Success Stories

Milton Mayeske & Sons, Inc

Milton Mayeske founded his site preparation company in 1947 in Douglasville, Ga. and in 1964 changed the firm’s name to include his sons. Today, Milton Mayeske & Sons’ 24 employees provide apartment and industrial sitework services to the southeastern region of the United States.

Challenges

For years the site preparation company’s president and vice president would end a hard day of work out in the field at various job sites by returning to home or office in the evening to prepare estimates … manually. They wanted to automate the company’s estimating process to save time and ensure accuracy to be competitive and profitable.

Solution

The contractor uses Maxwell Systems QuestMX Earthwork to accurately calculate cut and fill quantities in record time and uses Maxwell Systems QuestMX Estimator to manage its estimating process.

Results

With QuestMX Earthwork and Estimator, Milton Mayeske & Sons is able to work through projects efficiently. They have a process that allows estimators to create estimates in half the time and with important accuracy, which has helped them improve profitability. Plus, because of the ease of use of the QuestMX solutions, the contractor has been able to reposition personnel from the field into the office to help generate more bids for new work.

No More Homework

Up until the mid-1990s, Milton’s sons, Steve and David, the firm’s president and vice president respectively, would end a hard day of work out in the field at various job sites by returning to home or office in the evening to prepare estimates. They created them manually, which was a time-consuming process and demanded critical attention (and sometimes guesswork) to ensure accuracy to be competitive and profitable.

Milton Mayeske & Sons wanted to automate its estimating process and researched a number of software options. They wanted the solution to help them save the valuable time of its management team and to save money while producing high quality estimates. Most of the estimating products on the market at that time were DOS-based and they believed that Windows was the direction of the future. Maxwell Systems™ QuestMX™ Estimator offered robust features and functionality, and also was one of the only Windows-based estimating solutions available.

Taking the Guesswork out of Sitework

In 1996, Milton Mayeske & Sons transitioned from its paper-based estimating method to Maxwell Systems QuestMX Estimator to manage its estimating process and now primarily uses Maxwell Systems QuestMX Earthwork to accurately calculate cut and fill quantities in record time.

“When we decide to bid a job, we try to get the CAD files of the plans first,” explained Christian Mayeske, a project manager and estimator for the company his grandfather founded. “QuestMX Earthwork has done a great job of incorporating CAD. It is set up beautifully for importing CAD files.”

If not able to obtain CAD files, the estimator places the plans on the digitizer board and traces them using a stylus pen. He traces the plan once to bring in the existing contours and a second time for the proposed contours to generate accurate cut and fill quantities in QuestMX Earthwork. The estimator does the line work and then enters in the areas, curb links, and erosion control and then looks at the 3-D model to identify any inconsistencies or problems.

Using QuestMX Earthwork’s 3-D View, Milton Mayeske & Sons is able to get a realistic aerial view of the existing and proposed elevations. “It provides us checks and balances to help us easily see mistakes that may have occurred during takeoff,” explained Christian. “When viewing the 3-D model of the project, if a yellow-line appears, it is clear we need to review the data for that area. If we’re off by as little as a foot, QuestMX Earthwork will pick it up and mark it with a yellow line. The yellow doesn’t lie. Being a perfectionist, I want it to be as close a representation of the dirt as possible.”

Once the cut and fill quantities are determined in QuestMX Earthwork, Milton Mayeske & Sons must figure out all the equipment and labor costs. QuestMX Estimator enables the estimators to easily price out the job quickly and accurately.

Christian added, “QuestMX cuts it like a knife. It is extremely accurate and is better than anything I have seen.”

The Quest for Speed and Accuracy

“With QuestMX Earthwork and Estimator, we are able to work through projects quickly and not tie up the valuable time of our management,” explained Christian. “We have a process that gives us speed and the ability to turn estimates out quickly; and with the verification tools, we can ensure our calculations are not thrown off by errors during takeoff. Speed and accuracy are critical in an economy that requires contractors to bid more work to remain in business.”

Christian Mayeske further explained how his family’s business has been affected by the tough economy and how QuestMX Earthwork and Estimator have proven to be invaluable tools during this challenging time for the construction industry. “The economy has been tough on our industry,” he said. “We have to be extremely precise and cut our estimates much tighter in order to be competitive. With QuestMX, we can now create estimates in half the time and still have the great accuracy we have become accustomed to and is now required to achieve profitability.”

“Also, because of the ease of use of the QuestMX solutions, we have been able to reposition personnel from the field into the office to help us generate more bids for new work,” he added. “It is great to give them the opportunity and to let them see how it all works and we don’t have to tie up our top-end assets. I’m a good example. QuestMX opened up an opportunity for me and brought me in from the field to become the firm’s estimator. Since then, we have hired another estimator and were able to get him up and trained on the software quickly.”

“Being a Maxwell Systems customer has other valuable benefits as well,” said Christian. “We always look forward to the new features that come out with each upgrade and have received great support for our solution throughout the years. The customer service representatives are exceptional and the trainers and class curriculum have all been above board.”

Modern Homes, Inc.

Modern Homes, Inc. uses Maxwell Systems ProContractorMX as its complete takeoff and estimating system. The company is able have high accuracy and great details to produce on-target estimates.

Anderson Commercial Concrete

Anderson Commercial Concrete uses Maxwell Systems ProContractorMX as its complete takeoff and estimating system. The company is able to perform takoff with ease, speed, and accuracy, and then determine the materials, equipment, and labor for professional estimates.

PT Masonry

PT Masonry offers offers masonry services ranging from brick and stone veneers, chimneys and fireplaces to stairs and walkways and repairs on existing and damaged masonry. The company uses Maxwell Systems ProContractorMX as a complete software solution – to speed through takeoff, seamlessly send that data to estimating, and create accurate bids. Then they use the same software to manage job cost accounting and improve control of their financials.