CUSTOMERS
Pearce Construction (Barnstaple)
Ltd
Pearce build for the
future with MetaBuild
With the ability to track and trace any project in a matter of minutes, Pearce Construction is reaping the benefits of implementing a new business solution from Metaphorix and Microsoft.
Pearce Construction (Barnstaple) Ltd is a speculative house developer and general contracting business with a turnover in excess of £11.5m. Pearce currently employ over 110 staff of which 28 are office based and 90 are site based.
Nearly two years ago, Pearce made the decision to move from their existing CODA system to MetaBuild (based upon Microsoft Navision). This move was prompted by the need to have a centralised, stable business solution that would reduce the data duplication that was being experienced in the old system.
MetaBuild is used to link all elements of the business together from project accounting thru contractor management to payroll and human resources, dealing with, and tracking, all of their complex CIS reporting requirements.
“It was key to us to have a solution that not only delivered information from a single database, but was reliable and robust” commented Richard Jeffs – Finance Manager at Pearce. “The fundamental difference with MetaBuild is its very powerful, user defined development environment; we liked having the flexibility to have the solution designed around the way we do business”
Pearce had many issues with their old system, particularly with regards to the integration of the modules within it. Information was difficult to obtain readily, data typically had to be entered more than once and it was hard to trace transactions through the system.
“We had particular problems with committed costs from a subcontract to a purchase order” explained Jeffs.
“With the introduction of digital ordering, all team members involved in project management are able to see ‘actual’ and ‘remaining committed costs’, this was not possible with the CODA system” he continued.
The system has produced many benefits and with digital ordering this has meant that invoicing is a simple automated process, with no need for data duplication. The job cost description now matches the product order description, this helps with the costing information, previously clerical staff entered a generic product description and hence tracking was very difficult. Invoice entry time has also been significantly reduced and this has allowed more time to be spent on queried invoices. The main benefit though is that system information is now instantly updated and all team members can now view live system costs far quicker than before.
CODA was also problematic when producing digital versions of subcontracts and purchase orders, with MetaBuild it is very simple, click a button and an electronic copy can then be emailed or faxed electronically. This also applies to remittance advices, these are now produced and sent via an electronic fax server that sits on the network, drastically reducing the time and cost of previously printing and posting. “Being able to deliver information by so many electronic mediums has helped us tremendously, even to the point where we now link directly to our bank to make payments straight from MetaBuild” stated Jeffs
Pearce have seen a great improvement in the ability to track project information from a central source, all insurance, safety and job information is held in one place and is now easily accessible. “Previously we would have had to pull this information together manually from several different data sources, now the information is at our finger tips” Jeffs continued.
Pearce liked the automation of the system, being able to directly link ‘Work in Progress’ to ‘Cost of Sale’ and production of purchase invoices straight from purchase orders. This has cut down significantly the need for rekeying of information at each stage of the project process.
Pearce were impressed by the project accounting functionality of MetaBuild and the fact that all job costs were instantly reconcilable in the General Ledger. This makes analysis and reporting easier than ever, full drill down and drill up facilities allow data to be interrogated quickly and easily. With multi dimensional analysis this also means that data can be analysed and compared through many different views across many different projects.
Pearce also liked the reporting capabilities of MetaBuild and the fact that data can be instantly exported and manipulated in Microsoft Excel. “This is a powerful feature, we use Excel all the time and to be able to instantly export or cut and paste data directly into Excel from MetaBuild and manipulate it is marvelous” enthused Jeffs. “This is particularly useful where you have larger projects with a high level of complexity”
Conclusion
Pearce have been very impressed with the stability of MetaBuild and the external support that Metaphorix provide. With remote access to Pearce’s live system, Metaphorix can instantly analyse problems and advise on the best course of action. If need be, users can even be shadowed to find out where they may be going wrong.
“Without doubt this system has significantly improved the efficiency within the business and has provided savings by automating a lot of our processes and reducing the need for rekeying and data duplication” added Jeffs.
“We have a good working relationship with Metaphorix and we have worked hand in hand to tailor the system to meet our exact requirements, which has made for the smooth running of the project”
“The fact that MetaBuild is built on the Microsoft Navision platform, gives us the peace of mind that this solution is going to be around for the long term” summarised Jeffs
Future plans
In the future Pearce plan to undertake further integration of their external systems, linking in personnel data and plant & vehicle fleet information.
