Get a Handle on Your Supply Chain With Materials Management Software

Target Audience: Construction Company Owners, Supply Chain Managers, Job Site Management, Construction Accounting Firm Interest, Information Technology and Software Interest, Software Implementation Managers, Materials Management Coordinators

A supplier bills you for materials, but you don’t have them and nobody knows whether they were ever actually delivered. The crew couldn’t keep the job on schedule without the supplies, so somebody went out and bought what was needed, and now you have to spend valuable time investigating what happened to the lost shipment.

This is a sad tale, and one heard all too often on construction sites everywhere. Fortunately, today’s materials management software can help you get a handle on your supply chain — and save money in the process.

It’s all about timing

There’s no question that it’s a challenge to keep material flowing to busy job sites. And much of this challenge springs from difficulties involving timing.

If you order too far in advance, you’re tying up capital that you could use for other purposes — as well as running the risk that materials will be lost, damaged or stolen before they can be used. If you wait too long to order, you risk job delays and rush expenses to get what you need as fast as possible.

The easiest way to avoid such woes is to give your project managers a report of what materials will be delivered, along with copies of the relevant purchase orders, and then instruct them to check what’s received against what was ordered. But doing so means someone has to prepare the report every week or month, which could be a gargantuan undertaking with plenty of opportunities for mistakes.

There’s a better way

A better alternative may be to automate your supply chain with materials management software. These applications allow you to, among other things, track what you’ve ordered and notify you of what’s been shipped — and what hasn’t.

In addition, materials management software enables you to put together tentative materials delivery schedules at the beginning of each job as well as more up-to-date short-term schedules during the project.

What’s more, if the software is Web-based, everyone in your supply chain — including the suppliers themselves — can access it to know at a glance how the project is proceeding and when materials will be needed without investing in additional hardware or software.

Moreover, as the system creates reports telling you when deliveries were ordered, when they were promised, when they were shipped and when you received them, you can determine each supplier’s on-time delivery rate as well as the lead time for orders and deliveries.

Due diligence is a must

Naturally, materials management software is hardly without risk. Rush into the purchase and you might overspend on a solution that, ultimately, provides an unsatisfying return on your investment. Even if you find the right package, you still may encounter a lengthy learning curve, during which you could actually compromise your ability to track your supply chain.

So, before you buy anything, do some due diligence: Research prospective products — and their vendors — thoroughly. Look for a solution that suits not only the number of jobs your construction company typically undertakes, but also the technical savvy of the people who will use the software.

To contact Feeley & Driscoll, please click here or call us at 1 (888) 875-9770.