Construction projects have many moving parts and a lot of stakeholders to consider. This makes procurement for the construction industry increasingly difficult.
A cloud based procurement platform can help ensure projects are completed in a timely, profitable and efficient manner.
In the following article, we will explore how tools within a cloud based procurement system for construction can take your business to the next level.
See the following list of areas we will explore in more detail in this article
- Supplier Management
- Ordering
- Contract Management
- Spend Control
- Inventory Management
- Communication
Let’s get right to it
Supplier Management
A procurement software for construction can streamline your supplier management process. It can ensure you are only engaging in partnerships that are in line with your legal and financial standards.
Ensure Your Team Purchases From Correct Suppliers
With the procurement software, you can make a directory of suppliers. That directory can then maintain a list of approved partners who you can purchase from. This ensures that no one in your organization goes outside company policy.
You can take it a step further by maintaining this list of suppliers per project or category. This way if you have approved suppliers for specific jobs, those suppliers would only appear as options within the procurement software for that project.
Reduce Job Time By Having Alternative Sources For Materials
Within the procurement software, you can list suppliers by category, job type or items. This is a great tool if you ever needed to source items that were not available through your usual supplier.
According to the US Chamber of Commerce, 95% of contractors are facing product shortages. Procurement software can organize alternative sourcing to ensure other options are readily available. This makes sure jobs aren’t waiting for important materials.
Procurement software is very important for the construction industry as you are dealing with many different contractors and employees. The supplier management tool within the procurement software ensures that no matter who is handling a project, they will be able to source what they are looking for and only source from approved suppliers.
Ordering
Ordering is a major task within the construction industry. Procurement software can save time and money by assisting you with this responsibility.
Reduce Risk Through Price and Performance Comparisons
According to the US Chamber of Commerce, 97% of contractors indicated costing concerns would have a moderate to severe impact on their business. The procurement software offers side by side comparisons on pricing to alleviate issues with price fluctuations.
It also compares other intangibles such as performance to ensure you're not only getting the best cost but also the best service.
Optimize Your Ordering Strategy
A procurement software for construction can combine requisitions for materials for many different projects. This ensures you are always getting the best pricing, saving time by placing one instead of multiple orders and reducing the incremental cost of ordering items more than once in short periods.
Even if you have projects across state lines or even in other countries, a procurement software can combine all of your needs to ensure you are ordering efficiently. This is very important in ensuring materials are not only ordered efficiently but that materials aren’t being missed.
Ordering through procurement software mitigates the risk of price changes, material shortages and poor communication. It provides the tools for a streamlined process that directly impacts your businesses bottom line.
Contract Management
A procurement software solution for construction can help manage and maintain contracts. You can create and store contracts all within the software.
Creates And Manages The Life Cycle Of Contracts
After the procurement system creates your contract, it then tracks how well contracts are performing. And based on this performance, the procurement system can renew or terminate contracts at the end of their term.
The construction industry depends on contracts. Having a contract management software within your procurement software allows for a higher level of efficiency. It ensures contracts are being responsibly managed.
Helps Stay Within Terms Of Your Agreements
Having the tool of a contract management software, a procurement software can ensure that all of your transactions within the system are within the terms of the legal paperwork for specific suppliers.
Now your procurement and contracts can live and operate within the same space. With the contract management tool, procurement software can ensure your procurement is following contracts to the T.
Spend Control
In construction, managing many different projects is the norm. It is very important to keep your budget in mind to ensure that no single project will take up your allocated funds. Procurement software is the tool you need to help keep your spend under control.
Instilling Approval Workflows Within Your Procurement Process
Within the procurement software, you have approval workflows that allow for people to request prior to a spend being made. Requests can be required for certain users, materials, dollar amounts, projects or departments.
Approvers can then be assigned based on the same criteria. You can establish approval hierarchies in the procurement software so that the right person is always looking at the spend.
Creating Convenience In Approval Workflows
Within the cloud based procurement software, requests and approvals can be made through your cell phone or other wireless devices. This is great for work sites as you can push projects forward without delays of waiting to be at a traditional workstation.
Approvals can also be automated so that certain dollar amounts or projects do not need to be looked at. This saves time in making sure that only necessary items are the ones that will be escalated.
Procurement software for construction approval workflows is a critical tool for spend control. With this feature, you can really cut down on maverick spending.
Inventory Management
Due to the nature of construction jobs being worked from many different locations, data management becomes cumbersome. A cloud based procurement software can help centralize data and be the source of truth for all projects no matter the location.
Visibility Into Your Inventory Position
A procurement software for construction can keep track of all your open orders and inventory counts at multiple locations. You will be able to pinpoint exactly where materials are needed, when materials will be delivered and where they are available.
Inventory information is readily available and can be tracked in real time through the cloud based procurement software anywhere you have internet service. You can check inventory statuses on your cell phone or laptop whenever you need an update.
Assists In Reordering
You will no longer have to worry about checking for when you need to order again. With the procurement software, you can set reorder points and order inventory by location. The software will alert you when it is time to order via text, email or even within the software.
Within the procurement software, you can establish things such as units of measure and order intervals to ensure you are ordering in the right amounts at all times.
Based on the above, you can then create the purchase orders. And you can even send to vendors with customized letterheads. All of this can be done within the procurement software.
Taking out the uncertainty of inventory counts ensures projects run smoothly. With accurate data and automated solutions, the procurement softwares provides the tools necessary to maintain just the right amount of inventory to get the job done.
Communication
Within the construction industry, a lot of projects are done remotely and not on site. A procurement software provides the tools to ensure all team members are on the same page.
Built In Messaging Features For Ease Of Communication
Procurement software has built in messaging features. You can connect directly with coworkers and even suppliers directly within the software. This way you can communicate all in one place.
You can get notifications about messages within the software, through text and emails. This procurement software feature will make sure you never miss an important piece of communication.
Store Communications And Documents
The procurement software is able to store notes, documents and other important materials directly on purchase orders, supplier information pages and contracts. This makes it easy to find and highlight important call outs in the most relevant places.
If you ever need to go back and find communications regarding suppliers, order or contracts, you can find the conversations attached right within the system. You would not need to dig through emails or other materials to find relevant information.
With communication tools in place, procurement software truly becomes a one stop source for everything you need.
Conclusion
Procurement software for construction is a necessity in today's world. The ability to connect individuals across projects and space is imperative to the industry.
More so the ability to control spend and dictate what partners you are buying from are safeguards procurement software for construction affords.
With so many different workers coming on and off projects, procurement software gives you a peace of mind that unsanctioned actions will not take place.
The convenience of a cloud based procurement software allows for communication and workflows to transcend traditional work spaces.
In a world driven by the bottom line and where profitability is the discussion in every business meeting, procurement software for construction is the tool to reach your financial goals.
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