Why Digitalizing Purchasing Processes in Construction and Engineering industry is so important? 3/4

This is the third of a series of four articles I'd like to share to give you my opinion on how much I think is important that some industries digitalize their purchasing processes. 

AEC - Architecture, Engineering & Construction industry in one of the most important industries and it generates about 9% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the European Union and provides 18 million direct jobs.

I strongly believe that those companies who will embrace disruption and will prepare for the digital future, will succeed in the next future. Let's see together why I believe so important for that companies to digitalize their purchasing processes.

The reasons why embracing the digital transformation are:

1. PRODUCTIVITY & PROFITABILITY - Article 1
2. PROJECT PERFORMANCE - Article 2
3. SKILLED LABOR SHORTAGE AND SUPPLY CHAIN DYNAMICS

Today we will talk about Labour Shortage and Supply Chain Dynamics.

The construction industry is bracing for a dramatic reduction in workforce. Besides the difference between generations (baby boomers and millennials) with different work ethics, attitude and outlook the recession drove many skilled craftsmen to leave the industry and never return. 

By 2020, millennials are expected to represent half of the global workforce - many with little to no experience or interest in the construction industry. On the other hand the combination of increasing project complexity and decreasing experience is a risk multiplier, increasing the risk of deliverable delays, quality construction problems, and employee safety concerns. 

This affects the General Contracts and the whole Supply Chain and by being so the Supply Chain demands deeper analysis and care than ever before. Finding new Suppliers, qualifying them and assessing risk is a critical activity in AEC.

WHAT WE CAN DO?

The construction industry is at an inflection point, analogous to the move from landline telephony to cellular technology.

Digital technologies are disrupting the industry, providing new opportunities to address the challenges of poor profitability/productivity, project performance, skilled labor shortages and sustainability concerns.

The industrialization of construction and the application of proven manufacturing technology, online collaboration with stakeholders and best practices will help companies drive reliable outcomes and improve margins. Digitalization will increase productivity, reduce waste, and mitigate the adverse impact of on-site surprises.

Digitalization will improve most of the processes and push cooperation between partners, suppliers and subcontractors to a new level.

The end result: a more productive and profitable industry that builds more sustainable assets. Construction companies must take steps now to join the digital future and stay ahead of the competition or risk being left behind.

In VORTAL we have put in place a vertical focused on Engineering and Construction companies, with a taylor made solution ready for the new generations. Our platform represents the next level of user interface with a social network-like work area. This introduces proven best practices around the social networks, like the procedure timeline and the string of related communications under each procurement process.

VORTAL’s know how about Procurement has also been determinant in supporting the technological innovation of the Platform. That’s why VORTAL is able to provide libraries of sophisticated tender templates according to categories of needs, libraries of evaluation models using multi-attribute and multi-level criteria and state-of-the-art features to support collaborative evaluation of proposals, dynamic negotiation or contract awards.

VORTAL supports its operation in a collaborative and interoperable network of Buyers and Suppliers, increasing benefits for buyers (more competition) and suppliers (more business opportunities).

This approach also represents a significant reduction in the effort and time needed to start generating tangible benefits by adopting the platform. Every time a new buyer enters the eMarketplace, it will start getting an immediate advantage, of a trained and motivated network of suppliers.

The success of your eSourcing or P2P project depends on how both buyers and suppliers are supported during the transformation process. Vortal has proven methodology for introducing new suppliers to the network, assisting with user adoption and ensuring maximum advantage from them is achieved.

Companies often struggle to find suppliers that meet specific criteria. Whether you are searching for a second supplier, or a new supplier to support a new market entrance or a new product innovation, VORTAL can assist your supplier scouting efforts and effectively identify new vendors to support your business expansion. Before going in to a new geography your company can acess a Database of Pre-Qualified Suppliers to establish the most assertive commercial approach.

Vortal Suppliers Scouting provide a link and scouting services for buyers to engage with suppliers. It’s a service that allows a Buyer to identify new partner across the globe, get structured data about the profile, competencies and qualifications combined with a personalized support to assure a responsive and dynamic network able to address the buyers needs on time.

The service is highly scalable, combining online and semantic search based on a tailor made ontology, and able to address both local, international and global needs.

If you want to know more about our service line, please follow this link 

Are you driving change or are you being driven by it? Please share your opinion on that and if you are in the middle of the digitalization process inside your Engineering & Construction company and you want to understand if technology can help you in anyway inside the digitalization journey, please contact me and I will be pleased to share with you our opinion and our knowledge of the market.

Roberto Adami

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/robertoadami/

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