Whether you are actively in the market searching for a new Project ERP software solution for your organisation or browsing the internet for educational material, we notice that case studies are a very popular source of information. Below you will find extracts from a case study about HCD Group, a construction consultancy based in Wales.
About
Construction consultancy HCD Group is an energetic and forward thinking business working on an impressive range of high profile, blue chip contracts. With its head office in Cardiff – Wales, the company has established itself as a growing market leader with 100 staff in offices throughout the UK. After being recognised by the Welsh government as one of the fastest growing UK businesses, the company was acknowledged as being able to significantly benefit from having an integrated business management system. In order to be more efficient and thrive, the company needed real-time visibility into projects, resources and financials, but this was limited by its current disparate systems. HCD Group needed a flexible and scalable business management solution that would address the company’s future plans of continued growth and success.
The Problem –
“We were using 3 disparate non-interfacing systems (Microsoft CRM, Microsoft Projects and Sage) and our company and project data was not consistently updated in all systems at the same time,” said Steve Hicks, finance director, HCD Group. “Reporting proved very challenging because the systems were not integrated. The reports were not in real-time meaning they were sometimes weeks out of date.”
The Solution –
By implementing a fully integrated and automated ERP software solution HCD Group were able to experience the major benefits an ERP system can bring to any organisation instantly. Marcus Page, Business Systems Manager, HCD Group was quoted saying “We were very impressed by the ERP systems reporting platform. It is easy to find reports and the data is always up-to-date.” Steve added “I’m very impressed that reports can be broken down by company segment and profit centre. With our old systems, each company/profit centre created their own report and our business managers struggled to access relevant data. Now everyone has access to the same information in real time, there is no concern over the accuracy or consistency of cross company data.”
The Benefits –
HCD Group now has a live understanding of all their 2,500 live jobs and all project information is managed more efficiently. “The ERP’s efficient fee flow has resulted in efficiency savings with significant man days saved each and every month,” Steve said.
Improvements in efficiency has enabled the company to access much more project and company information, which is used for bi-monthly regional management meetings. Data is used by the directors to steer the company. Steve continued, “the system has really improved the quality and timeliness of our data. Invoicing has become faster and more efficient and with transparency for all, our surveyors see this as a big improvement. User adoption was remarkably smooth and quick, and everyone in the company sees that Vision is making a massive improvement.” Steve added “we now have such clear visibility into all aspects of our company. It even creates a bit of healthy competition between our business divisions. Our on-site guys are very enthused with the system. Projects are very process driven and we now have electronic records covering each stage of the process. It’s also much easier for them to enter details of site inspections – before, access to site records could be delayed.”
Conclusion –
HCD has recently received new accreditation for its Integrated Management Systems (ISO9001:2008 for Quality, OHSAS18001:2007 – Health and Safety and ISO14001:2004 – Environment ). HCD Group feels they are very well positioned for the upturn now they already have their business systems in place. “We have a lot of trust in the system. It is a big product created, maintained and enhanced by a large organisation. All future updates will be directly applicable to our company,” said Marcus.
Case Study
To Download HCD Group’s full case study please click here.
Product
To view details on HCD Group’s chosen system – Deltek Vision – click here.
