With the summer heat blazing away, we found ourselves again using the age-old cooling tools to beat the heat. This thought process reminded me of how some of the most basic aspects of SI are still as relevant today as they were in the beginning. And, while all of them (and all of you) have not been with SI quite as long as that, their usage can still improve your operation while easing the burden of “getting things done” in a timely and profitable fashion.
Whether it is leveraging SI’s Labor Types, Price Adjustments, Project Templates, or the cloning function, these (and other) basic SI features can serve your team just as well today as they did for other users in the past. In this article, we’ll endeavor to deliver some useful information on how these features of SI can best serve your team.
Moreover, for those of you that are still considering the acquisition of D-Tool's SI software, please reach out to our Account Management team here.
What are some of these traditional features in v23 that can make your integration life easier?
With that introduction complete, let's explore the key features.
– Labor Types:
Originally called Phases, many of us who grew-up on SI, still have a hard time referring to this relatively new usage for Labor Types. Like the phases of old, Labor Types now give our users unprecedented capability to bid, deploy, track, and analyze labor inclusion in an SI Project.
From the bid perspective, SI users can now add more than 1 Labor Type to any Product. As we all know, some items require attention more than once during the lifespan of their inclusion in a Project. This mechanism now allows those aspects of multi-exertion to be applied and viewed right at the Product level.
Even better, the Detailed Price View within any item includes the breakout of each Labor Type present on the item and further provides aggregate data as well:
This is a helpful mechanism to aid estimators by ensuring that all necessary labor is present.
For deployment, teams are now able to source the individual Labor Type present on any item for their Project Tasks and then also access the same item on a later Task for a different Labor Type:
As each Labor Type present is added to a successive Task, the ones available will dwindle, thus ensuring there will be no duplication of effort.
For tracking, project managers and others concerned about the status of in progress activity on Tasks, can use the Labor Utilization report from SI’s Time Sheets.
This display can provide real-time information related to hours churned in the field. Just ensure you select the filter option of Approved in order to see actual time.
In terms of analysis, SI’s Job Cost report module provides the most insight into where a job is at any stage after the close.
Located in the Project Explorer, the Job Cost module allows users to review labor related data on a Project by Labor Type as well as breakdown in both hours and dollars.
Once your desired Layout is selected, you can see a data display similar to this:
And yes, you can load multiple Projects at one time and export the data accordingly. In this display, you can see budgeted hours, actual hours, and the real-time variance. So, if a Project is still ongoing, project managers can stay on top of time remaining to be deployed until a Project reaches completion.
So, as you’ve probably guessed by now, the proficient use of SI’s Labor Types can aid your team in more ways than one, while ensuring that labor is not omitted, underbid, over-deployed, or unprofitable. These details alone make this feature one of SI’s most critically important.
- Price Adjustments:
For those who don’t know, SI’s Price Adjustments can be found both in the Catalog, for application on all items, and at the Project level for application on specific Projects.
Each of these mechanisms can aid teams in different ways, let’s first define each.
The Product Price Adjustment uses the amount of all Products present in an SI Project and combines that with your additional percentage to add a new amount to the Project.
This amount can then be renamed to your preference in SI’s Report settings for proper display in your Client reports:
Now, while there is certainly a good use for this application in light of recent events—Tariffs, anyone? This could also be used for any other project additions that you want to base on the Product Value that is present in the SI Project. Some examples could be: freight, 3rd party commission or consulting fees, warehouse/overhead fees, or administrative considerations.
The next Price Adjustment is for Miscellaneous Parts. That pretty much sums up the use case here, but it can be renamed as well for your Client reports:
Think about this application in terms of all those small, little parts that are necessary and used on every project but are just too numerous to itemize. This is then an appropriate catch-all for such instances.
The remaining Price Adjustment is the Labor Adjustment. While many use cases could be exemplified here, perhaps one worth noting is the use of this mechanism to generate a fee for a specific labor exertion such as System Design. This means a user could add 10% to the Labor Adjustment to capture all funds necessary to apply against the engineering for the Project.
This text can then also be relabeled for client facing reports just like the other Price Adjustments:
Beyond your specific usage scenario for each of these Price Adjustments, these settings can be present at the outset of your team’s SI Project creation. Furthermore, they can be preset for any Project Templates and will transfer from the source Project to the new Project if you clone an existing job to make a new one.
Suffice it to say that SI’s Price Adjustments can serve you and your team well for those often omitted and overlooked costs beyond your bill of materials and labor.
- Project Templates:
Briefly mentioned a moment ago, the use of Project Templates is yet another tool in the SI arsenal that can give your team an advantage at the outset of any bid process.
Succinctly, SI’s Project Templates are a way to have a new Project pre-loaded with anything from a “BOM” to Labor Rates, Taxes, Price Adjustments, to Packages, and beyond.
This head-start can save your team precious minutes and hours in your bid creation effort, as many of the necessary and/or required values could already be present in the template.
The main thing to understand about the use of SI’s Project Template is that any project you build (or have built) can be the foundation for a template. So, if you find yourself saying “Wow, this project is a great example of what our team aims to deliver on every job”, then you could very well be looking at the start of a great Project Template.
If your team does have any Project that could be a great template, all you need to do is right-click on the Project and select Create Template:
You’ll then be able to enter a name and description for the new Template as well as include any files from the source Project. Such files could include a scope of work, Visio or AutoCAD engineered drawings, and any other relevant documents present.
Templates can even be created for specific clients or market sectors. So, if you have a great client or two that you’re always quoting for with specific requirements for their bids, what better way to get each bid off to a great start than beginning with a preloaded project rather than with a blank slate.
For your specific market sectors, beyond a BOM, perhaps tax settings and Price Adjustments are pertinent to ensure your team starts with these correct values already in place.
Regardless of the reason, the use of SI’s Project Templates can save your team precious time, reduce mistakes and omissions, and ensure that certain compliance factors are met to produce quotes that are ready to go with minimal quality control required.
- The cloning of SI Projects
Another great tool within SI that saves time and increases accuracy is the cloning mechanism for Projects.
Just right-click on any project in SI in order to access this feature:
The resultant Project is a precise copy of the source one selected but is now available for modifications befitting the new bid requirement.
This is yet another mechanism of compliance and quality assurance for teams that seek to standardize design offerings while also ensuring achievement by repetition of prior success.
Every aspect of an existing project can become a part of the newly cloned one. This can include Visio and AutoCAD engineering drawings as well as scope of work documents. Combined with all project products, labor, tax settings, price adjustments, miscellaneous items, locations, and systems, this cloning execution can serve your team well and is a favorite among longtime users of the SI platform.
Another note on this usage is that permissions can be set for access in your User Groups in the SI Control Panel.
So, where the application fits, it can be configured accordingly.
Overall, the cloning of SI Projects is a way to save time, effort, and increase profitability for your team.
Looking Ahead: SI v23 and beyond
The last few years have seen tremendous updates and enhancements to the System Integrator platform. With each successive development and addition, D-Tool's has shown itself to be fully engaged in bringing to market one of the most effective software platforms available.
With that in mind, we encourage our users to consider SI a strategic partner for the AV integration industry that can help with navigating complex and hectic opportunities. By combining foundational aspects of the software such as Labor Types, Price Adjustments, Project Templates, and Project Cloning, v23 not only empowers businesses to operate with unprecedented efficiency but also offers the flexibility most teams need to craft a custom software environment to suit their needs.
Are you ready to experience SI v23? Then visit the D-Tools’ website to request a demonstration of these features or explore the full range of utilization with our PSG training and implementation team. With v23, as your ally, your business will be poised for a brighter and more profitable future.
Be sure to tune back in here for future installments on SI’s v23 and beyond.
Our team is continually evaluating ways to improve and enhance your team’s usage of and experience with our SI platform. Therefore, it behooves you and your team to explore these (and other features) as well by securing time with our Professional Services Group, comprised of SI and integration industry veterans, in order to maximize your team’s ability to succeed with the software.
In closing…
For more information on these and other features of SI, please see this link: D-Tools v23. You can also review our other videos and our standard support documentation.
You can also get more detailed information about v23 via our upcoming webinars and by enrolling in SI training with our PSG team.
And don’t forget— that’s why we are here— to ensure your success with our product! Be sure to check back here next time for more on v23!!!