Packaging a tender went from 19 hours to 5
At a Leeds main contractor with over 90 staff, an estimator used to spend about 19 hours packaging each tender by hand: splitting the bill into trade packages, finding the drawings and spec sections, and writing the enquiries. It takes about 5 now, and the enquiries go out on day 2 instead of day 6. Subcontractors have nearly 3 weeks to price, so packages come back with 5 prices, not 3.
Key results
- 19 → 5 hoursPackaging a tender
- Day 6 → day 2Enquiries out to subcontractors
- 3 → 5Prices back per package
- The business
- Under NDA: Main contractor
- Service
- Tender Packaging
- Live in
- 6 weeks
- Paid back in
- Approx 6 weeks
- Size
- 90 staff
Background
Last year they priced 52 tenders and turned down 22 of 74 invitations. The estimating manager reckoned 9 of those were jobs worth having. The team didn’t have time to price them.
The challenge
An estimator split each tender bill into trade packages by hand. Copying the lines into a spreadsheet for each trade, finding the drawings and spec sections and writing the enquiry emails took about 19 hours.
With other tenders on, packaging ran into day 6, so subcontractors had 2 weeks to price instead of nearly 3. Packages came back with about 3 prices each.
988 hoursa year of estimator time, packaging tenders by hand
The solution
A plain bit of code checks every priced line of the bill is in one package and only one. AI reads the bill and the quotes, which every QS and subcontractor lays out differently, and suggests a package for each line.
What we built
- Splits the bill. It suggests a package for every line. Anything it isn’t sure of goes to the estimator.
- Sends the enquiries. It builds each package with its spec sections and drawings, then emails every subcontractor once the estimator approves the batch in Teams.
- Chases. It matches replies to packages, chases on days 7 and 12, and lists packages with fewer than 3 prices.
- Lines up the quotes. It puts them side by side and flags every exclusion.
Tech stack
It runs on their own Microsoft 365 and Azure accounts. It works alongside the tools they already use.
SharePoint
Outlook
Teams
Excel
Power Automate
Azure AI Document Intelligence
Azure OpenAI
Copilot Chat
The results
- 01
5 prices back, not 3, and time to negotiate
Subcontractors get nearly 3 weeks to price, so more of them can. Packages now come back with about 5 prices, up from 3, and the estimator has time to negotiate before the tender goes in. More prices and more time to negotiate means keener prices on the packages.
- 02
Quotes compared in 4 hours, not 8
Lining the quotes up and flagging every exclusion takes half the time it did.
- 03
41 lines caught for review
They sat under headings that don’t belong to one trade, across 7 bills. The biggest was £12,900 of balustrades under “sundries”.
- 04
No good tenders turned down for lack of time
Last year it was 2 in the same 12 weeks.
“The enquiries go out on day two now, and that’s the difference. Subbies price what they’ve got time to price.”
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