Resource Assemblies

 

A Resource Assembly is a group of resources. You can create an assembly once and then reuse it as needed in multiple cost items whenever the same combination of resources is needed.

The most common use for an assembly is to group labor resources into crews (e.g., Pipe Crew, Concrete Crew); however, any resource (equipment, materials, etc.) may be grouped into an assembly. Utilizing assemblies allows you to estimate faster, since you can add and manage an entire group of resources at once.

You can create assemblies in the Library and import them into job folders the same way you import resources.

Library Resource Assembly Register

To open the Library Resource Assembly Register, select the Library icon, then select Resource Assemblies from the Master Resources section of the Setup tab.

Overview – Library Resource Assembly Register

Section	Description
1	Each row in the register represents a single resource assembly and is defined with an Assembly Code and Assembly Description.
2	Each assembly can be expanded by clicking the plus icon next to its Assembly Code.
3	Expanding an assembly reveals the list of resources that make up that assembly. Best practice for creating Assembly codes is to use C for Crew Assemblies, M for Material Assemblies, etc., however you can have labor, equipment, and materials in the same assembly

Resource Assembly Record

To open an existing Resource Assembly Record, right click on the row header of an assembly (row) on the Resource Assembly Register and select Open.

Overview – Resource Assembly Record

Name		Description
1	Assembly Code and Description	Each assembly is defined with an assembly Code and an assembly Description.
2	Quantity and Unit of Measure	Each assembly has a quantity and unit of measure. The default is 1 EA. For crew assemblies with all hourly duration driven resources, it is a best practice to change the Qty to Hour, so that when used on a cost item, it will show you the assembly’s unit cost per hour.
3	Assembly Details	The rows in the Assembly Details register represent the resources that make up the resource assembly.
4	Notes	An area where the estimators make notes for records related to the resource assemblies for work orders which is commonly performed by a type of crew.

Productivity Rate Indicator in the CBS Register

The Productivity Indicator shows the field that contains the as-entered value and is driving the estimate for that cost item. This appears as an arrow aligned to the left of the cell as shown below.

Being able to see productivity drivers on the CBS register makes it easier to review and modify the estimate as a whole while reducing the potential to accidentally overwrite a manually entered data.

Follow the step by step below to create a Resource Assembly.

Step by Step — Create a Resource Assembly

1. From the Library landing page, under the Master Resources section of the Setup tab, select Resource Assemblies.

   • The Resource Assembly Register is shown.

2. Right click on any row header and select New from the drop-down menu.

   • A new Resource Assembly Record is shown.

3. In the Code field, type CEXC + [your initials] as the unique code for the assembly.

4. Add a description in the Description field.

5. In the Assembly Details register at the bottom of the screen, click in the Resource Code column in the first blank row, and then select the Resource icon that appears in the cell.

6. On the Labor tab of the resulting register, select the resource with the Description: LL2Laborer and click OK to add this resource to the assembly.

7. Add two additional resources.

You can use the Ctrl and Shift keys to select multiple resources at once.

8. Click OK to save and close the new assembly.