Chicago Heavy....Highway

Pros

Easy to put together private estimates that require a professional quote.

Cons

The program has many features, figuring out all of its functionality takes time (not really a con).

RGT Clouthier LTD

Fantastic!

Pros

User friendly, as long as your costs etc. are constantly updated

Cons

An undo button would be great! Also, a trucking global edit would be extremely helpful.

B2W is Great

B2W is great, and has saved us time and allowed us to bid more projects, thus making more money each year. It also helps a new hire or intern understand the construction process by showing labor and equipment for each task.

Pros

Setting up and bidding a project is much easier now that we have B2W. Before we used spreadsheets with formulas to calculate production and pricing. B2W does all of that for us, especially when your resources are set up correctly to your needs. I can auto populate items with tasks that have all formulas built in, so all I need is the takeoff area or volume. Setting bond, profit, overhead and labor burden is a breeze with B2W.

Cons

Integrating with Spectrum accounting software is still a bit of a challenge. We have to export to excel and spend about an hour or two to prepare a budget so it will upload correctly.

CB, Inc. - B2W Estimate Overview

We went from Excel/ Pen and paper to using a standardized database that will integrate with out new Viewpoint Vista Accounting package.

Pros

Best ease of use cost to price Construction Estimating Product out there. Best bang for the buck. If familiar with cost coding, production rates, cost to price estimating; the setup and go live can be achieved in a relatively short time span. Being able to have a standard with the entire team (Estimating, Project Management, Accounting, & Field personnel) is worth the purchase alone.

Cons

MSA and Blanket contracts are challenging to build in Estimate.

Bid2Win Estimating Software User Review

Having used multiple estimating packages including Harddollar, HCS, Success, MCACES, and MCII, this program is by far the most user-friendly and feature-rich system in the commercial marketplace today, in my opinion. Additionally, the Bid2Win Software Engineers are eager to hear of user-identified feature requests and incorporate them into the software as new feature updates. We have used the system for 10 years, now, and have been very satisfied with the stability, speed, ease of use, minimal learning curve, and scalability of the program. I would give the software a 9.2 out of 10 and would raise the rating to 9.8 out of 10 if the Cons posted above were addressed.

Pros

Our company is a heavy/highway general contractor that self-performs removals, earthwork, bridges and retaining walls, underground utilities, asphalt paving and concrete paving. We investigated other options prior to commiting to the purchase of Bid2Win, choosing it because of its intuitive, tabbed user-interface and the ability to construct reusable task templates for any kind of work imaginable. The following bullets give an overview of the features available: - User defined work categories / sub categories - User defined labor classification / burden database - User defined equipment classification / rates database - Unlimited task template creation for repetitive work items - Tabbed costing interface for calculating costs / markups / and bid pricing - Markup distribution strategy tab for spreading costs to maximize project cash flow - Automatic bond cost table - Microsoft SQL server-based for unlimited concurrent user access (multiple estimators work at the same time)

Cons

- Weak export of costs and resources to Critical Path Method scheduling software (i.e. Export to Microsoft Project, not Primavera) - Only basic implementation of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) subcontractor assignments (still requires additional spreadsheet work outside of the program to get a complete analysis of DBE participation)

Potential is there

Pros

The best thing about B2W is how the different modules communicate with each other. Estimating flows into Track and Schedule to reduce redundancy.

Cons

There is a long learning curve to adapt to using this product. Setup is seemingly easy until it creates problems later and you have to start over. Not enough training is provided with the product and the charges incurred for additional training and setup is painful.

Estimating Software

Once you have built a task you can update from time to time.

Pros

Was easy to integrate from a different estimating system

Cons

All reports have money on them, overhead, profit, and cost. Cannot give this to field people.

Because I'm happy...

Pros

First, I like how responsive this vendor is towards user concerns and input towards a better product. Each employee is very willing to help and answer questions, or record any input to be evaluated for future updates. Second, I like how much this product continues to evolve. When I started using the software three years ago, I only used the estimate portion. Now we have evolved to using it for job cost tracking, dispatch, forms, etc., it is much more convenient being able to use one software to handle a lot of our needs.

Cons

The only thing I do not like is not having an "undo" button, one like those seen on the Microsoft office softwares. I greatly appreciate the recycle bin feature to help restore items that I've deleted, but I also make many small mistakes or changes that I would easily like to undo.

Solid tool with an ever growing list of valuable features

We are able to drive our goal of industry leader with the tools being afforded to us by B2W. We find new ways of use daily, we are able to get information to our field personnel quickly. Responding in minuets to issues not days and weeks. it is a platform we plan on building upon aggressively for a long time.

Pros

I truly appreciate the integration among the entire product line. It truly streamlines our approach to doing business

Cons

While I enjoy the integration, I do feel it could be better, the limited functionality of certain parts of the programs limit its full potential.

Highly Recommended

Saving time and increasing accuracy is the best way to describe B2W.

Pros

The best part of the program is that it speeds up the bidding process and increased bidding accuracy and consistency. With that said, it allows us to bid more projects and obtain more work.

Cons

In the subcontractor management and comparing self performed vs subcontracted, it would be a vast improvement if overhead and profit were added to the self performed option.

Estimate Review

Overall it has been a great experience. In the end it is up to the user to determine how much that they want to get out of the system . You get what you put into it (if you put in a lot of time and effort your results should be great).

Pros

Usability and user friendly. Easy for new employees to pick up. Security - we have the ability to allow user different levels of access. Also, integrates well with our accounting system.

Cons

Takes a lot of time and effort to get the system up and running. Have had some issues with mapping to our accounting system.

Cougar Companies Review of B2W Estimate

We are creating a seem less database for any estimator to use. The ease of learning this program from scratch is a lot easier now than when I started 15 years ago. The estimators I train now pick this up in about 1 week.

Pros

Reviewing Vendors and subs side by side for comparison is great. It is amazing how quick an estimate can be completed accurately. The initial set up is time consuming but well worth the cost.

Cons

An automatic schedule builder in Estimate for the customer.

Continues to perform as expected. Easy to navigate around after becoming familiar with interface.

Standardized bidding and job set up process across the company. Also provides place for easy review of bids at all levels of management in various locations across the group of companies.

Pros

Level of control over all aspects of the bids. Also the ability to break down information in various formats for easy review and analysis. Conditional formatting allows to catch anything that may be an issue at a quick glance. Numerous reports built in to cover a lot of aspects of the bids.

Cons

Inability to create custom reports in house. Also with concurrent licenses not having the ability to pull a license back from a user has been a challenge. The user may have remained logged in even though they are not using the software preventing others ability to access.

Great Heavy Civil Estimating Software

Pros

Great system for compiling heavy civil / site bids.

Cons

Can be somewhat cumbersome due to softwares built in detail capabilities for first time users. Once you have some use in the system it is great having the extra detail.

B2W Estimate Review

Pros

The overall ease of use and cost structure of pay items whil in the estimate detail view.

Cons

It costs extra to purchase the vendor/subcontractor RFQ suite.

B2W Drives our Business

I have used several other software platforms and always go back to B2W for its user friendly package and customer support.

Pros

B2W provides real time cost and equipment resources that benefit our company daily. It is very easy to use and helps control our costs.

Cons

I would like to have the option of dictating the exact price of an estimate.