TradesHow this works
A production rate is the one number that turns a quantity into time. Enter it the way your records keep it, either units per hour or hours per unit, and the tool works out the labor hours. Spread those hours across your crew size and workday and you get calendar days, plus an optional labor cost if you add an hourly rate.
The rate is always yours, so nothing is looked up or assumed. Treat the result as ideal working time and a planning starting point. It leaves out mobilization, breaks, weather, and rework, so add contingency before the number becomes a bid. The rate drives everything, so an optimistic rate makes an optimistic schedule.
Common questions
Where do I get a production rate?
From your own past jobs first. Look at what a similar task took, divide the quantity by the hours, and that is your units-per-hour rate. Published rates from estimating guides get you close on work you have not done before, but they assume average conditions, so treat them as a start and correct them with what you actually hit.
Is this a bid?
No. It turns a quantity and a rate into ideal working hours and crew days. It does not include mobilization, breaks, weather, rework, overhead, or profit. Use it to sanity check a schedule or a rough number, then build a real bid on top with your markups and contingency.
Does adding crew always finish the job faster?
Up to a point. Two people usually beat one, but past what the work area and the task can absorb, extra hands wait, trip over each other, or need supervision. The tool shows the calendar days for one fewer and one more body so you can see where more people stops paying you back.
Sources: Labor hours = quantity divided by production rate, or quantity times hours per unit. Crew days = hours divided by crew size times hours per day. The rate is a user input.. Engine version 1.0.0. Risk tier 1.