What Should You Consider Before Automating ERP Processes at a Construction Company?

Before automating ERP processes at a construction company, it's worth mapping the volume of requests per project, defining specific alçadas by cost center, and confirming that integration with the current ERP won't require duplicate manual typing.

Construction companies have a specific trait: each project functions almost like its own company, with independent budget, vendors, and schedule. Automating without considering this tends to create a generic flow that doesn't reflect the reality on site.

Another point that often gets overlooked is who actually approves day to day. Often it's the engineer in charge of the project, not a central manager. If the automation ignores that and centralizes everything at headquarters, the flow becomes another bottleneck, not a solution.

What to map before starting to automate

  • The average volume of purchase and payment requests per project
  • Who currently approves each type of request, and whether that person should keep approving
  • Which projects have completely different processes from one another
  • Whether the current ERP already has some integration available, or will need an additional layer

Important decisions before configuring the flow

  • Define whether the alçada will be by project, by value, or a combination of both
  • Decide whether small requests can be approved directly by the project's engineer
  • Decide from what value the request needs to escalate to headquarters
  • Confirm how each project's cost center will be reflected in the ERP

In Jestor, each of these decisions becomes a configurable rule, with no need for code to adjust later.

Risks of automating without this prior planning

  • A single flow that doesn't respect the autonomy each project needs
  • Alçadas that are too generic, delaying simple day-to-day decisions on site
  • A lack of traceability over the real spending of each work front
  • Rework when, after rollout, you realize a type of request was overlooked

How Jestor supports this prior assessment

  • Jestor structures approval flows with hierarchy, alçada by value, and cost center per project
  • Native integration with Omie orchestrates multiple accounts, useful for construction companies with a headquarters-and-branches structure
  • The ERP Expansion feature extends the ERP already used by the construction company, with no system replacement required
  • Clients like Rumo use Jestor to standardize approvals across operations with several simultaneous fronts

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to switch ERPs to automate a construction company? No. Jestor organizes approval by project and sends the entry to the ERP already in use.

Can each project have a different alçada? Yes, each project's cost center can have its own configured value range.

Should construction companies with a single project also plan for this? Yes. Defining alçadas from the start avoids rework when new projects begin.

What to consider before automating ERP processes at a construction company involves understanding volume per project, who really approves today, and how the cost center will be reflected in the ERP.

Get to know Jestor

With Jestor, you can automate workflows, connect departments, and build internal systems your way, all without code and with AI support. Get to know Jestor at jestor.com and discover how to take your company's management to a new level of efficiency and integration.

Read more