The new UK government recently announced plans to build 1.5 million homes by the next election. With the building supply and construction sector now preparing for transformative change, this article from Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) explains why the timing has never been better for companies to embrace digitisation and see sustainability and profitability go hand in hand.
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Digitisation describes how companies can improve their processes and operations through digital technologies. For example, digitisation could involve implementing a new ERP system to streamline inventory management. Alternatively, it could describe how a new app is helping merchants better track and record e-signatures for customer deliveries.
In either case, such innovations are no longer just nice to have. These days, industry leaders see digitisation as essential to a successful, modern merchant business.
The evidence why speaks for itself. Early adopters routinely report that digitisation has helped them increase productivity, reduce operational costs, and quickly adapt to market changes 'on the fly' while having fully comprehensive control of their stock.
Traditionally seen as slower to adopt new technologies, the construction industry now arrives at a crossroads. Should merchants decide to invest and embrace the digital journey now, or play it safe and wait for another day?
At KCS, we think the time to act is now, and for the following reasons:
Companies with digitised processes can replace inaccurate and labour-intensive paper systems with precise, elegant, and instant mobile solutions that record data in real time. By taking the technology to the job, there is no paper duplication, improving overall efficiency, reducing waste, cutting processing time, and helping merchants save thousands on related admin expenses.
Digital ERP systems provide instant insights and snapshots into a merchant's daily operations. As a result, there's no longer any need to spend days or hours running reports. All the data they need to make better decisions and improve performance is at their fingertips.
Also, using an ERP system makes identifying emerging trends much easier. When stock and balance sheets are input digitally, sophisticated algorithms make it much easier for users to successfully forecast demand.
Keeping accurate stock records is crucial for builders' merchants, especially during busy periods. Digital ERP software gives merchants a suite of tools to manage every aspect of their inventory, helping them maintain optimal stock levels between branches while avoiding stockouts.
Additionally, by ensuring the right products are always available when customers need them, a fully digitised merchant business is better able to maximise its sales all year round.
In business, building trust through professional relationships is key, and today's digitised builders' merchants can offer a seamless and personalised customer experience that their paper-based rivals can't. For example, a digitalised merchant's system will have customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities that help them see client preferences, purchase history, and overall engagement.
Accordingly, it's easy for digitised merchants to offer customers tailored promotions. And, of course, faster and more accurate order processing is another example of how digitisation can help improve merchants' overall level of customer service.
Merchant businesses embracing digitisation can also optimise cash flow with integrated accounting and financial reporting features. It's also possible to automate whole processing tasks, such as the administration of accounts payable, removing the need for paper administration and, meaning merchants can now redeploy valuable resources where they're needed most.
Effective supply chain management is critical for builders' merchants' reputations and cash flow. However, digitising this process through a cloud-based ERP system makes it easy to optimise procurement processes, manage supplier relationships, and ensure timely delivery of materials to customers.
One regularly overlooked but critical part of modern business is complying with industry regulations and standards. One of the easiest and most reliable ways of doing this is by digitising how your merchant business administers sensitive information. Users scan documents onto a secure, cloud-based ERP system, where they're available for audits and inspections.
As the construction industry increasingly moves online, ERP systems' integration with ecommerce platforms means that builders' merchants can tap into new revenue streams. By offering online ordering and customer self-service options, businesses can expand their reach and access new markets at any time.
Digitisation contributes to sustainability by optimising resource usage and reducing waste. Fully digital ERP systems encourage their users to send PDFs instead of printing and collating their user manuals online, again dramatically helping cut carbon usage. Further reductions occur in the full digitisation of paper-based processes and monitoring systems that help merchants eliminate unnecessary fuel waste with their deliveries.
Going digital is the only way construction businesses can stay successful in an increasingly demanding and competitive marketplace. With so much growth forecast for UK construction in general, those businesses that have yet to enjoy the benefits of digitalisation should act before they are left behind.
To learn more about how the ERP solutions and integrated apps from KCS can help your business trade more profitably, visit www.kerridgecs.com
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