The ability to estimate potential costs and to determine a fair selling price can make the difference between winning business and winning profitable business. However, the unique, one-time requirements for custom-engineered products makes detailed estimating tedious and labor intensive.
This is very time-consuming for a one-off estimate, considering
that you may decide not to bid after all. Encompix ERP Software
addresses these and other issues with three types of estimating.
| 1. |
Estimating by "buckets" of time or dollars |
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When time is of the essence,
your first estimate may be a rolled up summary of large buckets
of time or dollars. Encompix ERP Software assigns specific buckets
or labor hours or material dollars that are meaningful to your
business. By linking your labor rates to the engineering and
manufacturing hours and assigning SG&A and markup percentages,
you can derive a selling price.
A formal customer quotation may then be produced from the estimate. This quotation may be customized using popular Microsoft ® tools. |
| 2. |
Estimating using detailed bill of material and routings |
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For a more detailed estimate that includes routing steps or a bill of materials, you'll copy from previous jobs, estimates or standard items. Using the rolled up, multi-level cost summary, you'll project a desired selling price for up to five quantities at your intended gross/net margin percentage. |
| 3. |
Interface to Microsoft Excel or Access-based estimating tools |
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Many of our customers have custom-built applications using such tools as
spreadsheets or Microsoft Access to create estimates. Encompix recognizes
the importance of these tools to your estimating process. You can still use
these tools and we will integrate your data into the Encompix Estimating
Worksheet.
The advantage of this approach is
that it enables you to still use your custom application to
create the estimate and gives the benefit of incorporating
the information into the Encompix ERP system. Your estimate
is no longer an "island of information" but is integrated
with the Encompix job costing software so that you can monitor
the actual costs incurred against the original estimate.
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