CMiC
Construction Process Optimization through a Holistic Approach to ERP

Construction companies often struggle to stay competitive as a result of their siloed workflows and disparate systems. The pervasive reliance on spreadsheets and the proliferation of rudimentary applications to enable different functions, such as accounting, payroll, scheduling, asset management, and project management, create obstacles to effective collaboration and communication between teams involved in a project. This has led project managers, supervisors, and executives to increasingly adopt new Cloud-based ERP solutions that unify the back office with field operations. CMiC, a construction management software provider based in Toronto and serving customers throughout North America and overseas, delivers a true ‘enterprise’ view of a company’s finances, operations, human capital, and equipment inventory. The company delivers a purpose-built platform—sitting on top of a single database—to orchestrate all facets of a construction business. “CMiC offers a single source of truth, enabling companies to easily access all information pertaining to any project, from project planning and execution to closeout,” states Gord Rawlins, President & CEO of CMiC.

In business for over 40 years, CMiC has focused on serving the construction industry exclusively for nearly 30 of those years. CMiC is the only software provider in the industry that offers a comprehensive software suite of construction management capabilities created through its own development efforts. Most other vendors in the industry offer only a fraction of the functionality—for example, project management or accounting. A few others that claim to have the full stack have cobbled together pieces of functionality through acquisitions and integrations. For a single version of truth and seamless user experience across the enterprise, construction firms turn to CMiC.

The CMiC Construction Platform includes a comprehensive suite of modules: Financials & Accounting (GL, AP, AR, budgeting, financial controls); Project Controls (subcontractors, bid & procurement, budget management); Project Management & Collaboration (RFIs, drawings & specs, submittals, meeting minutes, progress photos, daily journals, checklists, punch lists, subcontracts, change orders); Enterprise Content Management (workflow, document control, business analytics & reporting); Enterprise Planning (resource planning, opportunity management, financial forecasting, scheduling); Human Capital Management (talent acquisition, HR management, payroll, employee self-service); Asset Management (materials, procurement, and inventory management); and Mobile Field (a full suite of applications, including drawing management, for smartphones and tablets).

CMiC offers a single source of truth, enabling companies to easily access all information pertaining to any project, from project planning and execution to closeout

With a laser beam focus on driving productivity and operational efficiency, CMiC has two distinct models to onboard customers. The first model is a streamlined, lean implementation. Customers deploy construction best practices, using applications that are already pre-configured, allowing them to be up and running inside 30 days. The second model is designed for customers that wish to deploy the full platform as a single project, including detailed process mappings and workflow customizations. This model is typically chosen by large enterprises. With the second model, implementations can take anywhere from 12-18 months, depending on the organization’s complexity and the required level of customizations.

Since its founding in 1974, CMiC has traveled a long journey, from a custom software development shop to one of the leading companies offering ERP and field solutions for construction. With a dominant position in the enterprise segment and an acceleration of new customer acquisitions in the SMB segment, the company is now expanding beyond its North American footprint and establishing a ‘beachhead’ in the Middle East, starting with a multimillion-dollar contract with a major construction firm based in Dubai, U.A.E. To support its international expansion, CMiC is incorporating multi-language capabilities and enhancing functionality to handle multi-currency environments and the distinct financial reporting requirements of countries around the world.

With a greatly enhanced user experience across the entire suite of applications, a Web-based architecture, and a Cloud delivery model, CMiC’s platform has become the preferred solution for firms with remote employees who need to maintain their productivity and their access to mission-critical systems and data, especially as the Covid-19 crisis has led to strict social distancing and shelter-in-place protocols. “We bring with our platform the best-of-breed solutions for all our customers’ construction needs, with the added benefit of seamless integration, which makes our product one-of-a-kind in the construction arena,” concludes Rawlins.