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DESIGN
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solution that grew out of mass production manufacturing.
Specialists in project-based business systems (like
Ingram) would argue, however, that highly specialised
project and asset lifecycle-based versions of ERP
solutions — built for real-time management of complex
projects — are where ERP’s strengths lie in our ind ustry.
True ERP is a fully integrated software solution covering
all the business processes and functions involved in
building or maintaining assets. That gives you a single
framework to consider how a BIM model integrates
with other business processes such as procurement,
project management, project cost control, sales and
sub-contract management, variation control, estimating,
bid management, material control, plant and equipment
hire, construction management, asset and facilities
management.
It’s become too inefficient to look after different IT
systems across different architectures with no natural
flow of data through a business. In today’s competitive
environment, uninformed decision-making is simply not
an option.
With a project-based solution combining the integrated
enterprise benefits of ERP, but designed specifically to
support the complex business processes of projectcentric organisations (the twist), it’s possible to address
the data flow problem, and to profitably manage and
maintain contracts over the entire asset lifecycle.
Time to act is now
As numerous governments around the world are formulating
and launching strategic plans for BIM, there’s never been a
greater emphasis on moving construction from a documentdriven process to an integrated, data-driven one.
If there is one thing that BIM has made clear, it is that
companies that engineer, construct, and fabricate
complex assets and infrastructure, need integrated
business software to manage time, cost, and risk
effectively.
And as the pressure to deliver affordable, timely projects
mounts, now is the time to integrate business processes
and to streamline data flow.
Rob Stummer is the managing director of software
solution provider IFS Australia. PA