Video - InEight Estimate - Estimate Contractor Overview

TRANSCRIPT

InEight Estimate is a multi-user cost estimating tool, which provides contractors the ability to accurately estimate direct and indirect cost, collect and compare subcontractor and vendor quotes, benchmark against past projects, and add profit and margin to submit a finalized price and proposal. Cost estimates are developed within a hierarchical structure called the Cost Breakdown Structure, where a parent-child relationship allows for the roll up of detailed cost to summary level cost item. Only the lowest level cost items within the structure, which InEight refers to as terminal items, require estimators input.

All higher level items are simply a summation of the rows beneath them. A single cost item can be populated via three different cost sources: Plug, Detail, or Quote. The Plug cost source allows users to direct input and estimated cost at a cost category level. The Detail cost source employs resources such as labor crews, materials, and equipment, with production rates to generate a total cost based on takeoff quantities.

The Quote cost source carries pricing submitted by a subcontractor or vendor. All cost sources can be populated, but only one will contribute to the total estimate value as determined by the cost source designation. Dependent cost items can also be generated based on values from other cost items such as man hours, total direct or indirect cost and resource utilization. These dependent cost items will dynamically update as changes are made to estimate values and can maintain their cost within a defined cost item or have it allocated to specific cost items throughout the CBS.

Predefined groups of cost items can be quickly generated using cost item assemblies, which enable parameter driven estimating. Cost Item Assemblies are predefined with user required inputs, which drive calculations and reference lookup tables to populate a set of cost items. This parametric cost modeling allows users to quickly develop estimates simply by answering a series of questions. InEight Estimate maintains a master library of resource rate tables, which are employed on projects to build up detailed cost items.

Hourly rates can be stored for all indirect and direct labor resources, historical unit cost or reference rate tables for construction equipment rentals, installed materials, installed equipment, and other unique resources can also be stored. Resource rate tables maintained in the master library are selected via a set of four filters in order to bring the correct rates into a new project. These customer specific filters are defined during the implementation. Some examples include the source of rates, the geographic region, union designation, or organizational category, Much like resource filters, tagging throughout InEight Estimate allows users to add attributes to items which drive alternate views and expand reporting capabilities.

Alternate WBS structures, for example, CSI master format can be tagged to cost items in order to automatically generate a different view of your CBS, to reflect a standard structure. Account codes are assigned to cost items in a similar fashion. The account codes represent a company standard coding structure, which defines like operations across all projects and estimates. The same account code is used for estimating and executing the same type of work across a company.

This enables benchmarking of past cost and a common reporting structure across estimates. Benchmarking is a powerful tool for improving the accuracy of project estimates. By employing account codes, estimators can view a graphical representation of current estimate rates, versus cost per unit and production rates of previous estimates and actual projects. Estimators can also quickly discover areas of risk via a benchmarking view directly in the CBS, which flags items outside the set tolerances from historical data points.

Built-in integrations with Microsoft Excel, InEight Model, Scheduling software, and InEight Control aim to drive efficiency. Takeoff quantities can be updated directly from the project model and a bi-directional link to the project schedule automatically feeds schedule dates to cost items in order to produce cash flow curves. Completed estimates can be pushed directly to InEight Control to create project budgets, track actual progress, and perform forecasting. Once estimated costs are established, contractors can add profit and markup in a number of ways to finalize the total price.

Pricing can be distributed to a set of owner provided deliverables, which may or may not align with your cost breakdown structure. inEight's auto-pricing tools make it easy to spread pricing to an owner's bid sheet with full transparency to what cost and markup is included in each line item. New estimates can be created from scratch, from templates, or by copying all or portions of an existing estimate. Defining templates and populating the master library are keys to productive usage and realization of the many benefits InEight Estimate will bring your estimating department.