What exactly is a project-based company?
Many people define project-based businesses as those whose primary business is to run projects for external clients, as opposed to traditional service- or product-oriented businesses. Employees in project-oriented companies, also known as matrix-based organizations, are organized into teams.
Project-based companies use projects to manage their primary business activities. They are also known as project-driven or project-centric businesses. Engineering, Architecture, Facilities, and Construction are among the industries served by these firms.
Project-based companies have many moving parts. As a result, the goal of implementing a solution like Business Central is to make business operations simpler, more efficient, and more aligned.
We’ll go over some of the specific advantages of a Business Central ERP solution for project-based companies and how it can help you run more efficiently.
Winning companies
A strong pipeline of projects is essential for any project-based company. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central allows you to track critical bidding parameters like project value, type, or tasks.
Business Central can assist project-based companies in identifying potential clients and projects that meet their profitability model by keeping records of projects that deliver high returns on investment. In turn, previous projects can aid in the development of proposals that meet the needs of the new client.
Business Central facilitates cost-effective customer acquisition, managing the preparation of specific bids and timetables for each project, and the timely attainment and execution of goals in turn by providing the data required to convert project chances into successes.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
When you’re actively working in a project-based company, it doesn’t take long for work to move beyond the range of manual processing. As a result, we recommend that you begin by investing in an ERP solution. We have assisted numerous project-based businesses in developing integrated software that meets their requirements. Here’s a rundown of how Microsoft Dynamics Business Central can help this type of business. But firstly, we check the project-based company challenge.
- Multiple long-running projects must be quoted and executed at the same time.
- Customer requirements are constantly changing, especially during the quoting phase.
- Customers expect you to provide reliable fixed-price quotes and to deliver on time.
- There is no pre-configured delivery scope. In the words of an ERP system, there are no standard BOMs (bills of materials), but each project requires a unique BOM.
- Dependence on a few high-cost items with long lead times is common.
- Scheduling of human resources (rather than “simple” machines) – with some activities performed in-house and others performed at the client’s location.
These challenges generate so many variables that it is impossible to simulate them realistically in an all-encompassing model.
When there are so many complexities, you must, on the one hand, find solutions that allow your project teams to deal with them without adding unnecessary workload. On the other hand, you need solutions that allow relevant information and insight to reach the right people at the right time, so you can make the best decision possible.
The goal of project-based company planning and what it necessitates in Business Central
Finally, the goal of project planning is to strike a balance between the demand for and supply of (internal) resources. The better balanced they are:
- The smoother the project execution
- The more reliable the delivery time commitments
- The better the resource utilization
- The less stress for all parties involved
The supply of resources in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is defined by:
- Groups of resources
- Resources
- Resource calendar
The job planning lines define the demand for those resources. They specify when and for how long each resource is required. Job planning lines, on the other hand, cannot exist without job tasks, and job tasks cannot exist without a job. As a result, internal resource demand is defined by:
- Jobs
- Job duties
- Lines of job planning
Here are the twelve steps I recommend for any project-based business that uses Dynamics 365 Business Central and wants to achieve effective project management.
- Form resource groups (Business Central)
- Create resources as well as “dummy resources” (Business Central)
- Allocate capacity to all of your resources (Business Central)
- As a template job, create a new job and its job tasks (Business Central)
- On the job card, enter a (random) duration (Business Central)
- Assign (fictitious) resources to your job tasks
- Connect the project tasks
- Timetable the job template
- Make a project using the template (Business Central)
- Plan the project’s timeline
- Job planning lines should be separated.
- Resources should be assigned job planning lines
You can go from zero to effective project management with these twelve steps. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is all that is required.
Business Central ERP is designed for project-based companies: An end-to-end solution
Business Central provides total process management and integration, leveraging real-time data to drive new efficiencies and achieve outstanding results for construction firms.
Please contact Gem Dynamics 365 for more information on the benefits of Business Central for project-based companies and to schedule a demo.
