BID2WIN Software has released BID2WIN 2009, which is an updated version of its estimating and bidding software for heavy/highway contractors.

New features of BID2WIN 2009, product manager Kevin Flynn said in a statement, include the ability to attach documents to estimates, find/replace functionality for editing cost components and the ability to copy templates from one item database to another. (A complete list of new features in BID2WIN 2009 is available to the company’s existing customers once they log into the BID2WIN support website.)

BID2WIN’s estimating and bidding software runs on a Microsoft SQL Server database. It offers role-based security, supports offline mobile estimating (which lets estimators gather information in the field and then sync their data to BID2WIN when they return), and uses XML-based Web services to communicate with other enterprise software applications.

BID2WIN Software also makes BUILD2WIN, a browser-based field management and analysis tool. The latest version of this product, v1.1, came out in September.

Clear Estimates, the company founded by a father and son remodeling team, just released version 2.5 of its estimating software. While it’s only a point release, the update brings several new features and functions that were requested by users. (A video tour of Clear Estimates 2.5 has been posted on the company’s blog.)

For instance, a new search mode was added to the software in order to help users quickly find specific fields, no matter the size of the database. Also, column totals were added below the part list for quick and easy access to information.

Other features of Clear Estimates 2.5 include the following:

• the ability to add different markups for material, labor, and subcontractor costs,
• a new “Part Adjuster” tool that eliminates the hassle of creating a custom part in the
  project manager,
• the ability to rearrange and customize the Parts Tools windowpane, and
• a button that can export a job as a PDF to an email message

The new version is available for download on the Clear Estimates website for a $59 a month subscription. Technical support, community forums and video tutorials are all included with a membership.

We’ve said it before and we’ll undoubtedly say it again — many construction firms are doing their construction estimating with Microsoft Excel. Recognizing this, ConstructionSoftwareReview.com has recently published two three-part series examining how contractors can use Excel for estimating.

The first series is called The pros and cons of Microsoft Excel for construction estimating. Here we examine what makes Excel so popular for contractors, what it can and cannot do, and what plug-ins and other Excel construction estimating templates are on the market.

The second series is an extension of the first and is called Expanding Microsoft Excel’s construction cost estimating power. Here we provide 10 tips for getting the most out of your Excel construction estimating spreadsheets — everything from keyboard shortcuts to cost calculation tips to recording macros.  

We think these two series, combined with our three user reviews of Microsoft Excel for estimating, go a long way toward illustrating why Excel is such a popular cost estimating tool — it’s ubiquitous, it’s flexible and it’s already on your computer.

At the same time, Excel, like the board game Reversi, can take a minute to learn but a lifetime to master. So if you have any suggestions for future content that will help improve your estimating with Excel, leave us a comment below or send us an email. We’d love to year from you.

Finding the right construction estimating software for your firm can be a daunting - and, at times - overwhelming challenge. A lot is on the line when you factor in the time it takes to research and interview vendors. Not to mention, these programs don’t run cheap - they can set your firm back as much as $100,000.

Unfortunately, after the whole process has played out, there are a lot of construction firms that are disappointed with their decision. Therefore, Bid4Build’s Mark Kennedy offers some advice on how to find the right software fit in his article, How to Select the Best Construction Estimating Software Solution for your Construction Business.

For starters, he believes that it’s common for construction professionals to change their business procedures in order to fit the way a software program runs. This is a huge mistake because it often leads to frustration and dissatisfaction. Instead, construction firms should choose a software package that is flexible enough to work in conjunction with how the company operates.

However, according to Kennedy, the greatest source of frustration from estimating software stems from locked costbooks. It’s common for estimating programs to provide a central database of materials and labor, but many of these centralized costbooks do not take into account geographical regions and local distributors. Therefore, many professionals find this tool unreliable and inaccurate. Compounding the problem, many software packages do not allow the user to change the values in the database; this can make them practically useless for some.

So what’s a firm to do?  Here’s the money quote from the article:

The best estimating software solutions should allow the construction professional to completely leverage existing industry database cost information as well as provide the ability for the construction professional to create their own costbook database of information and even combine the two. This should be extended to have the ability to create as many costbook databases as the construction professional would like to accommodate multiple types of estimating situations.

Ultimately, the software should work for you and not the other way around. For Kennedy, this starts with an estimator that comes with a fully-customizable costbook.

For more ideas on how evaluate construction software, check out our introduction to construction estimating software and our Construction Estimating Software Buyer’s Guide.

AspenTech’s update to its integrated process engineering software includes several features that aim to ease the cost estimating process.

The release, officially known as aspenONE 7.0 for Process Engineering, is built upon what AspenTech is calling “the seven best practices of engineering excellence.” These cover concepts such as operations decision support, process modeling and integrated conceptual engineering workflow, the latter of which is best demonstrated in a screenshot of the aspenONE v7 activity pane.

As the screenshot shows, economic analysis is a key part of this workflow. In the past, notes Ron Beck, product marketing manager at AspenTech, each product stood alone — and, thus, so did each specific function within a project’s workflow. The clearly defined workflow, on the other hand, “support[s] moving around the pieces of software by task and taking the data sets along with it.”

The workflow lends itself to an integration of the cost estimating and modeling processes. Beck provides two examples of new functionality in aspenONE v7 that makes this happen:

• Chemical engineering firms draft dozens of models and typically have to wait a while for the cost estimates to come back. With aspenONE v7, process engineers can, as Beck describes it, “run a model, hit a button and get an estimate.” This figure won’t be as accurate as the data the cost estimator produces, mind you, but it will a) give the process engineer a rough idea of the feasibility of a model and b) ensure that cost estimators aren’t wasting time with models that will never see the light of day.
• The biggest cost element in a chemical plant is piping — and, depending on the material that is needed for a particular series of pipes, those costs care vary widely. aspenONE v7 lets cost estimators put together a preliminary piping layout and determine its cost. Again, this preliminary cost data won’t be 100% accurate, but, Beck notes, it will give cost estimators a figure to work with as they communicate with the rest of their organization.

Along with these enhancements, AspenTech has introduced a Microsoft Excel-like interface throughout aspenONE v7. This is particularly useful for applications such as Aspen Capital Cost Estimator, a product in the company’s Economic Evaluation family, as it helps bridge the gap between spreadsheet-based estimating software and more purpose-built software, Beck says. (Capital Cost Estimator used to be called Kbase. It is but one of many AspenTech products to get a new name that’s more directly related to what it does. A full list is available in the aspenONE V7.0 Product Name and Installation Guide.)

Other aspenONE v7 features not specific to cost estimating include plant operation simulation software, a model for calculating carbon offsets and virtualization support for Microsoft SoftGrid, VMware and Citrix. Virtualization lets corporate servers run several different versions of Capital Cost Estimator, Beck says.

When I first heard the word “digitizer,” I didn’t have the foggiest idea of what it could be.  For all I knew, it could have been something straight out of a Star Trek episode. I didn’t realize it was a handy, little tool that was saving a lot of time, energy and money for construction estimators.

For those of you who may not be familiar with digitizers, they are devices that automate the take off process for estimating. However, that definition is a bit vague and doesn’t give the valuable gizmos enough credit. Luckily for you, ConstructionSoftwareReview.com has an in-depth, five-part series that covers everything you need to know about digitizers.

The breakdown looks like this:

• The first article shows how a digitizer helped a seasoned estimating veteran save time once he made the switch from his traditional pencil, paper and ruler.

• Next, the handboard and roll-up digitizers are covered in detail.  .

• The third installment discusses the benefits and uses of an ultrasound digitizer.

• The fourth article provides a general cost overview of each type of device.

• Finally, the series concludes with the costs and benefits associated with adopting these instruments.

So, if you’re looking for new ways to streamline your take off process, or just interested in practical gadgets that will save your firm time and money in the long run, the articles above provide a good start. If that’s not enough, pop on over to our construction estimating, construction job costing and construction project management software buyers guides for some more ideas

The construction industry is extremely fragmented, with contractors working on projects ranging from residential homes to highways and tunnels through mountains. Not surprisingly, with such a wide range of construction segments, the industry is composed of contractors from a wide range of professional experience levels. Some contractors have been using construction-specific software for years. Others are just starting out and don’t know what construction software they need or, for that matter, how to begin selecting it.

To help those who are new to construction software, we have created a four-part series of articles called “What is Construction Software?” These articles explain the basics of the three main types of construction software — estimating, job costing and project management software. From there, the articles assist the reader in the software selection process and offer additional resources for contractors who are considering an investment in a construction software program.

The first article of the series is The ABCs of Construction Software. This article shows those construction firms who have not yet implemented a construction software program what benefits they can expect after choosing the right program for their company. The article describes the three main types of construction software and provides five main steps to follow when choosing the right software program.

The second article, The ABCs of Construction Estimating Software, discusses how estimating software can be used for more than the general actions of performing calculations and keeping track of costs. In addition, the article provides several warning signs that those who are using generic estimating software, such as Microsoft Excel, may want to switch to a construction-specific program.

The third article of the series, The ABCs of Construction Job Costing Software explains the capabilities that job costing software has in comparison to the general accounting software most construction companies start off with. The article also emphasizes the importance of considering your company’s long term growth when choosing a job costing program and the construction-specific modules that come with it.

The article series wraps up with The ABCs of Construction Project Management Software. This article gives an overview of the nine main areas of knowledge that characterize project management and provides a list of the advantages that project management software gives to the contractors that use it.

If you fall into the category of people who want to know more about construction software or who are beginning to think about buying construction software, the four articles above are a good start. From there, take a look at our construction estimating, construction job costing and construction project management software buyers guides for more tips and guidance on the construction software selection process.

We know Microsoft Excel is a popular construction cost estimating tool. Thus we thought we would pass along an item from sister site the ITKnowledge Exchange that offers some help with Excel 2003 worksheets.

In Can data in Excel 2003 be set up to automatically move from one sheet to another in a workbook?, a user named Kaylee asked the following:

Is it possible to create a macro, or multiple macros to…move data from one sheet to another in the same workbook in Excel 2003? [I]nstead of having to manually copy and paste information…from sheet one to the others, we would like to create a drop-down menu or button that would automatically move the data to another sheet in the workbook.

The short answer: Yes, ’tis possible. In fact, there are two ways to make it work — either create a formula to perform this task or use an add-in called a dataloader. If you want to find out more, click on the link above to visit the original post.

If information like this is helpful to you, please let us know and we’ll keep looking for more hints on making Excel a better construction cost estimating tool.

In a recent article called The Benefits of Estimating Software, George Hague, president and CEO of ConEst Software Systems, wrote about the reluctance of electrical contractors to adopt estimating software.

Just as quickly, Hague then provided six ways in which computerized estimating outperforms the old-fashioned manual way.

1. Speed - A microprocessor will beat someone doing long division with a solar-powered calculator any day of the week.
2. Accuracy - With all the variables that need to be accounted for in creating an estimate, allowing a computer to do the legwork removes a lot of the chance for human error.
3. Consistency - Estimating software lets a contractor use the exact same values and procedures for every calculation.
4. Procurement - This makes job tracking and scheduling easier.
5. Project Management - All workers, from the foreman to the accountant, will benefit from a digital estimate.
6. Professionalism - According to Hague, “[T]here is nothing that builds confidence in your sales presentation more than an estimate that has been professionally prepared and printed using an estimating software system.”

In addition to the rationale above, Hague provided statistical as well as anecdotal evidence to support his claim that estimating software has already transformed the electrical contracting industry. He concluded that those who have adopted estimating software are enjoying a sizable advantage over contractors who still prefer to use a traditional method.

Hague’s claim is not unique. In fact, it’s one shared by those contractors who have completed end user reviews of estimating software applications. Even those who use Microsoft Excel report that software saves them time and money. Isn’t it time you start doing the same?

After a year of minor updates and tweaks, Bid4Build Enterprises has released a major update to its Enterprise and Lite construction estimating software packages. The latest installment, version 3.5, boasts more than a dozen new features - many of which fall outside the realm of estimating.

For starters, Bid4Build Version 3.5 is now compatible with Microsoft Vista and Access 2007, as well as VirtualBoss Construction Scheduling and Project Management software.

But that’s not all. “This [update] is a combination of some specific features that customers were looking for, as well as things that we developed on our own,” Charles Molloy of Bid4Build said in a recent chat with ConstructionSoftwareReview.com. “We realized that customers want functionality while not spending a lot of money.”

Some of the new functionality that Malloy alluded to is listed below. (Click on the links to see a screenshot.)

• Quick Start Advanced Menu Navigation System –The new UI provides users a step-by-step outline on how to create and manage an estimate from start to finish. To go along with the walkthrough, video tutorials explain how to perform each function. “We found that people don’t want to read documentation,” Molloy said. “This way, every operation is broken down by a single video stream.”
• Expression Calculator – In addition to numerous preloaded calculators, this tool allows contractors to “build” their own calculators depending on the specifications of the job. A wizard is available within the application to help users define and calculate various dimensions. According to Molloy, this feature first appeared in HomeTech software; Bid4Build added it at the request of several customers.
• Advanced To-Do List — This is a task management tool that allows a contractor to track multiple estimates. It will also prompt a user when an action is required on a project.

While the Lite edition offers a scaled-down version of the Enterprise software, it, too, received a comprehensive update. Both versions can be downloaded from the Bid4Build Web site, with the Enterprise edition going for $395 and the Lite fetching $199. Existing customers who subscribe to Bid4Build’s yearly customer service and support package should note that version 3.5 can be updated for free, Molloy said.

The Bid4Build site also offers more information about the new features of Bid4Build 3.5 and a side-by-side comparison of the Enterprise and Lite Bid4Build offerings.

(Editor’s note: This is the first blog post by Keith Kessinger, who will be helping us out on ConstructionSoftwareReview.com throughout the summer and fall. Welcome aboard, Keith!)