The foundation of HeavyBid when it was first conceptualized was the Activity Codebook. I am one of the few people who have a first hand knowledge of this. Before there was HCSS (and HeavyBid) I worked at Raymond International for many senior estimators. One estimator was Jim Gold, now retired from Weeks Marine. Jim was instrumental in convincing the estimating manager that we needed to stop doing estimates manually (by hand) and move into a computer based estimating system. I remember Jim proudly showing a thick stack of hand typed activity codes to me even before the person responsible for developing the estimating system started his first day. Of course that person was Mike Rydin (founder of HCSS) who took Jim’s vision and designed the early version of HeavyBid always with the focus on using an activity codebook. The reason I think the above is important is that I find many companies not using the essential core of HeavyBid which is the Activity Codebook. Lots of excuses are offered, most of what I have heard doesn’t hold up to close inspection. Even a general group of activity codes is better than none at all. With an Activity Codebook you can take advantage of the Bid Master Codebook which is a powerful tool that increases an estimators productivity and reduces tedious repetitive input. With an activity codebook in place you can set up Assemblies. With an Activity Codebook you can start using the Cost History system and query across many estimates on a common code. With an Activity Codebook you can compare common activities in the estimate quickly. You get the idea. Start working now on a codebook or if your company is interested my company can assist you in the effort and bring it online quicker. The return on investment will be realized not just once but year after year.

 

ActCodebook