Key Benefits of ERP in Construction Industry
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Blog posted by : Admin / 07 Jun, 2018
Today, there is hardly any industry segment which is untouched by the impact of ERP. The reason: ERP systems address industry-specific challenges, bringing in 360 degree visibility and productivity benefits. And when we talk about an industry as fragmented and dynamic as construction, the rewards of an ERP implementation are even more visible. Many companies that have already adopted Construction ERP systems strongly endorse it as a panacea for addressing traditional issues faced by the industry. If you are a construction company that is still questioning the advantages of ERP, take a look at these key benefits that an ERP software can bring to your business:
1. Goodbye Disparate Systems: Bid adieu to separate applications for estimation, scheduling, project management, labour management, material management, and so on. With ERP, manage every single business application from a single platform. Choose an ERP solution especially designed for construction industry and you can get systematically designed modules for all operations. With a single view of data, interdepartmental collection and collation of information is no longer a cumbersome process. This increases the overall efficiency of the system significantly.
2. Manage Resources with just a click: Traditionally, managing resources, including labour, equipment and materials, has been a huge challenge for construction firms, often resulting in project delays and over expenditure. With construction ERP solution, all these challenges become a thing of the past. Project managers can now get details related to all project resources with just a click of a button. This streamlines allocation of manpower in construction projects and even individual productivity of each labour can also be easily monitored. Many companies that have adopted Construction ERP software have reported increase in productivity and reduction in costs owing to improved resource management.
3. Customized Workflows and Processes: A good construction ERP software allows you to build customized workflow and processes right at the implementation stage. You can pre-determine the order in which a data or report travels between departments. For instance, you can pre-set that budget report for a purchase order of raw material will first go to a project manager then to engineering team, purchasing manager and then finally to accounts department. This not only streamlines the communication and brings in efficiency in processes, but also organizes regulatory compliance of the system.
4. Monitor Actual Vs Estimated Expenditure: Generally, construction companies need to give an estimated cost right at the start of the project. As any unplanned overhead liabilities are not borne by the client, determining an estimation is extremely crucial. This is where ERP completely fits the bill as it not only helps in planning expenses but also monitoring them during the project implementation phase. An ERP for construction gives complete visibility on the spending of all departments at all the stages. This lets leadership team to take corrective action at the right time in case of any deviation between actual vs projected cost, which is not possible in a manual Excel-based system.
Given the benefits, it would not be an overstatement to say that construction companies that don’t take the ERP route quickly face the threat of being left behind the competition. While deploying ERP solution is a necessity in today’s business scenario, equally important is to choose the best ERP solution for construction business. The key is to go for a solution that caters to the unique requirements of the construction industry and already has a substantial client base.
