Priceworx Ultimate+: A world-first AI-driven material cost forecaster for construction project management.

Priceworx Limited是一家创新的英国中小企业，其愿景是重新定义建筑项目管理。Priceworx通过基于现有施工实践的创新缩减系统，帮助建筑公司有效地管理项目，提高生产力并节省浪费。迄今为止，Priceworx已开发出带有工作缩减系统的MVP，为承包商提供轻松的项目工作和成本管理。这个MVP已经被超过650个用户使用过，无论大小。建筑业是世界上最大的行业（2021年为6万亿英镑），在英国雇佣了约220万人，但在数字化方面落后于其他行业。在最近增加的挑战中，在2021年COVID-19材料价格上涨11/12个月后，承包商在2022年支付的材料价格比2021年高出约20%。由于无法有效跟踪/比较材料价格，数百家英国建筑企业倒闭[FT，2022年\]（例如，迈达斯于2022年1月进入政府，“向无担保债权人留下价值2000万英镑的债务”\[Investmentor，2022\]）。因此，这是一个重要的机会，既可以满足面临材料成本上升的公司的迫切需求，又可以通过数字化提高施工效率。这个为期16个月的项目是Priceworx旅程的下一步：创建一个人工智能驱动的成本预测器，**Priceworx*Ultimate+**。**Ultimate+** 将收集成本信息（来自项目CSV文件的材料和劳动力）和输出成本预测，为各个公司和项目策划。从实时项目管理到工程师索赔提交，Ultimate+将支持符合施工实践的端到端施工项目管理。

Priceworx Limited is an innovative, UK SME with a vision to redefine construction project management. Through an innovative drawdown system built around existing construction practices, Priceworx is helping construction companies manage projects efficiently, increasing productivity and saving waste.To date, Priceworx has developed an MVP with a work drawdown system, providing contractors with easy management of project work and costs. This MVP has been used by \>650 users, both large and small. However, further development is necessary to deliver the significant benefits Priceworx could realise.Construction is the world's largest industry (£6-trillion in 2021 \[Statista,2022\]), employing ~2.2million people in the UK \[Statista,2022\], but lagging behind in digitisation. Among the most recent added challenges, after COVID-19 material prices rose in 11/12 months in 2021 \[ConstructionNews,2022\], with contractors paying ~20% more for materials in 2022 than in 2021 \[BEIS,2022\].With no way to efficiently track/compare material prices, hundreds of UK construction businesses collapsed \[FT,2022\] (e.g. Midas went into administration in January-2022, 'leaving behind £20m worth of debt to unsecured creditors' \[InvestmentMonitor,2022\]). There is therefore a significant opportunity to both meet the immediate needs of firms facing rising material costs and improve efficiency in construction through digitisation.This 16-month project is the next step in Priceworx's journey: creating an AI-driven cost forecaster, **Priceworx** **Ultimate+**. The first-of-its-kind, **Ultimate+** will collect costing information (material and labour from project csv files) and output cost forecasts, curated for individual companies and projects. From real-time project management to engineer claim submissions, Ultimate+ will support end-to-end construction project management which aligns with construction practices.