When delivering projects to customers is the bread and butter of a company, it only makes sense to prioritize those projects. Construction companies are project oriented, which means the business processes and systems should be centered around that. Failure to take a project-centric approach makes it almost impossible to identify what business systems are needed to ensure success. If projects are the bread and butter of a business, it should not be an after-thought of a business system.

Traditional ERPs Were Not Built with Projects in Mind

Typically, construction companies employ an ERP to manage key parts of their business, but the core project components are managed outside the ERP and cut off from the rest of the business processes. The result is that contractors have different departments using their own applications and tools to manage their operations. There’s no communication and data integration between these applications. Due to this, spreadsheets are used to import and export data to try and figure out what’s going on. By the time it’s all said and done, contractors are left with project errors and delays.

ERPs were originally designed for industries with high-volume, repeatable processes. They are effective in business industries where it’s much easier to apply technology to standardized processes and data to automate and accelerate production.

For construction companies, it’s not that simple. Traditional ERPs do not provide the level of automation and visibility needed to be successful.

Lack of Visibility

Construction executives typically have very little visibility into what’s going on inside their company and the status of their projects. They may be receiving weekly status updates and monthly overviews, but this information is already outdated due to the amount of time it takes to consolidate the data and generate the reports. Construction executives often make important business decisions based on limited, unreliable data.

Lack of Control

Construction companies operating in a fragmented application landscape means there’s a lack of control over the operations of the company. When work and information flows are disconnected, trying to standardize or take control is almost impossible. This results in project and company performance depending on the performance of individuals.

When there’s a lack of visibility and a lack of control, it leads to poor project outcomes and overall poor business performance.

Project Business Automation: An ERP-Integrated Solution

Project business automation is a new category of business systems designed specifically for any company that considers projects an important part of their business. For construction companies, projects are their business. PBA replaces the wide range of disparate applications that construction companies typically use and integrate those functionalities. This includes project management, enterprise PPM, professional services automation and more into one solution that integrates into the business’ ERP.

PBA puts projects front and center, integrating the business and operational aspects of projects together in real time.