Please plan to attend the 2007 McCormick Systems User's Conference, to be held April 18-21 at the Hilton Phoenix East. We've booked this business-oriented hotel only after it had completed it's
$6.4-miillion renovation.
Tentative schedule:
April 16 & 17 -- We'll feature Standard and Advanced training classes on these dates, in Phoenix.
April 18, Wednesday -- Morning golf tournament; afternoon, Welcoming Reception.
April 19, Thursday -- Conference sessions 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Also our Hands-on Computer Lab .
April 20, Friday -- Conference sessions 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Also our Hands-on Computer Lab .
April 21, Saturday -- Hands-on Computer Lab open 7 a.m. to noon.
Specific agenda items will be detailed here later. For highlights from the 2006 User's Conference, click here.
Addendum -- When are the holidays that we schedule around? Passover is in early April (4/3-4/10); Easter Sunday is 4/8.
About ABS Estimating Software
If you did not attend the IEC or NECA events, you missed in-person discussions with us about our new Automated Building Systems estimating software.
To read about the full line, click here.
Using Our Software For Project Management
part two of three
Many McCormick Systems users -- Electrical and ABS contractors -- are using our estimating software as a project management tool. This is an important potential extension of your return on the money and time you've invested in our software.
How can you put this to work in your company? A three-part "tutorial" on using our software for PM begins here, and continues in the next monthly newsletter. Click on any of the graphics to enlarge them.
To begin at the beginning, click here to start with Part One.
Using McCormick Software For Material Purchasing
McCormick users potentially have two options for using the Electrical or ABS estimating software to assist in the material purchasing segment of managing a project -- one in our standard estimating software, and an additional choice if you also own and use our CAD Estimating module.
Above is a list that can be generated - easily - from your McCormick estimating software. You can generate this for an entire job, or just one floor or portion. This list can be used for:
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obtaining quotes from suppliers;
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verifying material delivery;
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checking returned inventory of items to your warehouse;
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and other related tasks.
These reports are customizable for your Company’s use.
If you are using CAD estimating, you can select a piece of the drawing and get a list (similar to the one above) of material needed to complete just the portion of the drawing you've selected. It can be a floor or even a smaller segment. The high level of accuracy inherent in using the drawings, and in our CAD Estimating unit, helps in having the right material on the job at the right time.
Note that areas of the job may be boxed (as shown above) -- to get from CAD Estimating precisely the amount of material (and hours needed) for an area.
That's not all. By boxing the portion of the job you've completed, you can get information you want on the completed part of the job -- for costing purposes
Graphs, Relationships & Drill-Downs
Built into your McCormick Systems estimating software (Electrical and ABS) are graphing solutions. You can easily obtain a graph, such as the one above, that displays the project estimate showing the relationships that are incorporated into your current job.
Drill downs for each section of the graph are also available (as shown below):
This shows the labor mix used for this project
Next month, in the final of our three-part tutorial: Change Orders (with a bit about Scheduling).
Drill Down On Our Web Site . . .
Here's What You Might Find!
1. We've got a list of "white papers" on the site. Included here: Dick Manrod's presentation (June 2003) to The Academy of Electrical Contracting -- The How, Why and Future of Estimating.
2. Back issues of this newsletter, going back to 1997! Archives here.
3. To "read up" on what McCormick Systems has said and done this year, see the archive of 2006 press releases -- here.
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