Some quick thoughts that may be of interest to Alex and others needing to estimate a project ...

How quickly does the client require/expect this project be completed?  What is the size of the processing area and what about the resources being provided (number of computers, label printers, etc.) These will determine how many staff will be required and how many staff can be reasonably accommodated.

If you are trying to boil it down to a time/piece, you first have to identify your constraints.  What level of staff will you assign (experience, typing speed, etc.), what is the quality of the material you will be processing (what percentage of the material will be non-standard or problematic), how much data entry is there per piece, etc.  You should process a representative sample with the level of staff you will be using to determine a baseline.  Be sure to include transport time from the office to the processing area, time to enter the data, time to print the label, time to apply the label, time to construct the carton, time to QC and time to place the material in the carton.  You will also need someone to deal with the storage vendor, etc.

Also, be sure you are estimating on a realistic day (once you're ready to turn per piece processing times into number of days).  A full-time person clocking an 8 hour day will, in reality, only produce approximately 6.5-7.5 hours worth of work.  Consider coffee breaks, necessity breaks, general downtime etc. (we're human - not robots!)  And always remember the mantra of the consulting business - Under Promise, Over Deliver!

Hope that helps and good luck.

Julie

Julie J. Colgan

Manager of Records Services

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

Atlanta, GA




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