The construction and industrial sectors encompass a broad range of services across various industries, including construction, agriculture, and infrastructure. Services within these sectors may involve maintenance and repairs, asset management, equipment rental, material production, transportation, as well as electrical and engineering services.
Companies in these sectors often find themselves juggling diverse requirements - from stringent regulatory compliance and quality controls to inventory management, and complex project and logistical challenges. Each involving multiple stakeholders including contractors, suppliers, architects, and government bodies.
This complexity and variety mean companies in these sectors simply cannot rely on siloed or one-size-fits all business management solutions.
But by seamlessly integrating NetSuite’s extensible cloud ERP, companies can introduce an end-to-end technology suite with all the capabilities needed to fit around their unique requirements as they eliminate manual processes, reduce spreadsheet reliance, increase project profitability and streamline communications.
NetSuite cloud ERP and construction & industrial industries
NetSuite is an all-encompassing cloud ERP solution, complete with core capabilities for managing finances, operations, inventory, warehousing and customer relationships within a single platform. Keeping financials in order is particularly challenging in these industries due to the variable nature of project costs and timelines. NetSuite’s robust financial management tools help track expenditures, manage budgets, and ensure compliance with industry regulations and standards.
But NetSuite offers so much more.
NetSuite’s integration capabilities
One of the standout features of NetSuite is its ability to integrate seamlessly with a variety of systems, apps, and databases. This interoperability is vital for construction and industrial companies that require diverse tools and platforms across different stages of a project. This also reduces data duplication and errors that often arise when using multiple disparate systems.
By centralising all business systems, NetSuite:
- Eliminates data silos, ensuring that everyone from project managers to financial analysts has access to the same timely and accurate information.
- Extends beyond internal systems to include tools used by external partners such as subcontractors, suppliers, and clients, to better support collaboration and coordination. Reduces the number of systems to maintain, leading to lower IT costs and reduced complexity.
- Automates workflows across different systems. For example, changes in project timelines or budgets can be automatically updated in real-time across all connected platforms, from procurement to project management and billing systems.
- Supports the generation of comprehensive reports that provide deeper insights into every aspect of operations.
- Delivers scalability to allow businesses to continue to evolve their technological capabilities in line with their growth, and select from best-in-class systems that best suits their business requirements.
NetSuite’s real-time data and reporting
NetSuite offers robust real-time data and reporting capabilities that empower businesses to access up-to-the-minute information and insights across business units, entities and locations. This includes live data across all its modules, from financials and sales to customer relationships and inventory – but also, from third party systems. Business leaders can see what's happening in their business at any moment without delays, enabling faster response times to both opportunities and challenges. There are also customisable dashboards, user-based roles and KPIs, alerts and notifications, advanced reporting and, when integrated with NetSuite’s advanced analytics tools, predictive insights, forecasting and trends for better planning.
Accounting challenges for industrial and construction
Industry-specific finance and accounting
Industrial and construction firms rely heavily on robust accounting practices, though achieving this can be challenging. Unlike other industries that benefit from fixed pricing and consistent services, construction involves unique contracts and a mix of services including consulting and engineering. Additionally, the sector must deal with complex estimations, unforeseen expenses and scope changes, all of which demand meticulous management. It is crucial for these companies to proactively address these frequent challenges, minimise errors, and invest in systems that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of their accounting teams.
Learn more about your industries project accounting problems in and the tech to solve them >
Complex project management and project profitability
You can’t manage multifaceted and intricate construction and industrial projects if you’re relying on disconnected legacy systems and spreadsheets. Often involving the organisation of large teams, multiple subcontractors, and substantial budgets, there’s also the added pressures of ensuring compliance with safety regulations and quality standards. Not to mention precise scheduling, resource allocation, and risk management to navigate potential delays, cost overruns, and unexpected challenges.
Without full visibility into all dimensions of your projects and the ability to pull the right levers at the right time, you risk missing deadlines, overspending budgets, and compromising the quality of your deliverables.
Profitable projects in construction and industrial services demand modern, cloud-based project control systems that can support the rapid deployment of new projects, adapt to unique business requirements, and run lean operations, with teams using data rather than just collecting it. With robust controls like these, you have everything you need to automate, track, and manage budgets, teams, spend, forecasts, and business processes within your organisation and across the supply chain.
Advanced solutions like NetSuite are increasingly valued for their ability to deliver real-time data integration and financial oversight. NetSuite-native budgeting, forecasting and planning tools help firms anticipate financial outcomes of projects with greater accuracy, supporting efficient resource management and strategic decision-making that aligns with long-term financial health.
Time wastage and manual entry
This is another big problem stemming from outdated and legacy systems, an all-too common occurrence in these industries. When project managers are excluded from budget-setting processes and forced to rely on spreadsheets prone to errors, inefficiencies are inevitable. This scenario, where critical decisions are based on incomplete or outdated information, highlights the urgent need for integrated solutions.
Learn how cloud-based ERPs blend financial management and project oversight not only to enhance collaboration and reduce costs but also to ensure projects stay on budget and schedule.
Systems breaking when attempting to scale
Scaling operations often reveals the limitations of existing systems. As industrial and construction businesses expand, they frequently encounter system breakdowns that both prevent growth and introduce operational inefficiencies. Traditional software solutions - designed for smaller-scale operations and defined by disparate systems - struggle to handle increased data volumes, complex workflows, and the nuanced demands of a larger enterprise. This results in fragmented data, process bottlenecks, and a reliance on manual interventions. On the other hand, modern ERP solutions - with scalable architectures and integrated capabilities – are becoming indispensable for companies wanting momentum and competitiveness.
Or learn why an ERP is essential to expanding your construction and industrial Services business >
Poor and siloed inventory management
Lax inventory management is a critical vulnerability that can spiral into substantial financial losses and operational disruptions. This is particularly important in the industrial and construction sectors, where they are often faced with the complexities of managing extensive inventories that include a wide range of items from raw materials to finished products. Inefficient inventory practices lead to either excessive stock, which ties up capital, or insufficient stock, which stalls project timelines. The repercussions of such mismanagement are compounded by the lack of real-time visibility and analytics, making it difficult to predict and plan ahead for inventory needs accurately. The inevitable result is delayed project timelines, increased costs, and damaged customer relationships.
Cloud ERPs turn this around with sophisticated inventory management systems that offer real-time tracking and data analytics, essential for refining inventory accuracy, enhancing responsiveness, and improving overall operational efficiency.
Learn more about cloud ERPs modern inventory practices for industrial and construction firms >
NetSuite case study: How ATOM’s revenue grew over 72% in just three years
Discover how terminal management firm ATOM fuelled their growth aspirations with Annexa’s best-in-class NetSuite cloud ERP integration and implementation approach.
ATOM's transformation story >Native NetSuite modules for construction and industrial
NetSuite’s composable architecture allows construction and industrial companies to build out native modules as operations evolve. These modules can address unique aspects of project management, supply chain logistics, and compliance requirements specific to their industry.
There are many, many modules, but here’s the most commonly deployed modules for construction and industrial firms:
NetSuite Advanced Financials
Offers comprehensive finance and accounting capabilities with additional financial management including budgeting, expense allocations and amortisation, and statistical accounts.
NetSuite Advanced Procurement
Streamlines and optimises the purchasing process, making the entire lifecycle more efficient and cost-effective.
NetSuite Advanced Inventory
Ensures optimal stock levels are maintained, helps track inventory in real-time, and manages reorder points and inventory valuation.
NetSuite Project Management
Integrated project management, project tracking and reporting allows you to automate project creation and automatically track percent complete, time budgeted and time spent on project tasks.
NetSuite Work Orders and Assemblies
Define assembly items, build complex multi-level bill of materials, create work orders, record assembly builds, and backflush components with minimal effort.
NetSuite Fixed Assets Management
Maintain and control the complete asset lifecycle from creation to depreciation, revaluation and retirement with support for multiple depreciation calculation types, handling of depreciating and non-depreciating assets, maintenance schedules, lease accounting and insurance.
NetSuite Field Service Management (FSM)
Manage and optimise the operations of businesses that deploy workers or contractors to customer locations, allowing service-related businesses to manage logistics, scheduling, and customer interactions more efficiently.
SuiteAnalytics
Provides embedded analytics for comprehensive, customisable, and real-time business insights directly within NetSuite.
NetSuite Analytics Warehouse
This powerful solution enables businesses to consolidate data from various sources, both within and outside of NetSuite, providing comprehensive insights and analytics to drive better decision-making.
SuiteProjects
Enhances project management capabilities with advanced tools for managing project timelines, resources, and costs more effectively.
NetSuite Planning and Budgeting(NSPB)
Enables sophisticated financial planning and budgeting that can scale with the business, supporting complex, multi-dimensional financial forecasts.
Despite the many benefits of cloud ERP and integrated best-in-class solutions, the construction sector has been slow to adopt technology. A hesitancy linked to a traditional reliance on manual processes and the fragmented nature of the industry. But that’s starting to change.
Adopting NetSuite cloud ERP can transform the operations of construction and industrial companies by providing an integrated, scalable, and flexible solution to manage finances, projects, and inventory. With features tailored to the unique challenges of these industries, NetSuite helps eliminate manual processes, reduce costs, and improve overall efficiency. Embracing this technology can pave the way for significant growth and success in an increasingly competitive market.
More valuable resources:
