Estimating Edge Gives Yorkshire Federal Versatility to be Competitive

By The Estimating Edge. 

Once the measurements are entered, everything needed is in there to ensure you don't miss a thing.

Yorkshire Federal, Inc. is a full-service roofing company that offers a complete line of roofing, waterproofing, and painting products and services to inspect, analyze, remediate or replace existing roof systems and total building envelope, serving the industry coast to coast.

They pride themselves in professional management, installation, and maintenance over a wide variety of industrial, institutional, commercial, and government projects.

The EDGE™ gives them the versatility to be able to compete in all of these areas.

The Challenge

Like many estimators, prior to using The EDGE, Carl Morse, Estimator and Project Manager at Yorkshire, created bids using pencil, paper and spreadsheets. Between picking up drawings from a general contractor’s office, to completing the takeoff, to number crunching, it could take up to eight days to finalize one bid. This daunting process was not cost-effective and was overly time-consuming. Morse knew there had to be a way to accurately bid more jobs in a shorter amount of time.

The Solution

When Morse was introduced to The EDGE, he was immediately blown away and knew it would transform his estimating. The EDGE was easy to learn, user friendly, and customizable for the company. Once he began using The EDGE, he never looked back.

According to Morse, one of the major benefits of The EDGE is that everything is built-in, making it very hard to miss anything. Upon completing the takeoff, all reports needed for a job are easily accessible and ready to use. Material lists, labor lists, mobilization costs, and schedule of values can all be obtained as soon as the measurements are entered. These reports can be used to keep a build on schedule, costs on point, and labor on track. Morse stated, “That’s what I love about The EDGE. Everything is in there—you can’t miss anything. Your mobilization cost, your set-up cost, your lists, they’re already in there.”

The Outcome

Being a national company, Yorkshire often bids and wins jobs against local competitors. Morse attributes these wins to their use of The EDGE: “The odds were stacked against us bidding against local guys, but because of The EDGE, you don’t miss anything.” Recently, Yorkshire won two jobs by less than 1 percent difference because of the accuracy of The EDGE.

To be competitive in the construction industry, saving time and money while maintaining accuracy and efficiency is crucial. According to Morse, The EDGE makes this possible. He is able to complete two to three jobs in a day and only spend about 30 to 45 minutes on each job. In addition, Morse uses The EDGE, in combination with Pictometry®, to further speed up the estimating process and ensure the accuracy of the measurements. Morse said, “The more jobs you bid, the more you’re going to get. We are usually only bidding against three or four companies in the U.S. We have about a 75 percent batting average as a result of our reputation and quality of work and using The EDGE.”

From Morse’s perspective, knowing The EDGE gives estimators a competitive edge. Understanding the proper process for estimating and the best tool for the job makes you a valuable asset to any company— it makes a person a better estimator. “The EDGE is an incredible tool that every commercial roofing company should be using, and if they’re not, they’re losing money.”

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