Industrial engineering · DAPON
From a hand-built Excel workbook to a guided estimating and works management system
DAPON prices industrial work across steelwork, scaffolding, pipework, mechanical equipment and boilers. Their estimating ran on a large Excel workbook. We rebuilt it as a guided system that keeps the same calculations, protects every quote revision and carries won work straight into delivery.
Screens reflect DAPON's real system layout, filled with fictional sample data.
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See the system
From the first quantity to a live job on site — eight screens from DAPON's system.
Pipeline Overview
Config version: DAPON-EXCEL-2.1
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Recent Revisions
| Quote Ref | Project | Customer | Value | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DPN-00014 v2 | Line 3 Pipework | Brookvale Foods | £78,196 | draft | Open |
| DPN-00019 v1 | Tank Farm Tie-ins | Calder Chemicals | £112,400 | in review | Open |
| DPN-00017 v1 | Boiler Outage 2026 | Westmoor Energy | £138,750 | approved | Open |
| DPN-00016 v2 | Access Platform | Penrose Paper Mill | £27,600 | sent | Open |
| DPN-00014 v1 | Line 3 Pipework | Brookvale Foods | £75,846 | accepted | Open |
Pipeline at a glance
Every live quote, its value and where it stands — the first thing estimators see.
Fictional sample data — not DAPON's customers, rates or figures. Hover to pause.
The problem
- Every estimate was built by hand in a large Excel workbook covering six trades: steelwork, scaffold, pipe fabrication, pipe erection, mechanical equipment and boilers.
- The workbook held the business's standard labour hours and factors, linked together by formulas that were difficult to follow and risky to change.
- Revising a quote meant editing the file again, so there was no clean record of what had been sent or agreed.
- Internal costs, labour rates and margins sat in the same place as the figures that went to customers.
- Once a quote was won, the job was tracked separately from the estimate it came from.
What changed
- A guided quote flow takes the estimator step by step: details, trades, quantities, plant and project costs, summary, then the customer quote.
- Every standard hour and factor was carried across from the original workbook and checked against its Excel formulas, so the system calculates the way the business already priced work.
- Quote revisions are locked once sent or approved. Any change creates a new revision, so the agreed version is never overwritten.
- Labour rates, working patterns, plant, standard hours and commercial defaults are managed in one place. Updating them creates a new version without altering past quotes.
- Customer quotes are produced separately, with a preview and downloadable PDF, and never show internal hours, rates, overheads or margin.
- Marking a quote as accepted creates a linked job in Works Manager, so the agreed figures carry through into delivery.
Business benefit
What's better now
Quotes built in steps, not cells
Estimators work through a clear sequence instead of navigating a spreadsheet, so quotes are quicker to put together and easier to check.
The same maths, with more confidence
Calculations match the original workbook, so the team gets a cleaner tool without having to relearn or re-verify how work is priced.
A full revision history
Every version of every quote is kept as it was issued, so it's always clear what the customer saw and what was agreed.
Customer-ready quotes
Professional quotes are generated from the estimate, with internal costs and margins kept firmly out of view.
From won work to live jobs
Accepted quotes become jobs in Works Manager, linking the commercial agreement to the work on site.
One place for the rates
Standard hours, labour rates, plant and commercial settings are maintained centrally and versioned, rather than scattered across copies of a file.
Outcomes are described qualitatively. We'll only publish figures once they've been measured and confirmed.
Recognise something similar?
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