How to Choose the Right ERP for Construction Industry

Companies in the construction industry know the challenges of juggling numerous moving items similar to job costs and budgets, progress reporting, managing subcontractors, scheduling area crews, tracking supplies and tools, rescheduling due to delays, and much more. An all-in-one enterprise management solution, similar to an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, can help streamline and automate numerous duties. With an erp for construction industry, you’ll be able to handle financials, project, scheduling, area service, buyer and vendor relationships, employees, taxes, and extra, all in a single software application.

But you don’t need to select simply any ERP. Ideally you’ll choose an ERP that will meet the requirements of your specific industry. After all, the needs of a construction firm could be very different than that of a meals and beverage firm. A construction industry-tailored ERP should assist you to manage employees, contractors, vendors, and suppliers, schedule jobs easily, create and track budgets, and enhance visibility throughout all operations.

With the infinite number of ERP for construction industry out in the present day, how do you select the best one for your construction enterprise? The first step when selecting new software is to establish what exactly you need it to do. Start with a listing of all the desired functionality, then divide the list into “must-haves” and “nice-to-haves” to assist you to narrow the search. Once you’ve a clear concept of essential functionality, then you can begin researching solutions that meet these needs and provide some good to have features.

What else should you consider when selecting an ERP for construction industry? Below are the prime three components that our workforce of software consultants advocate you take into account.

#1 Integration with expertise stack

Since an ERP is meant to facilitate data flows and enhance productiveness, it’s important to ensure it connects with the remainder of your technology stack. When evaluating choices, take care to verify out-of-the-box integrations with software you’re already utilizing. Building customized integrations is feasible when you discover a resolution that doesn’t connect along with your different systems, however it’s often expensive and lengthy, which might delay the implementation timeline of your ERP.

#2 Deployment sort

Equally important as the features of the ERP itself is how the system shall be deployed throughout your enterprise. Do you pay for the value of the software upfront and host it on-premise with your personal servers or do you deploy it in the cloud with a pay-as-you-go construction? ERP systems have traditionally been deployed on-premise, the place you put in and run the software in your firm’s hardware and servers. Cloud-based ERP software are becoming more common in in the present day’s landscape. When you select to deploy your system in the cloud, the software, databases, and related information are delivered via the web and could be accessed on any system with an online browser. This is particularly related for the construction industry where a lot of your customers want to access data whereas in the field at a project site on a mobile system or tablet.

#3 Level of customization required

In an ideal world you discover an ERP for construction industry that has every single functionality you need, and your enterprise processes fit right into the system’s pre-built workflows. However, that isn’t usually the case. Although there are lots of high quality ERP systems tailor-made to construction industry processes, you’ll likely need to carry out some system customizations to absolutely accommodate your particular firm wants. When researching ERP choices, ensure to examine how customizable the system is and what’s required to make it occur. What will it value and the way long will it take? How easy will it be to discover someone with the abilities essential to carry out these customizations?

Next steps

The ERP software selection process could be daunting, particularly when trying to find the greatest one for your particular industry. An skilled software partner may help your enterprise evaluate options, choose the best fit, implement the solution, customize it to your processes, and train your users on the system for long-term success.

Apagen Solutions has over 12 years of expertise delivering ERP systems for clients throughout industries. From configuration and data migration to training and UAT, Apagen will likely be with your organization every step of the way to guarantee a easy transition onto your ERP application. Our best practices, documentation, and tools are designed to help you implement effective technology strategies. Contact us today to get started.