D. Brown Management to Present Training Sessions at Dexter + Cheney User's Conference

LODI, CA., March 20, 2008 - D. Brown Management today announced that they will present seven training sessions based upon their "Profit Happens Here! series at the upcoming Dexter + Chaney Users' Conference to be held April 17- 18th at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle,Washington. The two day event is expected to draw hundreds of construction industry professionals from across the country.

Now in its 12th year, the conference will offer a variety of seminars that focus on the latest in construction management software for operations and accounting teams. The training sessions to be presented by D. Brown Management were developed as a result of codifying the experiences of senior industry consultants and will focus on a variety of key topics including: * Managing Project Documentation* Keeping Your Project On-Track* Capturing Payroll Data in the Field Using Handhelds* Implementing a Standardized Project Management System* Opportunities & Challenges of Implementing a Standardized Project Management System*

The Most Important Meeting of the Week As part of the training sessions, D. Brown Management will discuss the use of industry software applications, such as Spectrum™ Construction Software developed by Dexter + Chaney. Considering more than 35% of a typical construction day is spent on "non-installation" activities, the training sessions will provide attendees with a tremendous opportunity to learn truly applicable skills that can enhance their productivity in the field - ultimately leading to maximum profits. The sessions are geared towards anyone within the construction industry including owners, financial managers, project managers, and other senior managers.

In addition to industry events, D. Brown Management offers their "Profit Happens Here!" training series throughout the United States on a regular basis. For an up-to-date class schedule, please go towww.dbrownmanagement.com/classes

About D. Brown Management: Headquartered in Northern California, D. BrownManagement provides a comprehensive scope of general management solutions to construction clients nationwide, including strategy, planning, operations, field productivity, workflow, financial management,technology, and marketing. With D. Brown Management,organizations can improve processes, productivity, and ultimately profitability. To learn more about D. Brown Management, visit www.dbrownmanagement.com or call 916-912-4200.

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Three Big Benefits Of Construction Project Management Software

Although many construction companies are still using spreadsheets and shoeboxes to manage their projects and track the volumes of details that go into a single job, the use of industry-specific project management software is becoming more prevalent. One reason for this is that more construction software providers are developing integrated project management modules to compete with the leading stand-alone project management systems.

The question is: how will your company benefit from investing in construction project management software?

Project management software delivers many benefits to construction companies, including executive level reporting for a single job or across all projects, field administration such as punch list tracking and daily report logs, change order management and purchase order management. However, this article will touch on three main features of project management software that deliver big benefits: process standardization, document control and cost control.

Process Standardization

Project management software provides a standardized method of managing jobs. This streamlines each step of project execution, makes it easier for new employees to learn your system and allows project staff to seamlessly move from job to job with a minimal learning curve and quick ramp-up time. Standardizing project management forms (such as RFIs, submittals, transmittals, change requests and business letters) also provides a consistent look and feel to all of your documents, which presents your company in a professional manner and contributes to your brand awareness.

Document Control

Using spreadsheets and word processing documents for your project management documentation and correspondence is inherently flawed because these disconnected tools don't provide a single data repository for project information. Instead, records are often kept on the project managers' local hard drives or scattered around your company's network.

Not only does project management software provide a single source for all of your project documents, it also provides a systematic method for documenting, tracking and following up on critical issues. Having a single source for data storage provides visibility into the important details needed to make profitable business decisions. Vital project documents are never lost or misplaced and audit trails typically identify who created or modified a document and where it is at in the project management or approval process.

Cost Control

Managing costs on a project is the key to protecting profit. Project management software provides real-time cost data that helps you make profitable decisions on your jobs. The status of budgets, contracts, change orders and more are all available with a click of the mouse for instant assessment. This also provides an early warning system for issues such as cost overruns and scheduling snags, which allows you to take corrective action when needed.

Although your spreadsheet and word processing systems may be comfortable and familiar, they may not be the most profitable method for project management software and, in fact, may be eroding your revenues. Whether you choose to implement a stand-alone solution for managing your projects or an add-on module that's part of your construction software, the benefits of changing to a standardized method of managing jobs is worth the pain of mandating use of such a system. Process standardization, document control and cost control are just the beginning. Many other benefits will be realized when you have standardized on a systematic method of managing jobs.

Landscaping Software Helps Visualize Finished Project

One of the most challenging parts of designing your outdoor living space is being able to visualize how the finished project will look. Knowing the type of plants that will survive in your neck of the woods as well as how to put them together to achieve the desired effect can be time-consuming task and the end result may still be disappointing. However, with many versions of landscaping software on the market, seeing the finished plan before digging the first hole can help you succeed in making the project come to fruition.

The cost of landscaping software can vary from free to several thousands of dollars and each company offers variables that make putting together a landscaping plan suited for your climate as well the design of your home. Some of the free packages of software however, restrict the user to simple house designs making it difficult to achieve a realistic picture of what your home will look like when finished. Landscaping software aimed at professionals offer a much better view, but come with a higher price tag.One of the important things to look for when thinking about buying landscaping software is the learning curve. While many may offer quick and easy instructions, it could still take a lot of time just figuring out how to select, size and plant every item on your list. Some of the more complicated pieces of landscaping software may actually take longer to learn how to use than it will take to landscape the yard.Decent Software Offers Decent Project PlansFor around $100 there are a couple of different types of landscaping software that are fairly easy to use. Unless you are familiar with computers, almost all landscaping software will require some time in learning how to select the plants, annual or perennial as well as how to size them and drop them in your yard. Some are considerably easier than others, but they will all take some time to get to know.Almost all companies offer landscaping software featuring three-dimensional viewing, but the most-expensive as well as complicated, may also allow for the rotation of the view to see how the landscaping will look from different angles, not only from the street. Overhead views may also be possible to get a better feel for how the different colors will go together. Combining landscaping software with construction software for outdoor decks and patios can also include plans for plumbing and electrical work that may need to be performed for major landscaping projects.

CPM Scheduling

From PBH, the free encyclopedia: The Critical Path Method, abbreviated CPM, or critical path analysis, is a mathematically based algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities. It is an important tool for effective project management.

It was developed in the 1950s in a joint venture between DuPont Corporation and Remington Rand Corporation for managing plant maintenance projects. Today, it is commonly used with all forms of projects, including construction, software development, research projects, product development, engineering, and plant maintenance, among others. Any project with interdependent activities can apply this method of scheduling.

The essential technique for using CPM is to construct a model of the project that includes the following:

A list of all activities required to complete the project (also known as Work breakdown structure), The time (duration) that each activity will take to completion, and The dependencies between the activities.

Using these values, CPM calculates the longest path of planned activities to the end of the project, and the earliest and latest that each activity can start and finish without making the project longer. This process determines which activities are "critical" (i.e., on the longest path) and which have "total float" (i.e., can be delayed without making the project longer). In project management, a critical path is the sequence of project network activities which add up to the longest overall duration. This determines the shortest time possible to complete the project. Any delay of an activity on the critical path directly impacts the planned project completion date (i.e. there is no float on the critical path). A project can have several, parallel, near critical paths. An additional parallel path through the network with the total durations shorter than the critical path is called a sub-critical or non-critical path.

These results allow managers to prioritize activities for the effective management of project completion, and to shorten the planned critical path of a project by pruning critical path activities, by "fast tracking" (i.e., performing more activities in parallel), and/or by "crashing the critical path" (i.e., shortening the durations of critical path activities by adding resources).

Originally, the critical path method considered only logical dependencies between terminal elements. Since then, it has been expanded to allow for the inclusion of resources related to each activity, through processes called "activity-based resource assignments" and "resource leveling". A resource-leveled schedule may include delays due to resource bottlenecks (i.e., unavailability of a resource at the required time), and may cause a previously shorter path to become the longest or "resource critical" path. A related concept is called the critical chain, which attempts to protect activity and project durations from unforeseen delays due to resource constraints.

Since project schedules change on a regular basis, CPM allows continuous monitoring of the schedule, allows the project manager to track the critical activities, and alerts the project manager to the possibility that non-critical activities may be delayed beyond their total float, thus creating a new critical path and delaying project completion. In addition, the method can easily incorporate the concepts of stochastic predictions, using the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and event chain methodology.

Currently, there are several software solutions available in industry that use the CPM method of scheduling, see list of project management software. However, the method was developed and used without the aid of computers.

A schedule generated using critical path techniques often is not realized precisely, as estimations are used to calculate times: if one mistake is made, the results of the analysis may change. This could cause an upset in the implementation of a project if the estimates are blindly believed, and if changes are not addressed promptly. However, the structure of critical path analysis is such that the variance from the original schedule caused by any change can be measured, and its impact either ameliorated or adjusted for. Indeed, an important element of project postmortem analysis is the As Built Critical Path (ABCP), which analyzes the specific causes and impacts of changes between the planned schedule and eventual schedule as actually implemented.

Over Your Head in Paperwork? You Need Good Construction Software

Most contractors today complain that they are tremendously burdened and overcome with all of the paperwork and data that they need to process to simply stay ahead in today's marketplace. This burden can be greatly reduced by simply implementing the proper construction software.

Today, contractors can employ large numbers of craftsmen, which creates a complex and time-consuming payroll process. Accurate project estimates, schedules, and cost and time control activities require significant amounts of data for maximum results, and cannot possibly processed properly without effective construction software.

Many contractors as small business men feel completely overcome by the burden of data management on a daily basis because they do not have construction software quote to assist them in the task. These businesses tend to focus more on marketing, sales, and production rather than record keeping and data information processing. The result could be financial loss on a project or even financial ruin for the business.

Utilizing proper construction software incorporating estimating and project management functions will enable the contractor to handle and manage this information flow. Software for Construction can process, manipulate, store, and print information, but the result of the output is only as good as the value of the data input. Costs for hardware and effective Software for construction are easily within the reach of virtually all contractors' budgets.

While many contractors have computerized their financial accounting, a lesser number have automated the project management functions. Keeping on top of your construction project will require:

* Construction Estimating

* Scheduling

* Job cost control

Construction estimating involves taking off project work quantities and determining the cost of labor, material, equipment, and overhead. It is a time consuming process that is prone to errors because of the many parameters. Proper construction estimating software will improve the accuracy of the final bid document and significantly cut the amount of time needed to prepare the estimate.

The construction estimating software incorporates several estimating tools:

* Computer aided design

* Process math calculations and formulas

* Data base of past performances that improve forecasting and costing estimates

* 'What if' analysis to study the estimates under different assumed future events

Construction software CAD programs enable the user to prepare computerized drawings for the project that can be read to perform quantity takeoffs. Many software vendors supply CAD programs. The other three tasks are performed by two different approaches to construction software prices: general application and industry. Usage is pretty evenly divided between the two.

Focusing on your scheduling, planning requirements and construction software allows you to:

* Plot planned project schedules

* Perform critical path method calculations

* Plot and manage resources

* Plot and manage cash flow

* Update project in a timely and accurate manner

Ideally, the scheduling construction Estimating software program interfaces with the construction estimating function so the two are performed in conjunction with each other. Unfortunately, many construction software vendors provide one or the other, but not both, even though the programs often interface.

There are several factors to consider when selecting a planning and scheduling construction software program:

* Number of activities to input

* Ability to update program

* Resource algorithms available

* Popularity of program with clients

* Ability to interface with estimating software

* Ability to interface with control function

* Ease of data entry

* Number and types of reports available

Job costing construction software provides a report on the status of a project and associated overruns or under runs based on input data such as labor time and quantities in place. The computerization of this function should be simple and linkable to your other estimating and proposal construction software. Ideally, the contractor should select accounting, estimating, and project management construction software that totally integrates.

At the least, the contractor should not settle for construction software that cannot link to all construction software management functions.

Construction Software: Is It Time To Trade Up?

Trading up from a small business bookkeeping package to a full construction system is going to ask a lot from you in terms of time and expense. The issue comes down to: do you want to go from simply recording job data into your accounting system or do you want to proactively manage jobs, deadlines, and costs using software specifically designed for your industry?

Here are some questions to ponder before you take the leap.

In addition to the capital expenditure required to purchase mid-market construction software, are you committed to providing the resources required to be properly trained on the new software? That means spending the money and having staff who have the right attitude and skills to learn the new system.

Furthermore, are you committed to getting all the requisite job information into the system to give you the output needed to better manage your jobs?

What is driving your initial interest in construction software? Is just because you think you need it? Or do you have job experiences that went bad because you did not track your estimated costs to your committed costs? Or have you just been lucky so far? Does your current job costing system not recognize costs at the time of commitment but only when you receive the bills or when you pay your labor?

How do you handle your Progress Billings? Do you create your Progress Billings separately from your accounting system? Where do you maintain your schedule of values? What system do you have in place to ensure that all costs incurred are actually billed?

What type of job purchasing controls are in place to ensure that committed costs do not deviate from your estimated costs? Is your purchase order and subcontract system allowing you to job cost at the time of commitment?

How does your estimating process work? Is it all spreadsheet based and very specialized? Do you have a handle on tracking estimating costs and revisions against your job ledger?

Where do you store all of your job file information and documents? Do you see any advantage in maintaining all of this in a construction software package? What is your litigation exposure for incomplete job files?

Has new management been added? One of the key drivers for seeking out new software is new management. A new CFO or Controller may recognize the need for better information systems and may even have been brought in for that purpose.

Is your company growing? Growing companies will stretch and eventually break the boundaries of a small business package in terms of transaction volumes and functionality. A classic example is the need for integrated project management and document control. What needs to be in place for you to manage the performance of your projects?

Finally, and perhaps most important for many, is the surety issue for performance bonds. Surety coverage demands detailed metrics for job costs and job progress. In many cases, this type of detail simply cannot be provided without a robust industry package.

How much can you justify spending? Some metrics suggest that you can afford 2-3% of net revenues. But if you are struggling to manage your business due to the lack of real-time information, you may be able to justify more.

How will you find the most appropriate options? If you surf the Web you may identify dozens of products that look like they might work for you. You now have a two step challenge; identifying who to put on your shortlist and then making a final choice between them. This is not a simple task. Often, users actually become more confused as they go through their research instead of less due to all the claims and counterclaims of competing vendors. That means you need someone on staff that has the time to invest and knows how to navigate the muddy waters.

Who is in charge of the search? Sometimes the person tasked to find the new system may be selected simply because they are the most convenient, least cost choice. A bookkeeper/accountant or office manager usually does not have the breath of experience to handle a major project like software evaluation and selection.

The best choice to lead the project is someone who understands all the operational and accounting aspects of the business, has strong communication skills and who has the full confidence of the decision makers.

The Call Manager of Call Management Software

A call manager is an application or system used by organizations to log phone calls and to analyze and report on call records. Contact management software and hardware is used by businesses, government agencies, and hotels to help monitor phone usage, track telecoms expenses, and record telephone calls.

A contact management system, often called a call accounting system, allows managers to understand several important details about the calls they are receiving. For example, with a call tracking system, businesses can know how many incoming calls they are receiving, the number of outgoing calls made, the average length of a phone call, the destination of a call, and how much each call costs.

With a good call manager in place, businesses can quickly allocate telecoms costs by department, extension, or account code. This allows businesses to accurately budget for future telecoms needs, as well as maintain control over current telecoms expenses. Contact management software can further provide businesses with trunk analysis reports that will help managers analyze current and future telephone needs, and as a result keep phone systems performing at their optimal level.

Businesses need a call accounting system that is reliable, flexible, and will provide them with the reports and information needed to monitor and optimize their phone systems. A good call management system can handle heavy call volumes, export reports to third party software such as Excel and Crystal Reports, and can be used for an unlimited amount of extensions. The best call accounting companies will provide 24/7/365 technical support and will work with local installers to ensure that each business receives the service and support they need.

Contact management software can be used in a variety of ways, but one thing is for sure and that is that if a business wants to successfully manage phone calls, then they should have a reliable, inexpensive, and accurate call manager installed to meet all of their call tracking needs!