Company Name: Al Ashram Contracting L.L.C.
Location: Dubai, UAE
Industry sector/s: High-Rise Construction; Underground Infrastructure
Products used: RIB Candy
It gives contractors the precise control needed to secure profitable tenders and manage risk effectively, ultimately leading to better project predictability and higher profit margins.
Mohammad Al Antabli, Estimation Manager, Al Ashram Contracting
The Customer
Al Ashram Contracting is a premier construction company with a fifty-year legacy of shaping the UAE skyline with remarkable projects. The firm has made key contributions to the nation's development by successfully managing projects at varying levels of complexity and scale, including low- and high-rise buildings, industrial complexes, and intricate underground infrastructure.
The Mission
Al Ashram is committed to providing client proposals optimised for cost, efficiency, and delivery, reflecting their focus on quality and integrity. The firm needed a way to streamline their workflows and eliminate the manual data silos that were bogging down their efforts to estimate, plan, and manage projects. Their mission was to improve project cost control and make more confident decisions to deliver successful, profitable projects. They sought a reliable solution that would connect these critical processes and support more accurate estimating, more effective planning, and more precise control.
The Solution
In RIB Candy, Al Ashram found a solution specifically designed for the complexities of the construction industry. The estimating and project control software stood out for its ability to bring estimating, project planning, and cost control together into an integrated platform, which enabled the team to manage the entire project lifecycle from first principles. They have also successfully implemented Candy's standardised master templates to auto-calculate complex formulas and leveraged the seamless integration between the BOQs and project schedule.
Result
Using Candy to reduce their reliance on disconnected spreadsheets and manual processes has helped Al Ashram to eradicate the manual data silos that previously slowed their workflows. The team has gained greater accuracy and control. They have greater visibility throughout the project lifecycle, supporting more predictable project outcomes. By combining accurate estimating, integrated planning, and proactive cost management, RIB Candy has enabled them to make better informed decisions and to approach projects with greater confidence.
Unlike generic spreadsheets or basic software, Candy integrates estimating with project planning and cost control, providing a robust solution that manages the entire project lifecycle from first principles.
Mohammad Al Antabli, Estimation Manager
Al Ashram takes a holistic approach to design, procurement, and construction, and combining engineering expertise and innovation, reinforcing their reputation as a leader in the construction industry. The solution that would best suit their needs and support that approach had to be specifically designed for construction.
Life before Candy was mostly about basic software and generic spreadsheets. Manual workflows created manual data silos, which invariably slowed the team's efforts during the tendering phase and impacted their accuracy. Manual cost calculation was often subject to human error. Al Ashram turned the situation around by implementing RIB Candy, choosing the solution for its highly specialised, industry-standard estimation and project control capabilities.
Estimating is one of Candy's key functionalities. Pricing using First Principles resourcebased estimating enables the software to generate powerful tender and resource analysis data. This information naturally flows from the tender to implementation stage. Users can easily use it to integrate with other related modules, like supplier adjudication, so that bids can be submitted efficiently, speedily, and with confidence.
First principles estimating capability has proven especially valuable for the team as it allows them to break down complex project costs into components – from labour to subcontractors, and plant to material components. This has helped Al Ashram improve the speed, accuracy, transparency, and auditability of their project estimates substantially.
The seamless integration between the Bill of Quantities and project scheduling through Link and Forecast has also been a powerful enabler for Al Ashram. It allows for dynamic, more effective cash flow modelling and resource planning.
Al Antabli notes that by connecting these processes, Candy has helped them significantly streamline workflows and improve tendering speed and accuracy. They can easily monitor actual site costs against project budgets.
The software provides a structured, transparent, and auditable environment for all our data.
Mohammad Al Antabli Al Antabli, Estimation Manager
For Al Ashram, Candy's value goes beyond estimating and also supports more predictable outcomes. For one thing, it provides them with greater visibility and control throughout the project lifecycle. It enables them to anticipate potential overruns and helps them manage project risks more effectively.
Candy takes a structured and transparent approach to data, providing an auditable environment for all the firm's project data. This has not only reduced the risk of human error but has also given the team greater confidence in bid pricing and forecast margins.
The solution features standardised master templates and ability to auto-calculate complex formulas securely – this has drastically reduced human error, giving the team greater confidence in their project numbers. Al Ashram now has the precise control they need to secure profitable tenders.
We have absolute trust in the final bid pricing and forecast margins it generates.
Mohammad Al Antabli, Estimation Manager, Al Ashram Contracting
