So, you’ve got the best construction management software. That’s great! But are you getting the most out of it by bridging the digital gap in your organisation. If you are not sure, then read on to find out how you can plan an effective digital transformation for your business.
- Don’t micromanage your people
When your team gets the power of ERP, there are chances that they will want to micromanage the people working on the construction site. Everyone needs the freedom to make decisions and solve issues using their creative ways.
If the managers sitting in your offices have observations, they shouldn’t keep calling and disciplining the field officers. In case this kind of a work culture continues, your field officers will be demotivated and their productivity will be affected. Instead, give your skilled site managers the ability to view their productivity levels on their handheld devices. Cloud-based ERP solutions can help you to get these capabilities easily.
If you empower your managers working in your construction sites, they will be able to take decisions on issues faster instead of escalations from the head office. The project managers monitoring the site from your office can step in if there are serious problems. If minor issues are not getting solved then an update of these issues can be taken from the field officers during weekly or monthly review meetings.
- Use real-time data to monitor your progress
Of course, ERP can give you all the data that you would need from your various construction sites and offices. But what data is to be integrated and how, is also important.
While planning your ERP implementation, you must have requested for specific features from your ERP provider to solve specific challenges faced by your organisation. So, make sure those features are being used to add the relevant data into the system by your ERP users.
Also, you will have to streamline your workflow to educate users. Tell your users about what kind of real-time updates are to be sent for better co-ordination within their department and how to collaborate with users outside their department. This way, the relevant users will automatically receive important updates as notifications/alerts and your projects will run smoothly.
- Get vital insights from past projects
ERP for constructions can give you two valuable benefits related to insights:
- Using real-time data, you can experience an increase in efficiency in operations immediately.
- In the long term, you will have comprehensive data related to every project that gets completed. Once the project is closed, you will get deeper insights on how the company managed to save money, which areas of the project witnessed losses and what are the lessons learned from the project.
Also, past project analysis allows you to understand if your final project costs were in alignment with your estimated costs. The analysis of past project helps your company to make better project plans with more accurate budgeting in the future.
- User training is important
Imagine giving a few cars to a group of people who don’t know how to drive. Even if you tell them that it will make travelling convenient for them, they may not use it or may try to use it and not succeed. Here, the missing part is training. If you give sufficient training sessions on how to drive, what are the signboards to follow, etc., those people will be much more capable to use the cars and benefit from your offering.
Similarly, if you are giving the simplified workflow offered by ERP to your people, then train them how to make the most out of the opportunity. Let them practice using the ERP system and give them a platform to come back with queries or suggestions.
User training for ERP users can be conducted through e-learning modules, offline training sessions or through blended training.
- Integrate ERP with other systems
You had legacy systems in place before ERP implementation in your business. To move forward towards efficient workflows, integrate your ERP with other technologies that already exist in your organisation or which you can invest for further simplifying your processes.
For example, if you had fingerprint scanners for logging in attendance then integrate it with your attendance functionality in your ERP. If your business manages a warehouse, then get RFID scanners or other devices that can be integrated with your ERP.
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Finally, you can continue to improve your workflow as your business grows. To get the most out of your automation software and gain maximum ROI, you need a clear roadmap for ERP management in your business.
If you need a flexible ERP for project-based business, check out OMNI ERP. To know more, call _______
