References
TAYLOR MADE OFFICE INTERIORS LTD.
Taylormade Office Interiors is based on the south coast of England, serving the south east, London and Great Britain. Peter Taylor, the owner, answered the following questions:
Question: Why did you pick Timberline as a software?
Answer: I did a lot of research. I spent 7-8 months looking for the right
software in the UK and couldn’t find anything that matched Timberline
Estimating.
Question: Why do you like Timberline Estimating?
Answer: Timberline cuts down my workload in the office. In the past, I had to do a lot of calculations in getting the price out to a customer. Now they get my price sooner. The electronic takeoff saves a load of scaling off of materials. Before I invested in Timberline’s electronic takeoff, the client had to mail me their plans. With this quick feedback on prices the customer is talking to me, not to my competition. As for the accounting, it can be tailored to almost any situation plus the job costing is the best that I have seen.
Question: Is the program easy to use?
Answer: The program has been very easy to use. The training saved me a lot of time also rather than getting to know the program by myself.
EGEMIN NV
Egemin is a muli-national company based in Belgium that devises and deploys processes and industry-specific solutions for a wide-range of industries. Bart Dejans is the Bid Manager for Process & Mechanicals. Here are some questions that he answered:
Question: Was Timberline easy to learn?
Answer: It was so logical that I learned it mostly by myself. But Jim did a
good job of training me on the more complex aspects.
Question: What do you like best about the program?
Answer: You can calculate from a shared database and then view it with
reports or the spreadsheet sequences which make use of the powerful WBS
sorting capability.
Question: Has support been good?
Answer: Timberline’s support has been very good. Our technical staff has
called Timberline support plus I used the on-line Timberline Knowledgebase.
Jim Hoeppner has also been a help.
ARAS DEVELOPMENTS
Aras Developments handles residential to commercial developments, from financing to completion of construction. Tim McNamara is Director of Aras Developments Ltd. of Cork Ireland and answered the following questions:
Question: Why did you pick Timberline Estimating software?
Answer: We initially looked at Timberline because we wanted an estimating
programme that was designed with the contractor in mind. Also we felt that
there was duplication in the information processing carried out by estimating,
quantity surveying, purchasing and accounting. Timberline’s ability to link all
these activities using the same core of central information was a great
improvement in productivity.
Question: Why do you like Timberline?
Answer: Because the software represents an excellent return on investment.
I see this continuing into the future. The company is constantly updating and
extending it’s product range as our industry changes.
Question: Is the program easy to use?
Answer: Yes, using a sample database you can be up and running , creating
estimates in a matter of hours. To reap the real benefits you need to
customize a database using your own historical cost data. This is
surprisingly easy to do using the ‘Database Editor’ facility. In fact using this
module is no more difficult than preparing an Excel spreadsheet.
Question: Have you been able to get your questions answered quickly?
Answer: The backup support has been good even though it is located in the
USA and Australia. Timberline’s internet support is useful, for instance, the
on-line Knowledgebase allows you to look up thousands of topics. Also,
Timberline can even work with your desktop remotely over the internet to arrive
at a solution more quickly. The only drawback is the time difference but all in
all we always got assistance during the day the problem arose.
GRUPO CORPORATIVO SARET-COSTA RICA
Egemin is a muli-national company based in Belgium that devises and deploys processes and industry-specific solutions for a wide-range of industries. Bart Dejans is the Bid Manager for Process & Mechanicals. Here are some questions that he answered:
Question: Was Timberline easy to learn?
Saret was founded in 1976 as a consulting company. This led to a process of
diversification of the company which has lasted 23 years and is still going
strong. Most recently, SARET has focused its interest towards the construction
of hydro, wind, thermal and geothermal generating projects, under the turnkey
concept. SARET is the only Central American Company that has been able to
consolidate the fields of design, land works, civil construction, mechanical
and electric works, equipment supply, heavy fabrication, specialized transport
and start-up
The following questions were asked of the Sales Manager, Elkin Salmeron, of
Grupo Saret in Costa Rica.
Question: Is the program easy to learn?
Answer: If the user has a basic knowledge of working with Excel sheets, then
learning the program is not difficult. Timberline Estimating has a logic that is
easy to follow.
Question: What is the greatest advantage to using Timberline Estimating over
Excel?
Answer: Timberline has various advantages but the most important would be
the Assemblies feature. The logic of Assemblies is easy to follow plus they
are easy to create.
Question: Do you think that Timberline Estimating is very flexible?
Answer: Timberline has a great deal of flexibility in creating estimates and the
necessary reports. I believe that the program is very flexible.
3M
3M is a $18 billion diversified technology company with leading positions in health care; industrial displays, safety, consumer/home products, security/protection services, electronics, communications and transportation. Headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, the company has operations in more than 60 countries and serves customers in nearly 200 countries.
3M’s Phil Burnau, the manager of Estimating in Facilities Engineering, at the St. Paul world headquarters says, “I especially like the way that the GTCO digitizers have allowed us to calculate curves and areas. These measurements used to take a lot time with a mechanical wheel. Now the quantities drop right into Timberline Estimating via the digitizer interface. We can then calculate total quantities of material, labour and equipment, then apply costs and productivities in Timberline Estimating.”
CYPRUS LAND DEVELOPMENT
Nicosia, Cyprus
These questions were asked of Herodotos Chimonas, the head Quantity Surveyor:
What do you like most about the Estimating software?
It’s flexibility. The ability to create my own database, to measure all the items in accordance to a specific standard method of measurements and also to my own method of measurement. I believe that the combination of the twois a very powerful tool for a Quantity Surveyor.The ability to construct your own Assemblies, means that you can save over50% of your measuring time because it minimizes the input data, you can measure simultaneously many items, i.e. using the same input dimensions you can measure concrete, formwork and steel in a concrete structure (column, slab, beam).
Was the software easy to learn?
The learning time of the software is short compared with other programs. It is very easy to understand the structure of it, i.e. how to create the
database, item tables, formula tables, formulas etc. Once you have a complete database, for a new user its a matter of 3-4 hours to learn how to use it.
Hornecker Construction, Inc.
Jeff Hornecker of Peking, IL
I would like to thank you for the professional instruction in the training of Sage Timberline Estimating Extended Version , Explorer, Buyout & On-Screen Takeoff. There is no way I could have done this without the instruction I received from you. I recommend this software highly in having great value. The software performs things I would never a dreamed of. Any construction company not using this is msising out.
FAGEN INC
Bruce Langseth – Vice President – Senior Estimator
Mr. Jim Hoeppner demonstrated his personal and professional qualities to be above reproach during our purchase, training and implementation of the Timberline Estimating Software package.
Mr. Hoeppner provided us with the detailed presentations, proposals and the support we were looking for during our initial product review. We purchased the software package in the fall of2007. One of the options we wanted with the agreement was that he would provide on-site training to implement the software with our Civil, Mechanical and Electrical estimating departments. Mr. Hoeppners’ understanding of the Timberline Estimating Software product line was obvious during our on-site training. He was very thorough, knowledgeable and patient with our various disciplines and network implementation. Mr. Hoeppner worked around our schedule and was always available for a quick response if we had any issues when he was not on-site. He led our product implementation and was the force we needed to push us to use and understand the abilities of the software.
We currently (and have for some time now) use Timberline Estimating daily on all of our bid packages. If you are looking for the support behind a product, you will not be disappointed if you get a chance to work with Mr. Hoeppner. His attitude was always upbeat and his rapport with our estimating team was excellent. I would highly recommend Mr. Hoeppner, if you are considering implementing an estimating software package or looking for additional training.
GREENSTREAK LANDSCAPING, INC.
Linda Comin
I had the pleasure of working with Jim Hoeppner recently, therefore it is my great pleasure to write a letter of recommendation on his behalf.
Our company purchased the Timberline Estimating software back in June of 2008. I then signed up for the on-line class through Sage University. After completion and several phone calls to Sage customer service, and many attempts of using the program on my own, I decided to take Sages’ recommendation and called Jim Hoeppner of Alliance Solutions Group. I started working with Jim in October of 2008. Jim assisted me thru importing our data base into Timberline and gave me a list of “to do” items to clean up our data base that I completed on my own.
Jim set up a personal visit to our office for December of 2008. We really enjoyed working face to face with Jim. Seeing how the program worked thru the model company really gave us the insight we needed to understand the program and see how much it would help us in our business.
I continued laying the groundwork on the program, although I would have to admit I avoided working on the data base because I simply didn’t recognize what I was doing wrong. Frustrated with the formula aspect of the program, I repeatedly needed Jim’s assistance. Never did he give up on me. After a few more phone calls, with Jim’s knowledge and assistance, it clicked. I was able to achieve the breakthrough I needed to get the program off the ground.
I now love working with Timberline. You can now find me head buried in the computer working on the software. When the owner of the company comes into our office, he laughs at me because the work on my desk is piling up and I am sitting at the estimator’s desk working away.
Had it not been for Jim, I think the program would just be an unused application on the computer. I highly recommend Jim as well as the Timberline Estimator software.
ALLIANCE SOLUTIONS GROUP
Camille Martin
I would like to express my opinion on the professional qualities of Mr. Jim Hoeppner, a consultant for Alliance S.G. I met Jim when he was assigned to the implementation of Sage Timberline Estimating at West Indies Home Contractor (WIHC)
Jim was always well-mannered and understanding. Jim was thorough and made sure that there were no questions left unanswered. He was genuinely interested in our progress with the softwared, helping to resolve problems when needed and was quick to respond when not on-site
In addition, since one of our workers who is originally from Cuba, Jim was able to work with this employee in Spanish due to his fluency in that language.
I am happy to recommend Jim for any estimating implementation that you are considering.