From block diagram
to Class 5 cost estimate in minutes.

Concept-stage costing, without the spreadsheet pain

Early-stage cost estimates today still mean copy-pasting between datasheets, vendor quotes, and your factor file. CAPEX Engine takes the block diagram you already drew, reasons through it the way an experienced engineer would, and proposes equipment with sized specs and CEPCI-adjusted prices pulled from a real database — not a guess.

The output is a Class 5 estimate with a defensible audit trail: every piece of equipment links back to a database record, and every sizing decision shows the reasoning the agent used to get there.


How it works

Three steps, one continuous flow. You stay in control at each handoff.

1. Drop in a block diagram

Start with the seed graph you already have — input streams, output streams, and the process areas in between. CAPEX Engine reads it as a process graph, not a static drawing.

2. Watch the agent reason

An AI agent expands each process area: it reads the boundary streams, plans the equipment needed, queries a real equipment database, sizes each piece against the flow, and wires it all into the graph. You see every step on the canvas, in real time.

3. Get specs and CAPEX

The output is a fully populated process graph — every equipment node carries a sized spec and a CEPCI-adjusted price drawn from the equipment database. Roll it up into a Class 5 estimate, or hand it to your team for refinement.


Why it matters

Concept-stage costing is the moment a project either gets greenlit or dies. Today it leans on tribal knowledge, scattered spreadsheets, and gut-feel scaling factors. CAPEX Engine pulls that work into one place, grounds it in real equipment data, and gets you to a defensible number before the kickoff meeting ends.

Built on the same iterative process-graph engine behind our internal tooling — graphs all the way down, one consistent model from plant level down to individual pumps and tanks.


Be an early design partner

CAPEX Engine is in active development with a small group of engineering teams. If you do concept-stage cost estimates and want a hand shaping the tool, we’re opening a few more early-access slots. Short call, no slides.

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