Construction Paving Company Cost Estimator

A rapidly growing paving company needed to modernize their technology and integrate their cost-estimation function with their cloud-based ERP system. IdeaBlade developed a web-based application for computing construction costs based on project variables, incorporating user-defined formulae and business rules, and generating customer-ready proposals.

Technologies involved were ASP.NET, Entity Framework, C#, Durandal, Breeze, SQL Azure and Azure. User Stories, Product/Project Management and Bug Tracking were done using YouTrack.

Size:

  • C#: 200+ files, 18000+ lines of code
  • JavaScript: 20+ files, 2700+ lines of code
  • HTML: 10+ files, 1000+ lines of code
  • Screens: 10 (main screen + popup dialogs)
  • Domain Model: 45+ entities
  • Database: 60 tables

Complexity:

  • Performs pricing calculations based on hundreds of input variables
  • Calculations composed from built-in and user-created formulas
  • Generates proposal documents from user-created templates incorporating formulas and calculated data
  • Integrates proposals and calculated data with cloud-based ERP system as part of deal management flow
  • IdeaBlade provided business analysis, design, development, deployment, QA and post-release support and continues to provide these services as the product evolves.

Below are a few components of the solution.

PriceCalculator

This component calculates costs and margins for maintenance jobs performed by a leading paving company. The tool is used during the sales process to determine the budget required for the job, and to generate the proposal document that is sent to the customer.

Price Quote Settings

A quote editing dialog with validation and a pop-up date picker.

The map link pops up a Google map of the location, which may be an address or latitude/longitude coordinates. The project location and options affect calculations in the proposal. For example, labor rates, material costs, and tax rates may vary by location.

Verbiage Editor

This dialog enables rich editing of proposal text, with a toolbar for HTML formatting.

The text may include fields to dynamically include inputs and budget items from the quote in the proposal. Visibility of text within the verbiage section can be controlled by conditions. For example, a particular section is included in the proposal only if a budget item amount is over a certain threshold.

Ideablade’s software engineering team is top notch. The solution they built for us performs well, was completed quickly and was designed in a way which enables ease of support and maintenance. — Mike Harrison, Ace Asphalt
Read More
IdeaBlade has the unique ability to take the general description of a task and produce a fully thought out feature or module. — Bard Laabs, Cohero
Read More
You are all such an important part of what we have been able to achieve thus far in the SPACE project. — Darren Jaspen, Fox
Read More
Everyone I’ve interacted with at IdeaBlade has been exceptional. — Christen Sachse-Vasquez, The Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM)
Read More
I can unequivocally say that the IdeaBlade resources were amazing talent I have worked with from our partner network and that it was an absolute pleasure to work with them. — Brian Noyce, Solliance
Read More