Major Changes on a Tight Schedule -- Case 1

Summary
With only 12 days to go in the schedule, the client made massive changes in the product requirements but refused to allow the schedule to slip. A total recalculation of all quantities was required and complete accuracy was needed before the client would sign off immediately on the changed costs. It couldn't have been done without FloorRight™ Commercial.

Company Background

K. M. Davies Furnishings (located in the UK) has a tradition of quality and service in the retail area but contract/commercial work is relatively new to them. With only a small staff and with major competition from larger firms, they are always on the lookout for ways to improve their productivity and professionalism.

It was simple until ...

The flooring work to the Reception Area at St. Michael's Care Home was a straightforward small contract. Though the time limits were pretty tight, the materials quoted were readily available from our usual suppliers. Although we had not received the colour schedule in good time, we did not envision any difficulties in completing the work as required and within the time schedule.

Unfortunately, and to our horror, with only 12 days to completion we received the Flooring Finishes Schedule and ALL the products had been changed. Even worse, some products had also been omitted so there were entirely new areas to be dealt with and an entirely new set of estimates to be produced. To further complicate matters not all the products were stocked in this country.

As the client was adamant that the completion date could not be moved we had to have one item flown from America and the others had to be delivered by express courier from France. But that was the easy part. The main problem was dealing with all the changes, refiguring the job and coming up with the new estimates. This had to be done immediately and in a way that both ourselves and the client would have confidence in the results. Otherwise, we would not have reached agreement on the pricing by the time the deadline passed.

Results under pressure

The initial set of requirements were pretty straightforward and used only two materials. We did our calculations in the usual way and were about to start the work when we got the major revision which not only changed the materials but also the areas we were to cover. Thankfully, FloorRight Commercial can take the data directly from the drawing simply by placing cross hairs on the corners of the various areas and clicking a button. It couldn't be easier. To assign the new materials to each area, all we had to do was a couple of clicks. The costing was also a breeze for FloorRight had computed all the quantities and all I had to do was enter the unit cost. In a few minutes we had all the changes incorporated and the complete job refigured. And that was just as well for the client then changed the entire thing a second time. With FloorRight Commercial, we soon managed to redo all the work yet again. Normally such changes would not only have taken a long time but would have caused even longer delays haggling with the client about all the details of the new costs. However, FloorRight Commercial is so accurate and clear and provides all the information in an easily understood fashion that the client accepted all the cost changes without dispute, even our premium labour rates. The job was completed on time, I had provided a service that my competitiors could not provide and I had a very satisfied customer.

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