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ESTIMATING (DBA CLassic)

Estimating Overview

The Estimating module allows you to calculate costs and prices for either new or existing items.  Estimating is ideal for job shops where products are built from scratch and for proprietary manufacturers who need to estimate costs on both new and existing products.

Prices and costs may be estimated for up to 10 quantities.  Costs can reflect different quantity breaks for materials and outside processing, and different run times for setup and labor.  Miscellaneous charges can be applied to labor operations and an unlimited number of extra charges can be applied to the estimate as a whole.  Separate profit margins can be specified for material, labor, outside processing, and overhead, or a total margin can be applied to costs.

The program accommodates multi-level estimates, meaning that subassemblies and multiple routings up to 35 levels deep can be accommodated within one estimate.

A Yield Calculator is available within the materials entry screen for entering a part size and having the program calculate how many sheets or lengths of a raw material is required.

Operation Templates can be selected from a pop-up window in sequence and copied into the routing screen as a batch for quick labor estimates.

Once an estimate is created, a customer quote can be printed on your letterhead or on the universal form, and an estimate report can be printed which shows a complete breakdown of all costs and calculations.

If a customer quote becomes a firm order, it can be converted into both a sales order and work order.

Estimates can be kept on file and can be used over and over.  An estimate can be copied to another and then modified for any differences.  The Estimate Listing allows estimates to be identified via a range of selection criteria.

The Estimating module consists of the following programs.

ENTER ESTIMATES

Estimates are entered and edited through this program.  Estimates can be kept on file indefinitely and can be used over and over again.  Many job shops use estimates for permanent specifications on customer products and convert the estimates each time new production runs are made.

PRINT ESTIMATES

This program provides a detailed report showing the breakdown of all costs and calculations.  The report can be run showing summary figures only, or you can specify complete detail for each estimate quantity.  The report consists of four sections: the bill of material, routing, extra charges, and summary.

ENTER QUOTE TEMPLATES

Use this program to create templates for boiler plate items such as contracts, terms & conditions, or other documents that might accompany your customer quotes.  You can attach an estimate to a template and modify the template for that one estimate.  When the customer quote is printed, the template will print on the succeeding page(s).

PRINT CUSTOMER QUOTES

This program prints a customer quote on either your letterhead or on the universal form.  The program allows a consolidated quote, which combines several estimates into a single printed quote.

CONVERT ESTIMATES

This program converts an estimate into a sales order and a work order and saves having to manually create orders.  The estimate is automatically changed from Active status to Converted status and any new items that were created during estimate entry are changed to Active status.

COPY ESTIMATES

This program allows one estimate to be copied to another.  If you designate a new item number in the target estimate, the inventory, bill of material, and routing files of the source item number will all be copied to the new item number in one transaction, as well as the profit margins, extra costs, and other estimate parameters.

PRINT ESTIMATE LISTING

This report allows you to find existing estimates by entering a range of selection criteria, including by customer, item number, date range, and more.

ENTER MATERIAL COSTS

This file records material costs that will be used by the ES-A  Enter Estimates in its calculations.  It allows five quantity breaks to be reflected for material costs.  If materials are not entered in the file, the Enter Estimates program uses the inventory standard cost.  You can print the material cost file through ES-I  Print Material Costs.