How Digital Solutions Can Transform the Building Materials (BMAT) Industry

Jan 16, 2023

Infor | 5 min READ

The demand for building materials is closely tied to the growth of the construction industry, which in turn is influenced by factors such as population growth, urbanization, and economic development. In recent times, the building materials industry has had a significant impact on the global market, with the recent pandemic in the picture as the demand for construction materials has continued to grow, particularly in developing countries. It has led to increased investment and innovation in the building materials industry, as well as increased competition and consolidation.

Pratap Limaye

Global Program Director

Infor

Birlasoft

Business challenges

The construction industry is expected to face several challenges in 2023, including disruptions to the supply chain and productivity. Despite some stabilization in materials costs, global issues will continue to pose a threat to the industry.

Increasing emissions

The building sector is responsible for a significant proportion of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, with the production of cement, steel, glass, and other building materials accounting for around 10% of global emissions. The challenge for the industry is to find ways to reduce these emissions while continuing to meet the ever-growing demand for new buildings and infrastructure.

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Inefficient supply chain

Ironically, the construction materials supply chain is fragmented, with many small and medium-sized suppliers. This creates problems with coordination and delivery as its completely labor dependent, as well as a lack of standardization.

Need for cost optimization

In addition, the construction industry is notorious for its low-profit margins. This means that there is little room for error in the supply chain. If one company makes a mistake, it can have a domino effect that impacts the entire chain, leading to delays and cost overruns—faced to remain competitive and profitable.

Lack of digital traceability and isolated systems

It is difficult to track and trace the origin and movement of building materials, which can lead to inefficiencies and potential risks, such as counterfeiting, fraud and lack of data integration and information flow between different departments.

Lack of information and network security

The building materials industry is vulnerable to cybercrimes such as hacking and data breaches. Companies need to invest in information security and protect their control network infrastructure from advanced cyber-crimes to prevent data theft resulting in financial losses, and also protect the environment in the process.

To address these challenges, many companies in the building materials industry are adopting digital technologies, such as blockchain and secure networking solutions to improve traceability, security, and collaboration. These technologies can help to improve the efficiency and transparency of the supply chain, as well as protect against potential security threats.

Building material industries to get smart

Digital platforms can provide several benefits to the building materials industry. Digital technologies are helping to improve supply chain planning and execution in several ways. For example, digital platforms can provide real-time visibility and tracking of materials, enabling companies to better monitor and manage their supply chain.

Digital platforms can also help companies to better understand and respond to customer needs and preferences, as well as improve their communication and collaboration with partners and suppliers.

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Flexibility

Implementing a cloud-first strategy will increase the overall efficiency of operations. Flexibility helps to reduce the response time with demand-supply variation through an analytics-driven system. Further helping to bring down risks associated with inventory and holding, and costing.

Cloud-based data storage and analysis tools can help plant managers quickly and easily access important data on daily variable costs, maintenance, and manufacturing processes. This can help them identify areas where costs are high and where improvements can be made, leading to more efficient and cost-effective operations.

Cloud solutions facilitate collaboration and communication among team members, allowing for more efficient decision-making and problem-solving. This can help improve overall plant performance and productivity.

Increased visibility

Digital platforms can help companies manage and analyze data better, providing valuable insights to make more informed business decisions. Overall, the use of digital platforms can help companies in the building materials industry to remain competitive and adapt to changing market conditions. Reduces delays, improves inventory management, and increases efficiency.

Digital technologies can also enable better communication and collaboration within the supply chain, allowing companies to share information and coordinate activities more effectively. Additionally, digital platforms can help to automate and optimize various supply chain processes, such as demand forecasting, procurement, and logistics. Overall, the adoption of digital technologies is helping to make supply chains more agile, responsive, and efficient.

Data integration and analytics

By integrating data from manufacturing, sales, and logistics systems, a company can gain more visibility of its operations. This can help it identify bottlenecks in the production process, optimize its inventory levels, and improve its supply chain management. This can ultimately lead to cost savings, increased productivity, and better business performance.

Predictive demand forecasting is a crucial part of running a successful business in the building material industry. Forecasting allows companies to predict future demand accurately for their products, which can help them make informed decisions about production, staffing, and inventory management.

By using predictive demand forecasting, companies in the building material industry can better anticipate shifts in market demand and adjust their operations accordingly. This can help them avoid overproduction, which can lead to excess inventory and wasted resources, as well as underproduction, which can lead to lost sales and frustrated customers.

Infor Cloud-based solutions offer robust and futuristic capability for digital transformation

Infor is an industry cloud-based solution market leader in the Gartner magic quadrant, provides robust operational processes and manufacturing capabilities. Future innovations include business process intelligence capabilities, and analytics and process automation improvements using AI/ML.

Infor provides industry-specific solutions that address the challenges faced by the distribution and supply chain industries. Infor has ready-made solutions that address demand-supply mismatch, asset management, and customer service through predictive analytics, smart warehouse, RPA, and various other supply chains 4.0 technologies.

Infor CloudSuite provides a flexible solution for complex scenarios with external cloud applications and on-premises solutions.

Conclusion

Birlasoft helps accelerate digital transformation for BMAT industries to help them streamline their operational processes and improve the overall experience for their stakeholders. CloudSuite solutions assist them in realizing quick value, improving compliance, and better managing assets both in the factory and out in the field. Infor solutions have helped industries to discover new business models and improve their overall operation.

Infor’s end-to-end cloud adoption capabilities enable drive digital transformation and enhance customer experiences, benefiting businesses of all sizes.

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