|
|
Message from the Director |
|
Firstly I
would like to thank all of our long-term users for their loyal
support, and our new clients, who have made 2005 Benchmark’s
most successful year ever. With over 730 users Benchmark
is strengthening its position as the leading estimating system
in Australia and New Zealand. In addition to this Benchmark is
continually being taken on by organisations in the United
Kingdom.
The recent
clients who have selected Benchmark represent many industries
including Landscaping, Civil Contracting, Drainage, Local
Government, Infrastructure and Property Maintenance,
Manufacturing, Roads, Surfacing and Transportable Buildings.
This diverse cross-section of users is a testament to
Benchmark’s superior flexibility and renowned ease of use.
The new
features in Version 6 are receiving outstanding feedback, in
particular the Quote with Options Report, and the Fix
All Rates and Resource Rate Change features.
The
Power Routines feature has also been a popular add-on
module, helping clients win jobs and increase productivity by
over 75%.
An interim
release, Version 6.03, is now being issued to clients.
This release includes one of our most exciting estimating
features developed in the past few years - Resource
Production Rates. Benchmark has had production rate
functionality for many years; however, this new feature improves
estimate transparency, accuracy, and saves time.
We would like
to wish all of our users and readers of this Newsletter an
enjoyable and safe 2006.
Yours, in the interest of better estimating,
Rob MacDonald
Director
Development -
Version 6.03 Interim Release
Version 6.03 is an upgrade for Version 6 and includes:
|
|
> |
Resource Production Rates
(NEW)
to improve estimate transparency, allow you to
change the estimate very quickly, and capture your
corporate knowledge |
|
> |
Exports
to Excel by Cost Code
(NEW) to save you time, eliminate errors interfacing
with your other business information systems, and
improve the accuracy of your job cost reporting |
|
> |
Improvements to the Follow Up feature to
help you follow up your quotes and win more work |
|
This version
has recently been dispatched to our valued users with current
maintenance and support agreements.
Development -
What's on the
Horizon
The Benchmark product development team has been working
extremely hard to make further improvements and enhancements,
and keep Benchmark and our clients at the forefront of
estimating excellence. Here’s a glimpse of what’s in
store:
|
|
> |
The new
Quote with Options report released in
Version 6.01, based on much valued user feedback, has
been improved to give you more flexibility, improve your
marketing and help you win more work |
|
> |
A
powerful new Item Quantity Takeoff feature
has been developed to allow you to do faster and more
detailed Item Quantity calculations and store these in
your estimate |
|
> |
An
exciting feature which will help you price
maintenance projects much faster is under
development |
|
> |
Functionality to save you time manipulating different
discount factors and markup percentages (%) for your
suppliers and subcontractors
|
Client Success Stories
GW &
BR Crameri win contract thanks to Power Routine
Road
construction and maintenance company GW & BR Crameri has
identified Benchmark, and in particular the Power Routines
module, as a way for their strong and reputable business to
stride into the future. In fact, just weeks after
installing Benchmark, GW & BR Crameri used Power Routines to
price and win a major roads maintenance contract!
JMAC Constructions' expansion aided by Benchmark
Brisbane based
landscape construction company, JMAC Constructions, are
expanding their successful operations to encompass a new office
in Townsville, and new work in the Sydney area. Benchmark
Estimating Software is ensuring JMAC compiles accurate tenders
during this critical expansion phase, thanks to the ability to
use specific Items for each location.
Look who’s setting the Benchmark
The
following leading organisations are some of those who have
recently selected Benchmark as their estimating solution.
We would like to congratulate you all for actively aiming to
improve your business practices. Thank you for supporting
Benchmark, and welcome to the Benchmark team.
Public Training Dates
Click on
the links below to secure your seat on the upcoming Benchmark
training courses, and be on the path to producing better
estimates in less time, with Benchmark.
|
New
User Courses |
|
¨
7-8 March 2006 |
Brisbane, Australia |
enrol |
|
¨
29-30 March 2006 |
Auckland, New Zealand |
enrol |
|
¨
19-20 April 2006 |
Sydney,
Australia |
enrol |
|
¨
11-12 May 2006 |
Melbourne, Australia |
enrol |
|
¨
7-8 June 2006 |
Brisbane, Australia |
enrol |
|
Advanced User
Courses
|
|
¨
15-16 March 2006 |
Brisbane, Australia |
enrol |
|
¨
3-4 May 2006 |
Auckland, New Zealand |
enrol |
|
Routine Writing
Courses |
|
¨
17-18 March 2006 |
Brisbane, Australia |
enrol |
|
|
|
|
National Construction Exhibition
The Benchmark team recently attended the National Construction
Exhibition (NCE) in Homebush Bay, Sydney. The NCE was run
over four days and attracted 5,143 visitors. It was great
to see so many Benchmark users there, and hear first hand their
feedback on the software, and in particular on Version 6.
Thank you to
everyone who visited our stand, and in particular those
companies who purchased Benchmark from the show, to make the NCE
a great success for the Benchmark team.
New Website
Benchmark now has
a new website! The new website is a primary source of
up-to-date Benchmark product and service news and information.
This website will continually be updated to ensure our current
and potential clients have all the information they need to
improve their estimating systems, so be sure to regularly check
back!
Have you
heard about Benchmark's Resource-based Export to Microsoft
Project?
Benchmark’s new resource-based export to Microsoft Project helps
you create more accurate programs faster. You can also use
this feature to generate cash flow forecasts in Microsoft
Project, and allocate and plan your resources across your
business.
|
