Quality is particularly important in the construction of senior housing. Therefore, the ERL Real Estate Group now uses 123onsite for its defect management in addition to Time tracking. Instead of dealing with masking tape, camera, and Word, everything is now documented with just a few clicks.
Everything from one Source by Nemetschek: from ERP to Time Tracking
ERL uses software products from the Nemetschek Group such as the ERP software NEVARIS Finance or the CAD system Allplan and is extremely satisfied with all of them. Therefore, it was only logical to look within the group to see if time tracking software was also offered.
They quickly found what they were looking for: Since 123onsite is a 100% subsidiary of NEVARIS, specifically programmed for the construction sector, and covers ERL’s requirements for deployment planning, Photo documentation, and Time tracking, as well as offering an interface to NEVARIS Finance, the IT department gave approval for its use after intensive testing.
With it, employees on the construction site record defect-related data, which is immediately transferred to a central online database and shared with stakeholders. For 123onsite users, 123-Quality is integrated into the solution and, if desired, only needs to be activated. The advantage: master data is created only once and can be maintained centrally. In addition, users of both applications have access to the entire data pool. Today, ERL uses 218 123onsite and eight 123quality licenses.
“Little by little, everything worked well, and in the next step, the payroll department was able to supplement the data with personnel information such as Staff ID and start date.”
Business Economist Elisabeth Buchner
Intensive Testing Phase of 123onsite
For five months, from May to September 2021, ERL intensively tested the time tracking solution with a pilot group of 15 people. For this purpose, all master data of the employees has been entered and they were assigned to a construction site close to home in order to be able to react quickly in case of questions. At the same time, employees continued to be scheduled in Excel.
Business economist Elisabeth Buchner, together with Michael Erl, the responsible board member of the group, supervised the introduction of 123onsite. After the positive conclusion of the pilot phase, all foremen were introduced to the use of the solution.
Bildnachweise: ERLImmobiliengruppe
Special cases covered as well
While employee scheduling was done exclusively through 123onsite from August 2021, times were still recorded in parallel on timesheets until May 2022. This was due to numerous special cases, such as dredging maintenance before the actual activities. Elisabeth Buchner explains the approach: “This way, we were able to gradually develop a solution tailored specifically to us for all special cases that have nothing to do with activities on the construction site, and integrate it into 123onsite.”
Saving Time with 123onsite
Meanwhile, the payroll department saves time by eliminating the need to collect handwritten slips and manually enter data in a laborious manner. Also, the immense effort for controls as well as erroneous data entries are a thing of the past.
The figures are available at the head office as soon as the employee has logged out of the construction site. If there are any incorrect entries, they will be corrected. Then the data is transferred to the payroll system for processing. 123onsite also simplifies personnel planning. Corinna Schosser, the technical specialist responsible for employee scheduling, is immediately able to see who is registered at which construction site and what activities the colleague is performing there.
Defect Processing Made Easy
The medium-sized company intensively uses defect documentation via photo. During house inspections, all defects are photographed and located on the floor plan uploaded to 123-Quality. The defects are then sorted by trade, listed in a report with a processing deadline and forwarded to the internal and external trades for processing. The person responsible for following up on the rectification of defects shall check after the deadline whether they have been rectified.
Specialist Corinna Schosser explains: “Originally, we marked the defects with painter’s tape during house inspections, then took photos, described the photos in a document with the location of the defects and assigned them to the trades.” The new approach saves the company a great deal of time. With just a few mouse clicks, everything is documented and reports can be forwarded promptly to the relevant departments or external performers.
Corinna Schosser
Technical specialist
The time spent on employee scheduling via Excel was incredibly high.
Now everyone can see where they’re assigned with a single glance at the app!
Corinna Schosser
Technical specialist
ERL Real Estate Group
Construction industry
This approach is simpler, clearer and less error-prone for all parties involved. Through meticulous preparation and implementation, as well as the intensive testing phase with the pilot group, ERL was able to eliminate uncertainties, and workers on the construction site were able to work with 123onsite without problems after a brief introduction.
As ERL Real Estate Group is driving digitalization in all areas, the use of the two solutions is a strategic decision. As a result, the error rate has decreased significantly, the quality of the reports has improved, and the reduction in administrative preparation and follow-up has allowed employees to focus more on their original activities.
About the ERL Real Estate Group:
The medium-sized, fully family-owned business from Deggendorf in Bavaria develops customized solutions for each project based on careful analyses and sees itself as a partner to business owners, cities and municipalities. The Group employs around 400 people and carries out 80% of the work itself. Thus, the in-house finishing trades include carpentry, plumbing, metal construction, painting, heating, ventilation, plumbing, structural and civil engineering, aluminum construction, quarrying, and gardening and landscaping.
Image credits: ERL Real Estate Group
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