According to the Project Management Institute, the failure of many engineering projects can be traced back to the quotation management phase. Another study, conducted by the University of Aalborg (Denmark) also confirms that in nine out of ten projects, costs are underestimated and have a negative impact on profits (Source PMI.org).

To overcome this critical issue, engineering companies need a software solution that can support the quotation phase in an analytical and timely manner.

Akeron Project Business Automation is the ideal solution: it allows you to manage the entire project life cycle and includes features dedicated to the correct definition and allocation of resources and time.

First of all, the system allows you to set up the Corporate Organizational Chart, from which you can quickly identify the availability of all human resources and their related roles in the company.

The second preliminary element enables establishment of the typical Phases to be evaluated and managed in a project.

These two aspects are preparatory to the definition of the Service Catalogue, which allows the company to codify the elements of its offer, including a more or less detailed description and definition of the specifics, which are useful to enhance the economic proposal.

As such, the estimation phase can be concretized in the Sales Module for each prospect or customer, and reviewed by the system according to the object of the offer and analysis of all the elements that would have impact at a company level, should the proposal be accepted.

Akeron Project Business Automation allows a preliminary assessment, precisely targeted and analytical of the costs attributable to a specific project order, to enable definition of an appropriate mark-up.

If the feasibility study is positive, the system allows the creation of an Offer Document, based on a predefined template, that can be edited and shared with the customer via e-mail or through the use of the Reserved Area.

Finally, the solution allows management of the quotation phase outcome:

• Revision, which allows changes to be made to the existing document.
• Negative Closure, which indicates a failed negotiation, but thanks to the storage of relevant information, makes it possible to analyze the causes of failure.
• Positive Closure, from which the project order can be automatically opened and populated using the elements previously defined within the offer.

Thanks to the support of Akeron Project Business Automation, the realization of a project is not only greatly simplified but profit can be maximized through precise cost estimation.