Eralis Project Delivers Visibility for Team Power

Team Power Solutions is a rapidly growing company that puts their confidence in Eralis Project and SAP Business One. Originally started in 2009 with 5 employees, Team Power has now grown to over 100 employees in 4 locations. Eralis Project allows Team Power to streamline administration and project management using a single source of truth.

As large-scale industries increasingly rely on specialized equipment, Team Power offers what General Manager, Tom Boehm, calls technical, complex solutions to specialized electrical and control system needs. Where a large-scale client’s skill sets end, his team’s begin.

“It’s a niche type of business,” he explains. “But by-and-large 90% of our business comes from very large, very complex companies. We’re a consultancy, solutions-based business.”

Their skilled roster of Engineers, Technologists and Electricians work closely with clients across Canada and around the world to solve complex issues the clients may not have the resources or expertise to address. Team Power uses Eralis Project to streamline their own operations and successfully deliver client projects.

They began running SAP Business One in 2010, only a year after the company started. As a rapidly growing business, they recognized the benefit of implementing an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system early on. They used other SAP Business One add-on solutions with some success, but found drawbacks when it came to project management.

Then Came Eralis Project

“We were very anxious to get involved in seeing what enhancements it had to offer to round out our needs,” Boehm says, noting that two aspects of the software stand out.

“First, it’s given us a huge efficiency boost and secondly, the access to information and the ability to make key decisions, at the right positions within the company.”

Rather than multiple people entering and handling data at various stages of the process, it is fed into Eralis Project once. From here, it’s available for the entire team to view.

“It’s collective. Once I create a record, everyone can see it on their portals, whereas before we wouldn’t be able to see that,” he notes. This has gone a long way to increasing efficiency with everyone working in the same system. “In a changing market, you have to be able to trim your overhead costs and do more with the same number of people.”

With some customizations to their Eralis Project system, Team Power’s estimated return on investment for the project was a year and a half, which pleases Boehm. He sees tremendous value in the visibility the software offers to Project Managers across the board.

“Any Project Manager can go into the Eralis Project platform and see up-to-date dashboards of project health, see records and run various reports.”

It gives the boots-on-the-ground crew the ability to make on-the-spot decisions with the most current information, allowing Team Power to communicate more effectively with clients and make crucial decisions in real-time.

“The visibility of information has never been to the level that it is today. Most importantly, we’re getting live margin recognition on an invoice-by-invoice basis,” says Boehm. “So we can see if every invoice is making money, rather than waiting until the project closes out before we realize if we made money. From a risk point of view, that takes a lot off the table.”

Brian Stevens, Team Power’s Controller, believes Eralis Project has brought greater transparency and accountability to the company. He explains that with up-to-date project data, team members are held accountable for their responsibilities within the project.

In their business, monitoring budget burn rate is vital to successfully managing a project. “Some of our customers, in their contracts with us, say ‘you need to alert us when the PO is 80% used’. Our project people never had that visibility before. Now they do,” says Stevens.

Financial Competency is Key

Boehm notes that the marketplace is competitive and being able to manage budgets has become just as important as technical ability. “You have to do quality work and be technically competent, but most importantly, you have to be financially competent. You have to be able to do all these wonderful
things around change management because that customer has asked for money from their stakeholders and they have to be accountable for that,” Boehm says. “If you cannot help them be transparent and clear with change, they won’t deal with you. No matter how good your work is.”

A Competitive Edge

“Eralis Project helps us raise the bar above what our competition has to offer. To the minute, to the day, to the project, to the task, to the activity, we can do financial reporting at the snap of a finger, with a high degree of accuracy.”

It’s not just the managers and accounts people that like the application. Boehm explains that the trades workers love it as well, providing the necessary access to job information.

As Team Power continues to grow their business, Eralis Project, based on SAP Business One, is there to grow with them, as they bring their specialized solutions to an everchanging industrial world.