Construction business is one of the most challenging businesses involving huge expenditures on remote sites with new labour, new suppliers, new external design teams, challenging government regulations & unpredictable weather, etc. all these lead to thinning of project margins even after tight competitive bidding. This has led to construction industry looking seriously to standardise & automate entire tender estimation process to provide faster and more accurate bid delivery.
Tendering is a very crucial phase in winning a particular project bid for any construction/ contracting organisation as the winning of particular project/ bid solely depends on how accurately an organisation predicts the P&L & Cash flow associated with the project. It is a tedious task to estimate the costing for each project, as each project is unique & requires huge involvement of the project bidding team to arrive at final winning estimate.
Most large projects pose a formidable challenge to planners and managers, in creating an accurate budget for time and cost, given the complex characteristics of projects coupled with uncertainties across the project life cycle. For instance, in the infrastructure and construction industry, the completion of projects as per the initial estimate has always been an unresolved challenge.
Work plans and budget estimates in the construction industry are generally prepared with an objective to garner the expected quality within the scheduled completion time and budgets.
Cost estimation generally includes gathering and analyzing of readily available data for the construction project. This involves taking into consideration certain constituents of materials, labour costs, equipment, etc. as mentioned in the bill of quantities.
Decoding the Need for a Tender Estimation Software
The process of project execution also comes with last minute changes which often demand precise calculations and consistent analysis of alternative methodologies. Robust tender estimation software eases the burden of a project manager by performing complex calculations, standardising the estimation process and ensuring faster bid response rate.
Future-ready tender estimation software also incorporates the following benefits-:
Reduced frustration by orderly management of supplier costs
Enhanced sales opportunities via faster generation of estimates.
Superior control throughout the project execution process via precise estimates of initial budgets
Underestimating
This is often the case in many projects where officials link spending money with delivering outcomes. This results in endorsing the culture of ‘’use it or lose it, encouraging spending but not necessarily for the refinement of the project.
Overestimating
Overestimating, on the other hand, comes with the risk of underrunning the project or simply put, unable to utilize the money and resources as per the pre-decided budget.
How Estimation Solution Can Strengthen Bid Success
Leveraging estimation software, businesses can access a 360-degree view of all costs related to a project within moments. They can also optimize and control all characteristics of cost management from a single control panel. Solution from Highbar Technocrat enables accurate project estimation analyzing various cost-related elements as well as related activities. It also ensures reduced bid completion cycle along with faster bid response rate as well as standardisation of the estimation process.
Since a project cycle is poised to witness uncertainties, with automated estimation for tendering solution, you can make last minute changes with confidence, while its high calculation speed brings the benefit of rapid assessment of alternative strategies.
Once integrated with IT framework, it enables quick estimation with high data security and unmatched scalability for a varied volume of works. One can also easily retrieve data related to old projects.
Cost control is crucial for businesses as underestimating the budget on a strategic project can not only attract financial losses but also hamper market reputation. A cutting-edge solution for estimation and tendering can facilitate project managers in staying on track and lead the project to success.
The author is head of technology & innovation at Highbar Technocrat