A custom ERP system that replaced 15 spreadsheets and eliminated 80% of manual work through automated workflows for project management, invoicing, compliance tracking, and resource allocation.
The Challenge
BuildRight's operations team maintained 15 critical spreadsheets that frequently broke due to formula errors, version conflicts, and accidental deletions. Invoicing was a manual process requiring 3 full-time staff to compile timesheets, material receipts, and change orders into invoices — a process that took 12-15 days per billing cycle, creating chronic cash flow issues. Compliance tracking for permits, certifications, and safety inspections was paper-based, and missed renewals had resulted in $280,000 in project delays and fines over 2 years.
- 15 interconnected spreadsheets serving as the de facto ERP with frequent formula errors and data loss
- Manual invoicing process taking 12-15 days per billing cycle, delaying cash collections by 30+ days
- 3 full-time staff dedicated solely to compiling timesheets and receipts into invoices
- $280,000 in project delays and fines from missed compliance deadlines in 2 years
- No real-time project profitability visibility — overruns discovered only at project completion
Our Solution
Advenno built a custom ERP tailored to construction industry workflows with modules for project management and scheduling, automated time-and-material invoicing, compliance and certification tracking with automated renewal alerts, resource allocation with skills matching, and real-time financial dashboards showing project profitability at any point in the project lifecycle.
- Project management with Gantt scheduling, milestone tracking, change order management, and RFI workflows
- Automated invoicing that compiles timesheets, material receipts, and approved change orders into ready-to-send invoices
- Compliance tracker with automated renewal alerts, document storage, and regulatory deadline management
- Resource allocation with skills matching, availability calendars, and utilization optimization
- Real-time financial dashboards showing project profitability, budget vs. actual, and cash flow forecasting
Our Approach
Process Documentation
Embedded with BuildRight's operations, project management, and accounting teams for 3 weeks to document every workflow, spreadsheet dependency, and pain point in their current processes.
ERP Architecture & Module Design
Designed the ERP architecture with modular construction — project management, financial, compliance, HR, and resource management modules — with a unified data model and role-based access controls.
Core Module Development
Built the project management and financial modules first, as they addressed the most acute pain points, with automated invoicing and real-time profitability tracking.
Compliance & Resource Modules
Developed the compliance tracking system with automated alerts and the resource allocation module with skills-based matching and availability optimization.
Data Migration & Go-Live
Migrated data from 15 spreadsheets, 3 years of financial records, and paper compliance files, then executed a phased go-live with extensive parallel running to ensure accuracy.
The Results
Manual work decreased by 80% across the organization. Invoice generation time dropped from 12-15 days to 2 days, improving cash flow by $4.2M through faster collections. The 3 full-time invoicing staff were redeployed to higher-value roles. Zero compliance deadlines have been missed since deployment, and the real-time profitability dashboards caught 4 project budget overruns in the first quarter that would have gone undetected under the old system, saving an estimated $890,000.
Technologies Used
Our spreadsheets were a ticking time bomb — one wrong formula and we'd lose weeks of work. The custom ERP Advenno built doesn't just do what the spreadsheets did; it does things we never thought possible, like real-time project profitability and automated invoicing. We should have done this years ago.