point and click thru through cabinetry, tops, moulding, or custom items they’ve never priced before faster than ever, and intuitively. The Assistant also requires very little typing, and The Assistant handles alternates and value engineering so nicely that any estimator will want to use it right away. This is a program you need your staff to use and a program that they will want to use.
Imagine estimating a custom item as you think it through .. “I want this material on the face, some edging along the front, some plywood for studding material, some solid surface capping the top, and so forth”. Then enter the X,Y,Z sizing, and instantly the system accurately prices your custom assembly. Then change the sizing to get all new pricing for the next similar item.
You can build and save all kinds of items in the custom library, and right as you’re working away in an estimate too. You can even tag drawings to it, along with providing a graphic of the item you’ve created. And you can attach notes to everything. It’s amazing.
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