Why to choose ERP for Project Based Businesses?
Businesses operating in scale have to manage multiple projects on a day to day basis. Globalisation and increasing competition are pushing project-based companies to enhance their capabilities. Today, cloud technology combined with ERP for project-based businesses are empowering businesses with the required flexible infrastructure to operate economically and effortlessly.
Additionally, an ERP implementation can minimize the infrastructure costs and help project owners to fine-tune the processes with scalable capabilities. An ERP solution integrates finance, HRM, CRM, supply chain and other teams where co-ordination is required for a smoother project flow.
Simplify project management with ERP
Project Management ERP allows project owners to view the job portfolio, work orders, milestones, documents, project issues and other project-relevant information on a single dashboard. The ERP solution eliminates the need to write emails or call different departments or stakeholders to get things done. The saved time and money can be used to optimise the project performance and meet project deadlines without hurting the budget.
Let’s take the case of material management and vendor management in projects. Different kinds of materials are required on project sites. For example, electrical contractors may require switches or wires for a commercial complex project. To acquire the materials, they may release an RFQ (Request For Quotation) or RFI (Request for Information) communication to select vendors. Based on the quotation, further negotiations may take place and the best offer will receive sub-contractor work.
Once the project begins, the contractor will have to keep track of materials coming from the sub-contractor and run inspections. The materials passing the quality checks will be marked as certified by quality check team of the manager on site. If the material received on site is not as per agreed quality standards, the material will be rejected and returned or replaced.
Imagine the ease of operations when this entire process can be managed using a seamless user interface of an ERP platform. An advanced ERP solution will help project owners to manage numerous functions of multiple projects at the same time.
Getting the ERP implementation right
Large-scale projects are complex in nature. ERP planning and implementation is no easy task either. Businesses have different project challenges based on the project scope and timelines. The goal of an ERP implementation team is to simplify the project management process so that project owners can fulfil their purpose of delivering a unique offering to their B2B or B2C customers. Standard project management software has limitations when it comes to solving challenges of enterprise projects.
For business leaders, enterprise projects need a well-defined and customised ERP solution. The level of customisation depends on the scope of the projects handled by the project owners. Experienced ERP solution providers study the specific requirements and existing infrastructure of a business before submitting an ERP implementation plan. As per research, an effective ERP implementation can lead to better management of resources, cost reduction, quality enhancement, increased productivity and improved decision-making processes.
Some of the benefits of a well-implemented ERP are given below:
- Timely data backups ensure that project data can be recovered in case of technical issues or system crashes.
- Business Intelligence tools give project planners a holistic view of the project. Advanced business analytics also assists the decision-making process.
- All the company data is stored in a centralized system with advanced document management features. If a project member leaves the project midway, all the up-to-date company data is secure and easily accessible by the next project member.
- Visual representation of data makes it easier for reviewing the project status. The data reports can be downloaded in various formats for creating comprehensive project reports.
- A versatile ERP solution gives project managers the freedom to change project data and realign milestones based on changing scenarios.
Replacing the entire existing project management process can be tedious and expensive. But ERP specialists execute the implementation in phases after testing. Implementing ERP in stages ensures that stakeholders working on projects get the appropriate training and are less affected with the process change after an ERP integration.
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OMNI is a flexible ERP solution that can be customised for project-based businesses. Mumbai-based OMNI ERP experts can help you find answers for your project management ERP queries, reach them at ____________
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