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- Builders and designers relying on Chief Architect to help sell upgrades in kitchens and other parts of the house.
- Sage Software to ship Estimating for Master BUILDER in April.
During the rise of the internet era in the late 1990s, while the automotive, aerospace, and most other industries moved forward with B2B e-commerce, BuildNet, the building industry's e-commerce play, failed miserably. The result was that home building lagged far behind most other industries in this ...
One positive aspect of the housing slowdown is that home builders now have the time to evaluate and ultimately deploy technology that can make their operations more efficient.
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- A new Web-based estimating system offers builders a powerfuland affordable combination of estimating and purchasing features.
- The new version of FastTrack Schedule features Mindjet's MindManager.
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- Millions of homeowners could face higher taxes in 2011, unless Congress acts to repeal or reform the estate tax.
- The Building Systems Councils of the NAHB releases a free publication as a resource for builders and buyers of panelized homes.
- The president of Magleby Cos., is named the NAHB's ...
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HOME BUILDERS LOOKING FOR A WAY TO understand HomeFront, the sales and warranty management software from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada–based Zybertech, should think of it as a pair of bookends that run on either side of BuilderMT's purchasing system and the Sage Timberline Office accounting and estimati...
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- Sage Software and Innovaya release a new product to lets builders run an estimate from a 3-D AutoCAD file.
- BellSouth and The Weather Channel now offer a new service that provides alerts and warnings of severe weather.
FOR YEARS, BUILDERS USED A DIGITIZER TO transfer electronic linear counts for the sizes and materials they would need for a job into a digital format for use in an estimating program. But the digitizer, which essentially served as an electronic note pad for the linear information, had its drawbacks.
Intuit has managed to introduce some useful new user-requested features to Master Builder 10 without taking existing users out of their comfort zones.
CSG has added sales automation software to its estimating and accounting modules to create a full construction management system
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Builders now have a much more affordable option thanks to Intuit, which is promoting a series of new communications features in Master Builder 2004 that help builders integrate their scheduling, estimating, job costing, purchasing, and accounting operations. Master Builder, used by some 6,500 compan...
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The Palmetto Brick Co. in Cheraw, S.C., says it has created a new estimating tool that increases the materials efficiency of brick work and could save builders $300 to $500 per job.
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HomeSoft can be used at the point of sale when a salesperson determines that a customer is interested in buying a house in a specific price range.
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Timberline Precision Estimating and Gold Accounting have always been regarded as rock-solid products. I'm impressed with the Office approach: It provides a clear implementation strategy for Timberline and partnering products, which makes it easier for builders to evaluate what they need and to deplo...
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Materials take-off modules are now available for the leading computer aided design (CAD) programs. That introduces another layer of complexity to CAD management and version control that for a production home builder can represent a major shift in work processes.
Ten years ago I coined the phrase "CAD-Assisted Estimating" to describe early attempts by CAD vendors to provide take-off and bill-of-materials functionality. Now, using CAD to automate the take-off process can be a reality. Most builders will still need to tweak results in a spreadsheet or conventi...
Estimating software saves time and takes the guesswork out of estimates.Estimating software can't prevent you from procrastinating or waiting until the last minute to submit your bid, but it can help you when time's running out. Alma Jessop, president of L.A. Construction in Salt Lake City, says man...