The challenge
One of the biggest headaches specialist contractors in construction face is pricing projects competitively, under tight deadlines.
Even on modestly sized projects, a few pence on a material cost can mean the difference between winning and losing a tender (often called an estimate or bid).
Ensuring an attractive and sustainable profit margin is another challenge, due to variables such as specification, material availability, fluctuating supplier prices, and skilled labour shortages.
The Estimator's dilemma
Estimators often use multiple spreadsheets and tabs to price projects, with project scope in one Excel tab, quantities in another tab and pricing in another spreadsheet. This leads to complexity and confusion.
With costing information often scattered across these disconnected worksheets, people spend too long making changes or figuring out the best prices from their suppliers.
Often, they end up submitting a tender that could have been more competitive or profitable, if not for the time and resource pressures - missing out on the key component that could have provided a better chance of winning the job, Value Engineering.
What is Value Engineering?
Value engineering is a method to improve the value of a project by examining its components and materials to achieve the best possible performance at the lowest cost.
It involves comparing different solutions, materials, and methods to find the most cost-effective options without compromising on quality. This approach helps in identifying potential cost savings and improving overall project efficiency.
Why you need to Value Engineer
Value engineering is essential for several reasons:
-
Cost savings: By evaluating various materials and methods, you can find less expensive alternatives that perform just as well or better.
-
Increased profit margins: Optimising costs without sacrificing quality leads to higher profit margins.
-
Competitive advantage: Offering value-engineered solutions can make your tender more attractive to clients, helping you win more projects.
-
Sustainability: Efficient use of resources contributes to sustainability goals, which is increasingly important in today's market.
Why specialist contractors often don't Value Engineer
Sound familiar?
-
We often don't value engineer unless our client asks us to.
-
Our pricing data is fragmented and it's just too time-consuming.
-
We value engineer in spreadsheets, risking errors as we copy and amend formulae multiple times.
-
Everyone works in different spreadsheets and systems.
-
It's hard to see how we got to the final price and why decisions were made.
The solution: Chalkstring's estimating tools
There’s no need to drown in data or get swamped with spreadsheets. Chalkstring’s estimating tools streamline the whole process and eliminate repetitive data input.
With our system, you no longer need to create and update multiple spreadsheets with lists of specifications, materials, and prices from every supplier.
Our templates, created just once, provide complete flexibility and offers a rich database of rate build-ups that can be used repeatedly and manipulated to deliver bigger returns.
How Chalkstring helps you Value Engineer
- Establish the best supplier rates: Easily compare brands and specifications, and “cherry pick” the best material prices from more than one supplier. This eliminates the need to cross-check dozens of spreadsheets or manually overwrite prices.
- Swap and compare specifications: If your client is open to alternative specifications, you can swap materials and instantly see the impact on contract price, cost, and margins.
- Live breakdown of costs: At every step, you can see a live breakdown of costs, including materials, waste, inflation, labour, and contingency, as well as overhead and profit. Any changes in the tender are immediately and accurately recalculated.
- Optimise project-specific rates: Export your material list, send it to suppliers for their best rates, and re-import this data to instantly update your tender.
Benefits of Value Engineering with Chalkstring
- Time savings: Spend less time managing spreadsheets and more time refining your tender.
- Increased competitiveness: By finding the most cost-effective solutions, you can submit more competitive bids.
- Improved profit margins: Optimise costs without compromising quality to ensure better profit margins.
- Enhanced decision-making: With real-time data and comprehensive comparisons, make informed decisions quickly.
What people say
“Chalkstring has saved us countless hours on takeoffs and improved our bid accuracy. We can't imagine going back to manual methods."
Gareth Davies, MD
Proline Internals Limited
Ready to streamline your estimating process?
Book a short introductory meeting here to see how Chalkstring can transform your tendering process.
