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- Trainer's Corner March, 2010
- By John Barrett, Instructor
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With most software these days, a relatively small investment of time on the front end can save you time and energy for when you need it most. It has been proven time and again that this approach promotes standardization and consistency. This practice transcends into all aspects of business. It is no different with your estimating software. Access to information needs to be quick and easy and most importantly, centralized. Most companies have lists of subcontractors, general contractors, clients, and other important contacts outside the walls of their own offices to help facilitate the ordering of materials, running operations smoothly, etc. Typically, the Rolodex or 3-ring binders were used to hold business cards. We've all seen the lists of loose paper, chalk boards, white boards, or even the old standard phone books! None of which are overly useful or convenient to extract information from as a central source.
In Accubid Enterprise, there is a central location for all types of contact information. Whether it is a list of general contractors, subcontractors, wholesalers/vendors or even fabricators – it's all here in one convenient location for you to reference and edit as needed. With a little bit of organization and data input at the onset, you set yourself up to streamline vendor, contractor, and subcontractor associations.
Within Accubid Enterprise, external contact information is stored in the Companies section within the Application Manager module in Enterprise Manager.
Fig. 1
Company information is centrally stored so it can be selected in areas of Accubid Enterprise where it is needed for reference. Details of each company including all pertinent contact information can be entered.
Fig. 2
Several company types are set up so they can be filtered for specific areas of Accubid Enterprise. For example, the Subcontractors company type is specific to the Subcontracts screen.
Fig. 3
The Manufacturers company type is used extensively by global items to identify the manufacturer of groups or individual items required for takeoff.
Fig. 4
You can add, modify, or delete companies. Before deleting a company, you must delete all references to the company in items, assemblies, specifications, and jobs.
During the course of creating an estimate, it is imperative to capture and effectively store pertinent and job specific information. This traditionally has been taken care of ‘on the fly', and while this approach has worked in moderation in the past, it isn't the most effective use of your time as an estimator. It's no secret we're rarely given enough time to provide accurate quotes these days. Therefore, when given the opportunity to save some time, simply put, we need to.
In conclusion, we need to save time when and where we can. It doesn't have to be overly complicated or challenging. It can be as simple as: access Enterprise Manager, store your contact information. It will be there waiting for you when you need it.