For a company to build a hotel or office space in either an urban or a rural area, transportation of machinery, building materials, components, steel, etc. must be considered. In addition, construction on-site requires that a lot of resources remain nearby until the completion of the project. This can extend the project’s timeline and costs. Prefabrication in the construction industry is one of the most practical and promising solutions for this problem. It creates a safer work area and reduces labor, materials, waste, cost, and time. Incredibly, China built a hospital for Coronavirus patients in 10 days, thanks to prefabrication.

Prefabrication is a construction method which uses components made off-site in a factory, which are then transported and put together on-site to create a structure. The advantage of the prefabrication method is that commonly used concrete and steel structures can be produced at the manufacturing site instead of the construction site.

According to the UA Builders Group, modular construction is predicted to increase 6% globally by 2022. Prefabrication can provide you with the potential to save millions of dollars in construction costs. In this article, we will talk about why manufacturers choose prefabrication techniques and why it can be hard to implement an ERP software solution for prefabrication. We will then cover how TDT consultants, with our unique lean software development strategy, can help you implement an ERP solution for your company.

Promising Trends for Prefabrication in the Construction Industry

There are several trends pointing in a positive direction for prefabrication in the construction industry. Two of them seem particularly promising: Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Lean Construction. Building information modeling allows designers to visualize the whole life cycle of a building, from the very beginnings to daily use. Prefabrication also helps designers and architects to understand the intended use of any structure in the building. Lean construction is another prefabrication technique, which uses advanced technologies for the configure, quote and price (CPQ) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) processes. Lean construction (CPQ) helps customers, project stakeholders and salespeople collaborate effectively to select the right options and create quotes specific to their business. This helps in reducing time, cost and labor while improving the quality of the construction, because all the potential issues, and constraints for the project are validated and evaluated during the quoting phase itself.

Why Is It Harder to Implement Software for Prefabrication Techniques?

Lean construction is one of the most well-thought out and cost-effective development models currently available. The lean methodology should start right from the design of the product so that it is flexible for production and installation. This process should even go through your supply chain operations with your suppliers and contract manufacturers. One of most common issues with prefabrication is constant communication between the builder and the offsite partners. If you want to digitize all these transactions? ERP application software should follow lean software development and implementation practices. The golden rule of lean development is: “If a result can be achieved without an activity, that activity is considered waste (muda)”. Lean software development needs to work well with Agile implementation methodology. The following are considered as muda (non-value-added activities) in lean methodology.

• Unnecessary features – Start with specification of core functionality for the first agile sprint release of the product.

• Incomplete requirements – Create detailed specifications for each user story.

• Extra Steps / Iterations – Code based on the user stories and validate with the business users.

• Finding Information – Keep every stakeholder in the project in the loop with frequent meetings.

• Waiting (Customer/Team side) – Keep iterations between software deliveries from development to test short.

• Talent Utilization – Developers should work closely with key stakeholders and promote the best performers.

• Defects Not Caught by Tests – Testing should be performed in the following order: Developers, Q&A and users.

Lean development requires constant learning and constant communication with users and stakeholders. The Lean process runs in shorter sprints, one at a time. These shorter sprints keep the developers on their toes all the time. Lean development for construction also uses PLM to store all the data for parts, components, bills of material (BOM), specifications, and costs in a single place. When the sales team, customer or contractor builds a quote, the software needs to integrate with PLM.

Quicker ROI Using TDT Consultants: Customer Examples

We have implemented ERP Solutions for our customers in the prefabrication manufacturing industry. One of our customers, who is a leading carrier-grade antenna and enclosure protection solution, wanted a partner to help in their Digital Transformation Journey.  They reached out to us for help. Not only did TDT Consultants modernize their ERP system, we also identified key business differentiators and value-added for sales acceleration. TDT consultants designed and developed an ERP solution to reduce the time quoted by their sales reps from 3 weeks to 5 minutes. This solution saved our client $20,000 for every quote created by their sales reps. Also, the solution offered a self-service capability for customers to build their own custom configuration and place quotes at the same place.

The following are customers using the ERP solution designed and implemented by TDT Consultants:

• Manufacturer of high-quality modular bathrooms and bathroom pods

• Supplier of carrier-grade antenna and enclosure protection solutions for electronics

• Manufacturer of quality lighting products for the commercial market

• Distributor for home products (kitchen, bathroom, cleaning, disposables, and supplies)

Conclusion

Whatever your ERP system or whatever stage you are at in your Digital Transformation journey, if you want a reliable partner to work with you remotely in the US time zone but not charge as a US resource, then look no further. TDT consultants will be a great partner for you. Do not fall into the trap from some other providers who charge more, but outsource the design development offshore, then make you wait for updates the next day. TDT consultants can work closely with the US as well as the European time zone to cater to clients from those regions.

We offer business value, quicker ROI, key differentiators for your business growth and process improvement. At the same time, we honor your change management, project management and data governance policies. What are you waiting for? Please reach out to TDT consultants at: https://acceleanation.com/contact/