Construction, of course, spans multiple project type’s viz. residential complexes, infrastructure projects with several stakeholders, including eminent Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) companies, staunch construction firms & subcontractors specialized in electrical & mechanical services, architecture & planning and so forth.

1. Construction, of course, spans multiple project type’s viz. residential complexes,
infrastructure projects with several stakeholders, including eminent Engineering,
Procurement & Construction (EPC) companies, staunch construction firms &
subcontractors specialized in electrical & mechanical services, architecture & planning
and so forth. A cohesive term for this broad market is Architecture, Engineering &
Construction (AEC). Construction projects, however, are growing bigger & more complex
with an increasing need to integrate data-driven interfaces & digital representation of
assets.
Let’s take the construction of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for instance. Cities, public
sector organizations & investors don’t construct an SEZ off the shelf, so to speak. The
SEZ is designed & engineered to fit a specific site & situation, its expected capacity, and
other considerations viz. parking, public transit or road access. Nearly everything about
an SEZ is scoped & designed in a custom manner, from the number of industries it will
cater, to the number of freight parking and so on.
When the time for building an SEZ arrives, one doesn't order from a stock list of parts or
options. Instead, the challenge revolves around bidding out & reestablishing several
scopes of work. These scopes of work need to be estimated, scrutinized, approved &
revised as needed. There are often countless changes to the scope of work during a
construction project, ranging from crucial design change viz. expanding the parking lot
to simpler changes like a substitute material a subcontractor needs to use. As a result
instead of needing an ERP system geared to Materials Requirement Planning, the EPC

2. sector needs an ERP that is – project-and-asset- emphasized, equipped in projecting and
altering the scope of work, managing subcontracts, exerting controls of project costs,
risk, timescales, and quality.
Precisely, AEC projects don’t revolve around the quintessential “order to cash” process
that most ERP system support profusely. Rather here are some “MUST HAVES” ERP
data-driven imperatives to be on the lookout for the ideal project management solution:
1. Smart-estimation via CRM: Roadmap is known for a Customer Relationship
Management module geared towards managing opportunities and subcontractor
contacts, rather than clichéd management of product sales & customers. The
estimation is built by analyzing the scope of work in terms of what more might be
needed in subcontracting, equipment rental, engineering material & labor.
2. Contract Management for Sales: The fundamental challenge with construction
projects is managing the changing scope of work for a complex asset. Large assets
can sometimes undergo innumerable changes completely reversing the initial
design. Therefore, Contract management for Sales needs to manage approval
workflows, provide features for revision & management of the contract changes.
3. Valuation to be an integral part of contract management: The AEC industry has a
unique way of measuring work done per se valuation which is done on a
cumulative monthly basis serving as a foundation for getting paid & paying the
subcontractors. The evaluation is usually done by Quantity Surveying, a
commercial function cross-checked via physical measurements against BOQ.
These valuations are then used by Roadmap ERP as digital Application for
Payment, submitted to the client or received via the subcontractor.
4. Cost Control – Projects: Once the bid is rewarded and the project is underway, it
is imperative for the project proponent to exercise cost controls over all the
activities. This goes beyond the financial module of typical ERP which extends
only till subcontractor expenses & milestone payments, equipment rental
expenses, internal & external resource allocation to the projects. However, the
project cost control function in the ERP must be able to prefix an overall budget
for the project, enable periodic & real-time project reporting and analysis, keep
track of the monthly budget consumption and revise the project forecast.

3. Forecasting the outcome of the project on a periodic basis is a crucial activity if
construction firms are to keep check on the expenses and margins. This process is
stereotypically done by using spreadsheets on MS-Excel, so finding an ERP
solution that can manage this process inside the application would be great value
addition.
5. Service Management and Facilities: Many construction companies are
increasingly maneuvering towards People Public-Private Partnership (PPPP)
models undertaking Operation & Maintenance (O&M) of assets & facilities once
it's handed over. This implies a need for a service management solution, but one
that is integrated with the ERP software solution. Ideally, many organizations
prefer a separate set of software solutions for both the construction and O&M
stage with an additional set of back-office solutions for Supply Chain
Management, HR & Payroll and more. This, as a result, makes it more expensive,
cumbersome to manage & integrate multi-user interfaces. Amidst the integration
of all the interfaces, Roadmap ERP offers the ability to manage a service contract
with flexible pricing and invoicing features.
6. Mobile Workforce: The driving force in field service is to coordinate a mobile
workforce. This demands mobile job management functionality for all on-field
technicians. The mobile solution in place is also leading various firms for mobile
workforce optimization adhering to contractual service level agreements. To
achieve this, Roadmap ERP is providing an automated scheduling functionality
integrated with supply chains, HR & Payroll, skills, licenses and so on.
Now is the time for the Architecture, Engineering & Construction firms to organically
evolve towards integrated data-driven asset management & project formulation. The
quickening pace of urbanization, combined with the rapid adoption of technology-
driven models, is simply going to require integrated enterprise solutions with likes of
Roadmap ERP & more if firms desire to maximize their project-deliverables.