Candy is a modern software suite focused on project control in the construction industry, a field in which Construction Computer Software (CCS) as a company have gained enormous experience in their more than 35 years of existence.

 Candy have specifically targeted the contractor’s software requirements, from taking-off, pricing and planning a project, controlling at site level, through to the final certificate. CCS has a wide international client base which exposes us to a variety of local requirements and new techniques. These are continually included into the software.

Candy is an integrated single-package construction application designed with, and by industry professionals. The closely linked modules produce an accurate model and timeous forecasts of the project’s anticipated construction process.

Candy’s modules include:

• ·         Estimating
• ·         Planning
• ·         Valuations
• ·         Forecasting (based on the link between the BOQ items and program activities)
• ·         Real Cost vs. Allowable budget with Earned Value analysis
• ·         Project Cash Flow
• ·         Subcontract Management
• ·         Electronic 2D and 3D quantity take-off – linked to the bill of quantities

A unique Candy facility, and one of its most powerful features, is the dynamic link between money and time – the interactive link between the bill of quantities or estimate, and the program or schedule of work.  This interactive link, between these two most prominent factors of a construction project, provides a wealth of information at the finger-tips of both management and client.

CANDY ESTIMATING

Candy Estimating standardises the estimating process in the contractor’s office and is well established in the construction industry worldwide. It is updated regularly to meet both user needs and new tendering conditions.

The Estimating module includes the following:

• ·         Resource-based analytical estimating
• ·         Description and pricing libraries
• ·         User-defined document layouts
• ·         Free-format rate make-up sheets
• ·         Resource and value analysis
• ·         Wastage and productivity analysis
• ·         Multiple-currency resources and bills
• ·         Subcontract databases, enquiry and adjudication
• ·         Report writer and data export
• ·         Integration with Planning and Cash flow

CANDY VALUATIONS

Candy Valuations provide continuity between Estimating and the Post Tender commercial control. All the information used to price the tender is immediately available at post-award. All Post Tender commercial functions can be carried out by site based staff using the facilities within the Valuations module.

The Valuations module includes the following:

• ·         Immediate use of tender information
• ·         Analytical pricing of variations
• ·         Detailed coding structures and analysis
• ·         Subcontract liabilities
• ·         Final and remaining values forecast
• ·         Multiple quantity types
• ·         User-defined document layouts
• ·         Report Writer and data export
• ·         Forecasts through integration with Planning
• ·         Allowance reconciliation by user defined cost codes

CANDY FORECASTING

The Link and Forecast module is a facility for forecasting quantities, values and resources, making use of estimating and valuation information, and the planning time from the program.

Each month the progress quantities against each bill item are entered in order to generate a monthly certificate. The monthly allowable or BCWP can then be imported into the Link and Forecast module in order to compare to the monthly costs or ACWP. Updating the Program will provide suggested progress quantities to the bill items each month.

On site, the costs would be collected against the various what, with and where cost codes in each period (when). The costs should be compared back to the allowable / earned value for each code on a monthly basis. The costs can be imported from a text file, which should be generated by your company costing system.

Once the Bill of Quantities and the Program have been updated, the remaining allowable / earned value can be calculated and spread across the remaining time.

Factors or percentages may be entered against each cost code combination for each reporting period in order to forecast a cost to completion. If a trend is expected to change, future percentage figures may be altered as required.

In addition to financial information, Candy also generates engineering information, such as total quantity of resources and total man-hours for the various cost codes. This information is vital for the engineering staff to make decisions on site.

Once the unique link is established between the Bill of Quantities and program, forecasting over the duration of the project is made simple. A full analytical breakdown of the forecast can be completed easily, making the forecasting module very attractive. The bill of quantities and program will be updated on a monthly basis, which in-turn will automatically update the forecasting module.

CANDY CASH FLOW

Candy Cash Flow models the financial requirements of a construction project so that the cash flow can be optimised.

The link between the BOQ and the program will produce the budget forecast; i.e. the value for the work scheduled for the relevant months.

This however does not represent the true cash flow as the claim for the work done during the month will be at the end of the month with payment for the work done lagging a month or more after submission of the claim.

The Cash flow module in Candy makes allowance for this scenario.

Like Estimating, Cash flow handles foreign currencies and can accept data from Estimating in multiple currencies. The exchange rate between each currency and the pricing currency can be varied over time, giving the user the ability to examine the effects of currency fluctuations on a project.

Cash Flow accepts data directly from the Bill of Quantities or from the Bill of Quantities/Planning linked relationship, or else data can be entered from the keyboard – or any combination of the three. This forms a financial model describing what has to be done in terms of the cost of labour, plant, material, etc., and the time scale within which these must occur.

By testing various models with different parameters and comparing the NPV results, the optimum tender strategy can be determined so as to maximise return on investment.

The Cash Flow module includes the following:

• ·         Financial modelling
• ·         Integrated Estimate and Program
• ·         Payment lags
• ·         Escalation
• ·         Payment plans
• ·         Advance payments and loans
• ·         Client and subcontract retention
• ·         Interest on savings and borrowing
• ·         Net Present Value calculation
• ·         Multiple currency modelling
• ·         Summary reports and data export

To find out more about Candy go to http://constructioncomputersoftware.com/home/products/candy/

You can download a free 30 day evaluation version of the software as well as a quick start manual and demonstration job that would assist in finding your way around the software.

Download at http://constructioncomputersoftware.com/home/products/candy/support/download-candy/