OVERVIEW & MAJOR FEATURES
Construction Maestro®, currently distributed in 47 states, allows the user to accurately estimate a custom building package with ease. We've combined the expertise of a Microsoft Certified Professional and a building contractor with 17 years experience in the lumber & building industry. The system is designed for lumber companies and building contractors alike.
The system includes a generous number of features and options that allow the user to create a custom pole barn or garage to their specifications and building style. There are too many features and options to list here, however some of the major features include:
Choose from:
Included are:
Options include:
Since the user only sees one side of structure at a time, it is easy add, delete, and modify openings. A scroll bar that appears below the openings allows the user to move the selected opening an inch at a time or a foot at a time. The user also has the option to position the opening to the fraction of an inch by using the Position Selected Opening feature.
The system interfaces with the following POS systems:
The system is designed to walk the user step by step in creating a pole barn or garage. 
There are no clumsy drop down menus to memorize, nor is extensive training necessary. The system is designed to allow new employees to easily move through the program, but complex enough to allow advanced users to customize many, many features. Selection of components is organized in a logical fashion that is easy to follow. Even novice computer users find the system simple to use. The system walks the user through a screen with multiple tabs, one tab at a time. Each tab must be completed before moving onto the next tab. Most important, the Step-by-Step Design, along with the Positive Error Checking System allows the user to create a structure without forgetting important components.
The system prevents the user from moving on until all issues have been resolved. Issues are easily resolved since intelligent error messages notify the user exactly how to fix the issue at hand. Since errors are resolved on the spot, there is no need to write down error messages to be reworked later. Having an on-board Positive Error Checking system allows the user to create pole barns and garages that are error and hassle free.
Even though the system allows many advanced settings, there are many times when the user wants to save a group of settings to be used over and over. That's where Construction Maestro® 3.0's full templates environment comes in. This allows the user to create common custom packages to be used at a later time. Lumberyards will especially take advantage of this feature to service repeat customers, such as contractors. For example, if you sell a common pole barn configuration or advertise packages, you can create it as a template. The user will then select the template, make any necessary changes such as dimensions, colors and openings, and then provide the quote, plans, drawings, and materials lists. This allows the user to service common requests easily and quickly. The system has the flexibility of using any existing estimate to create a template. Using one of the custom templates, a full set of plans can be generated within minutes, while the customer waits.
Estimates that include steel siding or steel roof panels have a wide variety options to choose from. The user can include wainscot on any of the walls, interior liner panel, control the color of various trim pieces, include a cut charge and choose from a number of steel companies, automatically included in the system.
The systems operations area allows the user to set system wide defaults so that many options are pre-answered at the time of creating an estimate or template. These values are stored in the advanced settings area for each new estimate or template. Many of these values can be modified on a per estimate/template basis.
Options include preferred construction methods, company name & logo, sales tax values, starting points for various building components, required fields, and many, many more.
Advanced settings are a key feature that allows the user to customize many of the components in their structure. For example, Construction Maestro® 3.0 allows the user to have different size corner poles than spacing poles. Poles, doorjamb, doorjamb covering, and weather-stripping can all be different per door! The system features four different pole spacing types. A color palette is installed so that the user will see the actual color of the structure as it is designed. There are also many different settings based on regional differences and personal preferences. The advanced settings are preloaded with the values from the System Operations area and can be adjusted per estimate/template.
Construction Maestro® 3.0 boasts a product database that exceeds 13,000 items. The product database is organized by component area so that updating is easy to understand and products are easy to find. Any and all of these items can be changed or deleted. Of course, new items can also be added at any time. There is no need to change a cryptic control file as all products are accessed through easy to use product screens. Each of the product screens asks specific questions about the product including, but not limited to SKU, Price, Description, Order Number and Availability. A master list allows for the easy updating of pricing information. Our database is designed to handle point of sale pricing updates as well. The system has mass price update capability to adjust the prices for groups of products. Product items can be ordered so that the most commonly used items for that category appear at the top to be more easily accessible when creating an estimate.
Construction Maestro® 3.0 provides a generous package of realistic and practical drawings, plans, lists, and graphics that are usable in the field. Any of the plans/lists can be viewed or printed on a group or individual basis. These plans and lists can also be exported to a separate file that can be emailed to the customer in case of any last minute changes.
The system makes it easy to add openings such as entry doors, windows, sliders, overhead doors, general openings, and open walls. The user is guided through a step by step process of choosing an opening and its associated components.
Construction Maestro® has many, many features and options that allow the user to create a building to their building style and specifications. Listed below are more popular options, but please note that not all available options are listed.
Construction Maestro® has import pricing and export materials list capability with a number of point of sale systems. This feature, included with all versions of Construction Maestro® reduces time and mistakes. Prices that were updated in the POS system can be exported to a file and imported into the product setup area, automatically updating prices for matching items. Construction Maestro's® material list can be exported to the POS, eliminating the tedious job of reentering all the items by hand.
Construction Maestro® 3.0 allows the user to create reports on sales amounts, sales counts, and customer sales experience. The sales reports can be limited to a range of dates, a range of total costs, city and state values. This report allows the user to easily track sales over a period of time. It also compares the ratio of pole barns to garages. The customer experience report allows the user to follow up on unsold estimates, unsatisfied or undecided customers, and even evaluate your sales staff. Colorful 3-D charts visually capture the information listed on the reports.
