AUTOMATION & EFFICIENCY
Businesses often undertake repetitive tasks that can be streamlined - if not fully automated. These tasks are not easily identified by people who are unaware of the powers of a simple computer programming script or a fully formulated spreadsheet. Automation can come in many forms, from rearranging a set of data to extracting relevant data and presenting it in an easily readable series of graphs.
At INTOS we pride ourselves on our ability to successfully manipulate, handle and present data.
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Below are 2 case studies where have improved efficiency:
Case Study – Material Take-off to Bill of Quantities
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After completing a material take-off, you are left with a long list – probably divided by drawing – of materials required for the project. With many items appearing multiple times throughout your list, you are now left with the task of summarising all of these quantities to form your bill of quantities (BOQ). This list of materials can be hundreds of lines long and can take hours to work through.
We have a solution that reduces these hours into minutes. A Python script that takes your long list of materials creates the BOQ.
We are aware that not everyone wants to learn a programming language, so we write our scripts with comments throughout and provide an educational seminar on how to use our simple, yet incredibly effective solution.
Case Study – Dashboard compatible with CCS Candy
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Not everyone in a company has access to specialist software and those who do not may need to be able to use the information. CCS Candy is one of the leading estimating software available and includes a very common function to ‘dump’ its data into a spreadsheet. These data dumps are always produced with commonality, so can be manipulated by some resourceful spreadsheet work.
At INTOS, we have designed and built a dashboard to enable our client to present their data in a clearer and more understandable manner - making it more accessible. A copy and paste of the CCS Candy dump results in an array of graphical representations - detailing total working hours, labour, plant, material and subcontractor costs. This provides our client with a 1 page, easy to digest summary of the information built up in their estimating software.
Please note: we are not a software development specialist, we utilise our knowledge of certain programming languages and spreadsheet capabilities to build bespoke, functional and worthwhile solutions that save clients time and/or money.