HeavyBid

Works Good but Could Use Some Improvements

Kommentare: our bids seem to be tighter and its a good tool to be able to track price escalations throughout the years.

Vorteile:

Setting up a bid is intuitive and I like that the different components 'talk' to each other. Copying estimates and deleting information are also easy.

Nachteile:

some of the character limitations are ridiculous and entering bid prices for comparison is not as intuitive as it could be.

The Best Estimating Software in the World!

Vorteile:

Product: This is a very fast, user-friendly, automated estimating and bidding system that is particularly effective for Unit-Price contracts. It allows quick creation of accurate estimates, accommodates variations in quantities, allows risk evaluation on an item-by-item basis, and provides the means to price individual bid items so that they reflect the bidder's assessments of quantity, value, and risk for each item. Vendor: HCSS sets the standard for customer support. There is no software company anywhere, of any type, with whom I have had contact that comes even close to the responsiveness and excellence of HCSS' technical support. It is extremely rare that a call is not answered before the third ring by a human who understands the problem (no matter how arcane) and who has the right answer, without sending me to a second- or third-level technician. The professionalism and expertise of the Technical Support team are near-perfect. I tell people whom I am training that if they get stuck on a problem for more than three minutes, they should call Tech Support. The person who answers will have the problem solved, and the estimator will be back in production nearly instantaneously.

Nachteile:

There is little to dislike in a system that works so well and with a technical support team that is so knowledgeable. HCSS takes suggestions from its users and implements them in new releases of the software so that the system is always cutting-edge and fulfills its users' expectations. The system seems expensive to purchase and maintain, at least to the non-using evaluator, but the confidence in the accuracy of the estimate, the outstanding technical support, and the continuous improvement of the software will provide confidence that offsets cost. One caught and corrected mistake that that would have gone unnoticed without HeavyBid's analysis tools, could pay for a dozen licenses for years.

Updates Needed

Vorteile:

Support is excellent when using any HCSS software.

Nachteile:

This software needs a total overhaul of its GUI. Why do I feel like I'm using Windows NT or 2000 in the year 2022??? It's unfathomable that this is the best product HCSS can put out. This isn't a free software. And don't get me started on how any time you hit the ESC key on your keyboard trying to close out of a cell (like in Excel) the window you are working on closes without warning thus deleting any unsaved progress - in windows you need to click save as opposed to other windows where it saves automatically as you tab throug...what's that about? Once you know how to navigate the program, it's fairly easy, but that doesn't negate the fact that the software is/feels archaic.

Have experience with other software estimating systems.

Kommentare: I have had 15 plus years experience setting up Heavy bid with two different companies. I changed jobs to another company that had Sharpesoft. Support was awful. When ODOT and PENNDOT changed the electronic formatting a few years ago, it was very frustrating because Sharpesoft didn't keep up. It was a nightmare. I did change companies once again & I am a very happy user of HCSS Heavy bid.

Vorteile:

Easy to incorporate to the type of work you do. It is only limited to your imagination.

Nachteile:

I think the review can be updated to be easier to see what has been reviewed. I talked about it at our users meeting in Houston earlier this year. I was told it has been brought up and the software engineers are looking into it. That is a great thing with HCSS..... taking users comments and making the software better.

Timecard, material and equipment tracking

Kommentare: With heavy job, we were able to transition our export files to a new payroll system when we made a change. Customer service was excellent at guiding us through the process.

Vorteile:

This software is so easy to set-up, from adding employees, job classifications, to merging employees into the job, to exporting timecards. The setup flow just make sense. Works great for those who have crews out in the field, foremen can use their tablets to record time, material and equipment used on the job and submit. No more paper time cards to do manual entry with.

Nachteile:

This software has "user licenses" you have to buy, so at times they may all be used by other users in the company. It does allow you to "boot" them off, but you better make sure they are not in the middle of something if you do or they will lose the information. A quick phone call to ask if they can log out is best.

HCSS Review

Kommentare: Overall, HCSS is the best estimating software on the market. Reason why everyone uses it. But it is expensive, and some smaller companies have trouble justifying cost.

Vorteile:

HCSS is a very powerful and easy to learn estimating program. Many companies use this software which makes integrating with partnering companies very easy. Endless resources and crew construction abilities. Provides drop down or key stroke options to enter data. Gives many different ways to view costs and code costs.

Nachteile:

Cons are the limitations on "child" items underneath the parent. Only 3 are allowed as compared to other competing softwares. Also the reports are limited in what is shown.

HeavyBid

Kommentare: I love using HeavyBid. I use it daily and have no complaints about the software.

Vorteile:

The ease of setting up your crews/equipment/materials is very beneficial in creating estimates. It is very easy to use and pick up on if new.

Nachteile:

I'm honestly having a difficult time trying to think of a negative about HeavyBid.

We use heavybid since 10 years and are very satisfied

Kommentare: Very useful, save us a lot of time in our estimating process

Vorteile:

Service and formation are great, software is improved every year, it saves us a huge amount of time in our estimating process

Nachteile:

From Texas in english only, although we are working in french in Quebec, some features need to be purchased at an higher price and implementation in a company may be long

Larry Kuhn's Review

Kommentare: The pros of Heavybid include the ability for us to bid more work which in today's competitive environment helps us maintain the volume that we need to. Also the fact that Labor equipment bid items and activities are all maintained in a database ensure consistent bids. The downside is that most of our competitors are also using the product.

Been a user for over 20 Years and they have constantly improved the product every year

Kommentare: Technical support is an invaluable tool

HCSS Heavybid is the best product on the market.

Kommentare: Look no further, write the check.

Vorteile:

The power of the system, the ability to manipulate and quickly adjust pricing. Customer support is un-stumpable. The ability to import data from previous bids makes the estimating process fast and accurate.

Nachteile:

As with anything this powerful, you must dedicate the time to learn the system. The ideal program is to bring in a trainer once a month for 6 months to grow and groom the new user.

HCSS works great

Kommentare: Went to the training/convention for the first time this February. thought it was great. thanks!

Vorteile:

I like the quote class system. It's handy to input info as it comes in and compare with others. handy.

Nachteile:

On occasion as I pull items from my codebook in the select bidtiem screen, the description comes across but my activities do not. if I tab through all the cells it seems to work.

Bidding with Confidence on Leaner Timees

Vorteile:

I like that you have a great control over all the costs involved with entering all aspects of your bid, and consolidate source quotations plus revise quickly critical mark-up, schedulling and productivity scenarios to bid confidently based on your entries.

Nachteile:

It's a bit of a steep learn curve at the very beginning, it's very dependent on a good network connection in order to process quickly, sometimes can be affected by overall bandwidth available from corporate server during peak times, I can only see a passive filtered generated list of multiple bids to review their current status, closing dates, missing steps or things that would assist to coordinate a prioritiezed sequence to close these bids.

Great Product

Vorteile:

Heavy Job simultaniously allows us to perform our daily payroll requirements while giving us instant feedback on the productivity of our crews. Double entry of employee payroll hours is eliminated with the exporting of Heavy Job information directly into our Accounting software. It saves us time and gives us immediate information on our daily productivity,

Nachteile:

Nothing not to like about the vendor of this product (HCSS). They have the best technical support of any company in the software field. Calls to the support helpline are answered by knowledgible staff members and our problems are typically addressed within a few minutes. Great Technical support!!

The Best Estimating Software on the Market

Vorteile:

- Has a plethora of features which create an easy bidding process - Can setup local or global resource libraries to allow a job-specific library with our general materials - Easy to run all reports of all different kinds and easy to read

Nachteile:

- Can be a bit buggy when within an activity, which may force it to crash. This is primarily because of user error though and you learn ways to stop this from happening.

Building America

Vorteile:

HCSS allows me to keep all my estimates and bid data in one database. It has the power to expedite and simplify the estimate process so that proper if not advanced analysis can occur.

Nachteile:

The subcontractor evaluation is limited. I want the ability to see scope items along with pricing information real time on the screen. The additional lines need to have the ability to take text input or additive cost input. Without this ability I have no way of knowing if the $40,000 bid of one contractor includese the same scope as the contractor that bid the same line at $35,000. Attaching a spreadsheet or printing a report is only a partial solution to this issue. I need to see it on the screen. Also, the kiosk stand I filled this out on is too short and not ergonimic...

project manager/estimator

Vorteile:

They are very good at respondsing to questions and getting answers in a timely manner. This product is very helpul in putting together accurate estimates and tracking the job. This product is very user friendly and could be taught to anyone in a short time fram.

Nachteile:

Sometimes it wont let me do exactly what i want to. Sometimes navigation is very timely unless you know all of the shortcuts. Some of the reports and information isnt very clearly laid out. If you didnt use the software before navigation can be very difficult.

I have not had an opportunity to find this much detail in any estimating platform in over 20 years of estimating.

Kommentare: I would highly recommend this to any business that is into production estimating. Once you are set up, and ready to go you can estimate a lot of work using the stored information quickly.

Vorteile:

The ability for me to create an estimate that can be handed off to a project manager that doesn't have him asking me 100 questions. It is all there for them and helps them get the project started off right.

Nachteile:

There is a fair amount of learning that goes into it, and if you are not careful about the set up you can really have problems that multiply through the estimate.

IT Manager - Review

Vorteile:

As a product, HeavyBid makes estimating quick and accurate. Our estimators' success rate is quite impressive, and I'm sure they're very thankful to have the assistance of a powerful tool. As a vendor, HCSS has the best support and customer relations around, hands down. Their support is one of the best because they are willing to take on any issue and spend as much time as possible to resolve it. Unlike many other vendors I have worked with, they don’t require additional costs for remote support or training during a support session. Their answer rate is very quick, usually only taking 10 minutes to get someone on the phone. Their support staff is friendly and knowledgeable. Their after-hours support is equally impressive. I would highly recommend them based on their support alone.

Nachteile:

They have always resolved any gripes or dislikes I may have had in the past by listening to customer feedback, improving with updates, or through support calls.

Easy to use program with lots of customizability

Vorteile:

I like how easy it is to use. With master estimates, it is easy to customize the software to industry needs.

Nachteile:

The reports are a bit complicated for first time users. Not all of them are used either but it just takes practice to know what is needed.

Learning experience but can't imagine estimating without it

Vorteile:

Customer support is 2nd to none. Phone calls answered in quickly and responses have always been correct. Techs are knowlegable and personable and will explain what was wrong and what had to be done to correct the problem(s) which are typically a user problem not a software problem.

Nachteile:

That I don't know how to use everything that it offers nor would I need to. What I least like about HCSS is that it's not closer to home (Maryland).

Probably the industry standard for construction estimating software

Vorteile:

HCSS offers very good 24 hour support. The program is very adaptable to all levels of construction estimating/bidding and can speak to most well known accounting software. Several levels of the software provide more or less detailed options, depending on your requirements

Nachteile:

Extremely structured and difficult to set up database initially. Upkeep is fairly easy, if your initial setup was performed with some aforethought.

Heavybid review by grading contractor

Vorteile:

heavybid is the easiest and most user friendly estimating software that i have ever used. Heavybid can be used by any employee with very little training.

Nachteile:

cant speak of any problems or concerns we have had with the project. we have used it for numerous years and if we have had any problem it has been handled quickly and professionally. no problems to speak of and cant think of any problems in the near future

HeavyBid for Civil Construction

Vorteile:

What I like best about heavy bid are the automatic features. For example, once we set up quote class with material resource codes it has made are bidding process very efficient. HCSS has the best customer support, if you are a DOT contractor like us and have an issue at midnight they will answer.

Nachteile:

Some of the reports could be better. They have been making some improvements in the later released.

Easy to use

Vorteile:

The software is a great time savers. Being able to integrat Heavy Bid, Heavy job and the Saftey system is nice. Great customer service and timely help with any issues. I also like the estimate check features to check for errors and missing costs. Being able to copy from previous estimates is also a great time saver.

Nachteile:

New copy function does not pull in resource plugs from master list