Construction companies that aren’t adapting quickly enough to new technologies that enable connectivity are seeing profits plummet.

Connecting electronically with hundreds (or even thousands) of trading partners in a cost-effective and timely manner has historically been a challenge, which is why a lot of companies have taken an 80/20 approach—that is, they have connected electronically with only 20% of their trading partners that account for 80% of their transactions.

In the construction industry, where making smarter decisions at a faster pace is becoming more important than ever, and where the margin for error is getting smaller by the moment, the 80/20 rule to trading partner connectivity is quickly becoming obsolete—as well as a risk to future success and competitiveness.

Although construction is an incredibly stable industry, large enterprise companies are understanding that their dominance will be short-lived if they do not adapt. Connectivity and mobility are driving a new way of collaborating and working. The ability to connect people wherever they are on one platform keeps productivity ticking up.

Collaborative networks through cloud-based solutions are making an impact in heavy work by allowing companies to leverage network-based intelligence and analytics to optimize processes and gain efficiencies. Advancements in connectivity technology, including web services and APIs, are reducing the time and effort it takes to onboard trading partners, while mobile apps and devices are making it easier for users to capture and share data and information.

Manage All Materials and Suppliers With One Source

It’s 2021, but 95% of the “tickets” in the construction industry are still just pieces of paper that get passed through multiple touchpoints. Cloud-based, platform-enabled solutions digitize information from paper tickets so the entire supply chain can see ticket data in real time, throughout the ticket’s life cycles, from anywhere. Businesses reduce waste, eliminate manual tasks, remove duplicate data entry, standardize processes and track job costs daily.

Optical character recognition (OCR) technology makes it possible to capture 100% of material and haul tickets as early as possible, get them redigitized and then utilize the digital data for job cost reporting, accruals reporting, invoice reconciliation, quantities delivered for project managers, as well as to deliver more insights that can help to run a more efficient job. OCR technology extracts data from paper tickets via a mobile device in the field or office, through scanner integration, directly from the scale printer or as soon as they are created by the scale operator.

Trading partners can connect and exchange information from one single source, providing a deeper understanding of what is happening within the supply chain. The power to connect internal supply chain processes with suppliers, buyers, logistics providers, inspectors and owners brings visibility into the condition and location of orders, trucks and materials at all times.

Reconciliation Is a Breeze

Digitizing these paper tickets enables contractors to manage one ticket data instance for both hauling and material invoices. The user can see tickets in the system that have or have not been invoiced, as well as invoices that have or have not been paid, so that they can stay completely up to date with accruals and understand what is outstanding from a payables standpoint.

In this new world, all the tickets and invoices live in one place while artificial intelligence automatically matches up every line item, flagging the user if they have been overbilled or highlighting other exceptions requiring clarification. With all of the ticket data in the cloud, business insights are immediately available to provide an unmatched perspective of inbound material costs, including transportation, on a daily basis.

Project managers can spend hours matching tickets with invoices that come in and still not have the daily insight they need to make decisions that keep their job or operational costs within margins. The solution provides a complete picture of all the loads that come in; it takes all of the data on the invoice and matches it against actual ticketing data for deliveries in the system.

In one specific example, Grand Parkway Infrastructure LLC, a joint venture led by global infrastructure leader Ferrovial Construction, along with Webber LLC and Granite Construction Inc., secured the tSH 99-Grand Parkway Segments H, I-1 and I-2 project, due to be completed in April 2022.

GPI faced a huge challenge and needed a system to help manage the business processes associated with the vast amount of materials required for a project of that size. They implemented cloud-based technology systems, bringing visibility into the condition and location of orders, trucks and materials, as well as simplifying invoice reconciliation and AP workflows. Checking invoices and managing disputes with suppliers used to be a huge time investment. Now, it can be done in seconds.

“This technology has reduced time for sure because we don’t have to check each delivery ticket one by one; we just have to check that the delivery ticket has been approved by the engineers,” says Miguel Hernandez, segment account manager for GPI.

In instances where there is a missing ticket, a duplicate invoice or if materials have already been billed on another invoice, the system can catch that more quickly and easily than a human can. These capabilities put a lot of time back into the hands of accounting personnel and field engineers.