"Before implementation, we were facing a whole myriad of estimating challenges in terms of managing the consistency and efficiency within our cost estimating process," said Kitchen Craft's Design & Tech Support Supervisor, Shane Goerzen. "We were using home-grown software and while it was effective for a brief period of time, we found that we had outgrown it. We needed software that could make our cost estimating better."

Kitchen Craft manufactures semi-custom cabinetry for kitchens, bathrooms and offices for homes. Founded in 1972, they are widely recognized as one of the industry's pre-eminent cabinetry brands. As part of their costing and pricing process, they needed a better software tool to help them quickly and easily identify costs based on a variety of cabinet measurements.

"One of the software features we've been most impressed with is the cost model editing tool," continued Goerzen. "Instead of taking all this time to develop our own in-house cost models, we can now do things more easily. For example – in the past we'd measure cabinets up against standard measures. Now, we have the ability to cater the measurements to the product and in turn – gives us a far more accurate estimate and has dramatically improved our cost estimating process."

In addition to improving, the overall "Quoting turnaround time in their cost estimating process – Goerzen also lauded the intuitiveness of the software platform.

"In the past, it'd take as long as six months to train someone on our cost estimating process," he said. "Now, realizing huge savings, it's possible for anyone to get involved in the estimating process – including handling some of our more intricate, detailed cost estimating."

Read their case study – " QuotingTurnaround Times Reduced for Kitchen Craft."

About Costimator SoftwareCostimator cost estimating, quoting and process planning software began development in 1982. Originally designed for suppliers, it reduces estimating time, while not compromising accuracy or consistency for manufacturers who do machining, fabrication and mechanical assembly.

About MTI Systems, Inc. MTI Systems provides cost estimating software and estimation services for the manufacturing industry, serving both suppliers and OEMs. For more details contact MTI Systems: 59 Interstate Drive, West Springfield, MA 01089, 800-644-4318/ 413-733-1972, or visit www.mtisystems.com.