FAQ's

Can I do math calculations within Costimator rather than using a calculator and typing the answer into Costimator?

Yes, Costimator 10 now has the ability to input a formula into any numeric input box.

Is there any way for me to export the current Costimator hard-coded reports to Excel?

Yes, Costimator now includes export scripts for 4 of the 5 Costimator part reports. This functionality is available to customers that have licensed the Export Designer utility.

Can Costimator display multiple estimates on the screen at the same time so a user can work on several estimates at the same time?

Yes, in Costimator you have the option of displaying multiple estimates on the screen at the same time in either a cascade or tiled format.

Can a user drag and drop an operation from one estimate to another?

Yes, Costimator gives users the ability to copy or move an operation both within the same estimate as well as from one estimate to another by clicking on an operation, then dragging and dropping it to the desired spot.

We estimate a lot of similar parts. Do I have to start every estimate I do in Costimator from scratch every time?

No, in fact we recommend that you save estimates as Master’s within Costimator so that when a similar part needs to be estimated you can simply copy the master to the part number you are currently estimating. From there you need only make those changes in the estimate that reflect the configuration of the new part, saving you a lot of time in the process.

How can Costimator help me find a part we estimated months or even years ago?

Costimator has an Advance Search function that is designed to help users find parts quickly and easily. Searchable items include Part Number and Name, Customer Name, Estimator, Job Number and Date Created or Changed along with 10 user-defined fields.

Is there any way to track estimates that are won and lost within Costimator?

Yes, in fact within Costimator you can set up 10 user-defined fields which can be used as search criteria as well as for reporting purposes such as tracking your win/loss percentage.

Are there any security controls within Costimator so that our databases can not be corrupted?

The Costimator User Manager Utility allows the System Administrator to set up each user with various rights to each of the Costimator databases. For each database a user can be set up as ""View Only"" or ""Full"" with rights to create, read, modify, delete and print from the database.

Can I create estimates in Costimator without giving everyone in the company access to them?

Yes, you have the option of labeling an estimate as a Private, Friend or Public part. A Private part can be seen only by the creator, a Friend part can be viewed only by those users selected by the creator and a Public part can be viewed by all users.

I charge different machine rates depending on the customer I am quoting. Can Costimator calculate machine time costs based on which customer (with the rate I am charging them) I am quoting?

Yes, Costimator allows you to set up various shop rates for the same work center within the Work Center database. This allows the user to select the appropriate rate based on the customer they are quoting. An OEM using Costimator can do the same, as they may use various rates to calculate costs based on the supplier or the country where the parts are being made.

Do you have any data as to what your ""supplier"" customers see as benefits as a result of using Costimator?"

Yes, in fact a recent survey of our existing supplier customers showed the 3 top benefits of using Costimator, with their median responses in parentheses, are an increase in RFQ win percentage (25%), a decrease in non-profitable jobs (80%) and reduced estimating time (25%).

Can I build my own proprietary cost models within Costimator or do I have to pay MTI to do that for me?

Many of our customers edit existing or build new cost models within Costimator, on their own, through the use of IQ Builder, a parametric cost modeling tool within Costimator.

Where does the data within Costimator (Work Centers, Material, etc.) come from?

The majority of the data that resides within Costimator comes from the over 900 customers that we have implemented the system in during the past 24 years. The balance of the data comes from industry resources (books, studies, leading companies) and research done by MTI Systems' Process Engineers.

What is a typical timeframe for implementation?

For an average sized supplier 3 days of training, which includes your system set-up, is a sufficient timeframe for implementation. For OEM's training multiple commodity groups we recommend our 5 day training program.