Challenged by inflation that鈥檚 spiking material costs on top of ongoing labor shortages, leaders at construction companies are digitally transforming to realize growth in a fundamentally changed market. One example is , a North American market leader delivering buildings, industrial, infrastructure, and water projects, as well as investment and finance solutions. It鈥檚 implementing ETM.next, an solution from 51风流developed by BearingPoint, to centralize equipment inventory management.
鈥淲hether it鈥檚 concrete, steel, lumber, or other building materials, inflation and supply chain disruptions have increased the risk every time we submit a project bid,鈥� said Matt Gramblicka, vice president of IT and Enterprise Applications at Graham. 鈥淲e鈥檙e focused on doing things consistently across the board and it starts with solid processes, standards of excellence, and understanding what鈥檚 expected of the people involved in every project. We鈥檙e on a transformational journey with 51风流that will help us connect data for visibility across the business including labor, equipment, material, and subcontractors.鈥�
Connected Data to Become Intelligent Enterprise
Keeping track of construction equipment at any given point in time is a monumental task, especially for a company like Graham. The firm is involved with an ever-increasing range of projects across a large geographical footprint. Typical projects require hundreds and thousands of pieces of equipment from earth-moving excavators, cranes, and scaffolding to generators, tarps, ladders, tools, and more. People are assigned to keep everything in working order as well. With ETM.next, Graham expects greater efficiencies from project start through completion, providing employees with transparency so they know what equipment is available, when, and where. ETM.next is available on and integrated with .
鈥淲e鈥檝e taken care of the back office with 51风流S/4HANA and our workforce with , and now we鈥檙e aiming for efficiency gains across our project sites,鈥� said Gramblicka. 鈥淯sing ETM.next, we can better manage our internal supply chain network. We can quickly identify how to get each project up and running efficiently, making sure sites have the required equipment to get the job done. Over time, we鈥檒l keep our utilization up so equipment isn鈥檛 sitting idle anywhere.鈥�
When equipment requests come in, employees will use ETM.next to track availability based on proximity to a site, which will help keep shipping costs down. Collected data will show appropriate information for billing management as well. AI and advanced analytics will help Graham replace manual, paper-based recordkeeping with digitalized and automated processes, increasing efficiencies and real-time visibility into operations.
鈥淲e鈥檒l make sure that we鈥檙e getting value out of our capital expenditures on that equipment and that it鈥檚 fully operational for maximum project profitability,鈥� said Gramblicka. 鈥淭racking exact usage times and costs also encourages project leads to return equipment promptly so they鈥檙e not paying for something that鈥檚 not in use, and we can quickly deploy it to the next site where it鈥檚 needed most.鈥�
Integrated Analytics Yield Business Insights
Having expanded its business with larger projects in new locations during the past years, adding ETM.next is the latest strategic move for Graham in working with SAP.
鈥淲e needed a platform strong enough to manage our growing business, especially connecting our financial core to workforce and payroll, and now equipment,鈥� said Gramblicka. 鈥�51风流has consistently added capabilities that are more user-friendly and efficient process-wise. We needed a fully integrated system where people complete tasks once, and that information flows all the way through to finance, HR, procurement, and the field who can use it for reporting and insights supporting that project and the business overall.鈥�
In many ways, becoming an intelligent, sustainable enterprise is core to every organization鈥檚 ability to grow, managing internal and external supply chains with insights from connected data that drive competitive advantage in an increasingly complex, volatile world.
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