Case Study: Prototype Job-Costing System for Power Plant Retrofit
A rapid prototype that delivered real-time cost visibility during a complex retrofit—supporting on-site decisions and helping keep the job under budget and on schedule.
Client:
Large, well-known vendor of steam turbines
Industry:
Power Generation / Utilities
Project Type:
Prototype job-costing system for a plant retrofit
Engagement Duration:
3.5 months
Technology:
Microsoft Access (prototype)
Delivery Model:
On-site support + reporting + ongoing costing
Services Provided
- Built a prototype job-costing system and ran it on a specific retrofit job
- Delivered reports, analysis, and ongoing costing for the duration of the job
- Provided technical support and managed a network server for job documentation
- Set up a surveillance system and produced a time-lapse of the job at completion
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Decision Support
On-site PM adjusted staffing levels using current cost signals -
Reusable Asset
Delivered value immediately while producing a reusable prototype -
Delivery Confidence
Job completed under budget and on time
Part of a 50+ million dollar power plant retrofit. The client’s scope represented ~40% of the overall job, coordinating 15 vendors (including a labor broker) and safety logs.
The client was a contractor delivering three major workstreams within a large power plant retrofit program.
Their subproject involved fifteen separate vendors—plus safety and compliance tracking—where cost control and vendor accountability were essential.
Job costing was mandatory. In a large retrofit, it’s easy for expenses to drift while the team focuses on execution.
Accurate, timely costing reduced financial risk and supported profitable delivery for all parties involved.
The client could manage smaller projects with rough budgeting, but the size and complexity of this retrofit demanded a more reliable approach.
- Existing spreadsheet-based tracking was brittle and prone to breaking
- Forecasting was weak and required manual effort to reconcile costs
- Actual job cost data lived in corporate ERP but lagged by weeks—too late to guide decisions
- High vendor and labor complexity increased risk of overruns and missed accountability
- Deliver a prototype system enabling clear job-cost visibility
- Improve forecasting and cost allocation across retrofit activities
- Provide a scalable, testable foundation for future cost-management tools
- Reduce financial risk and uncertainty for the retrofit program
Discovery & Analysis
- Stakeholder interviews with on-site and corporate stakeholders
- Review of existing cost-tracking processes and data sources
- Definition of required inputs, outputs, and decision-support reporting
Delivery Focus
- Prototype-first build to deliver value within the active job window
- Operational support to keep data flow consistent and trustworthy
- Reporting cadence aligned to on-site decision-making needs
We delivered a Microsoft Access–based prototype designed to provide near real-time visibility into burn rate,
forecasted cost, and vendor/labor reconciliation—without waiting for delayed ERP reporting.
Core Capabilities
- Running burn rate graph with budget line
- Forecasting future cost at given headcounts
- Vendor and labor timekeeping
- Invoice reconciliation against contracted rates
Operational Support Features
- Simplified vendor data export/import
- Timekeeping to track on-site employees for emergency situations
- Managed job documentation server
- Surveillance setup + completion time-lapse delivery
The system became a critical tool for management insight and day-to-day decision-making, supporting:
- Work breakdown cost tracking
- Material management
- Labor management and allocation
- Project schedule forecasting and accountability
- Financial accountability
- Extra work accounting
- State and Federal safety & health labor hour accounting
- Contractual project cost accounting and forecasting
- Subcontractor deliverable accountability
- Subcontractor cost reconciliation
- Payroll accountability and reconciliation
The client declined to expand development further at the time, but the prototype remains reusable across similar jobs
and could be extended into a broader cost-management capability.
Want similar visibility on complex projects?
We can help you turn manual tracking into decision-grade cost and forecasting systems.