CMiC Paragon Sports scales its business with a unified ERP platform.
The Challenge
Paragon Sports Constructors is a specialized contractor focused on sports fields and running track construction. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Paragon Sports services high schools, universities and athletic complexes throughout Texas and its bordering states.
Unlike other sports contractors, Paragon self-performs 95% of their work, from the base work below the fields to the installation of the natural or synthetic grass turf itself. Recently, Paragon expanded their building portfolio with small stadiums, which includes notable projects for Baylor University in Waco, Texas. However, Paragon knew that if they wanted to successfully support future growth, they needed to upgrade to a unified ERP system.
“We were doing a lot of manual work that included many hours using Excel to create financial packages and job cost reports—documents we knew could be created instantly with an integrated system,” says Brian Roberts, chief financial officer at Paragon Sports.
“Using this method of job reporting, we were at least 30 days behind on real-time information. I knew that this approach isn’t how you develop new ways of thinking within a company. Ultimately, we didn’t want the silos in our data to be the reason for not exploring new strategies,” added Roberts.
Learn why Paragon Sports chose CMiC to scale its business with a unified ERP platform.Download this Case StudyThe Solution
“As we continue to grow at a rate of 20% per year—which includes a corresponding increase in workload—I have not had to hire any additional personnel to process the workflow on a project or in the back-office. We’re processing a greater volume because everything is fully integrated.” —Brian Roberts, Chief Financial Officer at Paragon Sports
Roberts sought the advice of an ERP consulting group in Austin, Texas, to determine what their software options were based on their operational requirements. Paragon’s main priority was to automate as many of their workflows as possible, including the process for creating job reports for their financial packages. Based on this priority and other key requirements, the consulting group presented Roberts with 9 vendors, which he narrowed down to three—including CMiC. Because the goal was to have the selected software be adopted company-wide, Roberts invited ‘power users’ across the organization to demo and evaluate the ‘short listed’ solutions.
In the final analysis, it was unanimous that CMiC was chosen as the best software fit because it was the only truly complete and unified option. “CMiC had less third-party integrations compared to their competitors and still achieved the same, if not better, results,” says Roberts.
Because CMiC’s full solution stack has been developed in-house, every capability is built on top of a Single Database Platform™. CMiC Enterprise includes a complete set of unified capabilities: Financial Controls to enforce rules and achieve compliance with fiscal best practices and project specifications; Human Capital Management to realize the potential of your staff; Asset Management to deliver visibility into asset cost-to-performance ratios; and Corporate Risk Management to ensure regulatory compliance. CMiC Field—which can be deployed as part of Enterprise or as a standalone solution—combines Project Management & Collaboration with Project Controls to enable seamless collaboration and integrated project delivery. As such, CMiC Field optimizes forecasting and resource planning with its financial underpinnings, providing verified costs for every transaction source.
In addition to selecting CMiC for its rich and comprehensive functionality, Paragon also chose CMiC for its commitment to customer success. “We value partnering with vendors who are interested in developing long-term relationships, like CMiC, because we firmly believe that it is the key to our long-term success,” notes Roberts. “After we met with the sales team at CMiC, we knew that these were precisely the kinds of people we wanted to work with.”
The Result
In short order, the Paragon team went from using obsolete data—upwards of 30 days backlogged—to real time information—once they replaced Excel spreadsheets with CMiC Field. Using the CMiC Asset Management functionality, project managers can now create purchase orders, attach the quote and email the document without having to print or leave the system. “We now write Purchase Orders (POs) for 75% of our orders right on a job, as opposed to having to wait until the invoice comes in to code the item,” reflects Roberts. “An even more impressive outcome is how job costs are automatically updated once the purchase order is created—automating the entire process.”
Despite still being in the process of implementing CMiC Workflow, Paragon has already seen several changes to their approval process on the front end. Most noticeably, in their accounts payable cycle, Paragon can now automatically match invoices to their delivery ticket using its PO number. With this streamlined process, project managers can easily manage approvals in seconds, as opposed to wasting time by manually searching for complementary documentation as the first step in the process.
“We’re processing data in our system more efficiently than we used to, and I can only imagine how much quicker it will be once we fully implement CMiC Workflow,” says Roberts. “Even as we continue to grow at a rate of 20% per year—which includes a corresponding increase in workload—I have not had to hire any additional personnel to process the workflow on a project or in the back-office. We’re processing a greater volume because everything is fully integrated.”
In addition to running their business on CMiC software, Paragon has also taken full advantage of the CMiC non-profit, member-led user group, known as ‘CMUG.’ “I’ve been very impressed with CMUG, including CMiC’s involvement in it despite not running it,” says Roberts. “The fact that CMiC fully supports CMUG shows that they want to be involved with their customers to understand their issues: a better product equals a better company, and that is what CMiC delivers.”
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