By guest author Ed Ruffolo, Director of Technology at Miron Construction
Starting in 2014, Miron Construction Co., Inc. implemented a leading construction-industry specific ERP solution from CMiC. The ERP provided a comprehensive and integrated solution for our core information technology needs. That said, no single solution can meet all of an organization’s requirements, no matter how comprehensive. We wanted to incorporate new technologies and solutions while maintaining the integrity of the CMiC ERP platform. Because CMiC has developed integrations for a number of third-party applications, we’ve been able to add new technologies to our workflow and keep CMiC as our single source of truth.
By leveraging CMiC’s third party integrations, we’ve been able to target specific areas of our operations that need improvement. At the same time, we’ve protected CMiC data and processes so that our investment in this ERP software stays uncompromised. It continues to be important for us to find technologies that add value and leverage the ERP investment, rather than adopting new technologies that encroach on existing processes and procedures already addressed by the ERP system.
We’re grateful that CMiC has integrations with third-party applications that have addressed our organization’s specific needs. Some examples of third-party applications that CMiC has successfully implemented within Miron’s custom ERP solution include:
1. Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
Kofax OCR automatically recognizes vendor and invoice information directly from scanned or emailed invoices. Once the information has been processed and verified, it’s electronically posted to the CMiC workflow engine for accounts payable and subcontractor request for payment processing. Using Kofax OCR along with CMiC adapter saves significant time in initially indexing and routing the invoices, without comprising or replacing the existing CMiC-based workflow processing.
2. Digital Signature
DocuSign is an app that allows us to digitally sign all of our subcontractor agreements, purchase orders, and subcontract revisions. In the case of the digital signature, CMiC and DocuSign collaboratively partnered to provide a comprehensive solution. As a result, we are able to leverage the strengths and best features of both products.
3. Dashboard & Analytics
Microsoft’s PowerBI provides additional business analytics. After two decades of working with Microsoft’s mind-numbing and soul-crushing licensing and support policies, PowerBI is a wonderful breath of fresh air. If PowerBI represents the new Microsoft for the corporate market space, then Microsoft is poised for a significant resurgence and a return to being an innovative and leading-edge solution provider. Suddenly, Microsoft is “cool” again!
As we continue to drive innovation and process improvement through technology, we look to CMiC to strategically blend and enhance our ERP solution with new single-point solutions, hopefully giving Miron the best of both approaches.
For more information about ERP and the advantages of single-source construction software, check out Making Sense of Construction Software Jargon: Unified, Stand-alone & Integrated.