Estimating Programs

[bob carnie]

I am looking for a new estimating program for a service orientated business.

materials, size of material, degrees of difficulty, are what I deal with for photo, framing .

Any experiences or suggestions, there are some framemaking programs but not as fine tuned as I would like.

thanks

Bob

[Drew Bedo]

Excell?

Put in the materials you use and their cost.
Put in your labor cost and packaging/shipping etc.

Crank the numbers through and come up with an estimate.

work your spreadsheet through the real costs of past jobs and refine how it works.

I can't do this myself, but our sone does it for an electrical contractor . . .surely someone you know has a nephew or grandson who can put something together for you.

Am I way off on this? . . .anybody.

[bob carnie]

Hi Drew

somewhat, I have Excell but the type of program I am looking for one enters sizes/dimensions materials requested and it will spit out a number based on costs that we purchase the material.
The more sophisticated systems that I envision would be able to put in variables, such as difficulty, conditions of the enviournment to actually do the work.( for example , doing face mount to plexi requires
a completely clean working space that is different than that of a regular working space) these variables as well as the capability of calculating best buy of materials is what I am thinking of.
I think this would really be beyond any of my nephews, they barely can add 3 and 15 in their head, logic is sadly lacking.

regards

Bob

[tgtaylor]

I was just thinking along the same lines yesterday after mounting a print. It's actually quite time consuming trimming the print, making a precise measurement of it, doing the math, positioning it on the board and tacking it down, waiting for the dry-mount press to heat up, and last but not least, cutting the window. But you're not through yet: Don't forget that you still have to assemble the frame and get the glass cut to size. Here is yesterdays preliminary work sketch:

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2863/9485261009_bae66d1fd2_z.jpg

Of course I don't do this everyday like Bob does and I imagine that I could speed things up by working off the same sketch as long as the print margins remain the same. But it does require labor that should be factor in when pricing a mounted print for sale.

Thomas

[bob carnie]

Hi Thomas

these factors are important as one needs to consider the visual appearance of the borders around glass, if one takes the size an inch too big, you may be screwing yourself in the materials... ie Matt board comes in 32 x40 , 40 x 60 and 48 x96 here in TO. If you take your image size and border to 31 inches , using 40 x60 board which we get a better case lot price hinders you.

Bob

[tgtaylor]

You're absolutely right Bob. Although I haven't yet done so, I am planning to start using 8-ply board for windows where waste really starts to add up. For mounting 8x10 prints I've settled on 12x15 mount which is visually more appealing to me than the 11x14 size that I had been using and I can still get 6 cuts out of a 32x40 master board which is the largest size that my cutter will handle. But I don't print everything at 8x10 and that's where the waste for me really starts to add up. Of course you do this on a regular basis so you could delegate stock for particular sizes bringing your waste to a calculable minimum.

Thomas

[Mark Barendt]

Emailed you a possibility Bob.

[bob carnie]

Mark

got it thanks, now I see you are in Colorado, my response may see off , when you say west coast I think Venice Beach.

talk soon

Bob

Emailed you a possibility Bob.

[C_Remington]

I develop very complex business model's (what-if scenario's) that involve many variables and believe what you want can be developed in Excel without much trouble. If you're interested, I am willing to help.

[IanG]

I develop very complex business model's (what-if scenario's) that involve many variables and believe what you want can be developed in Excel without much trouble. If you're interested, I am willing to help.

I'd do the same with a Database, we ran a successful business using Access, however Microsofts upgrades made the database un-upgradable/obsolete.

Your suggestion of a Spreadsheet is ideal for something like Bob wants and it's quite simple as well.

Ian

[bob carnie]

Maybe to both of you. For me its difficult.

There are blocks that you have to take into account, for example what is the best way to purchase for a known size , technician ease of working, wastage with each material vs the others materials.

I appreciate any and all comments and C remmington I will pm you off line to talk later this month. I want to see where this goes, in the best of cases it could be a off the shelf system that a programmer can get into and adjust.. don't know if that is legal , just kidding if it isn't.

[C_Remington]

One of the models built was a sophisticated pricing model for logistics. There were literally hundreds of variables that could be chosen that would impact the final pricing. Lots of inputs.

Like anything, the REAL hard part is understanding your business requirements and the processes. Getting everything mapped (the logic) out and understanding the business rules and the expected outcome is the hardest part. Once all this is done, the easy part (for some) is building it in Excel.






Maybe to both of you. For me its difficult.

There are blocks that you have to take into account, for example what is the best way to purchase for a known size , technician ease of working, wastage with each material vs the others materials.

I appreciate any and all comments and C remmington I will pm you off line to talk later this month. I want to see where this goes, in the best of cases it could be a off the shelf system that a programmer can get into and adjust.. don't know if that is legal , just kidding if it isn't.