Working with ERP Success Partners, Kuros Construction Solutions Ltd successfully implements NetSuite Cloud ERP to accommodate its rapid acceleration, streamline its operations, and save significant manhours.
A thriving sector of Mauritius’ economy, construction has been experiencing steady growth over the last 10 years. With the exception of a pandemic-related dip in 2020, the sector is on track to continue growing through 2021 and beyond.
As a local construction company that specializes in high-end residential construction projects like villas, apartments, and hotel refurbishments, Kuros Construction Solutions Ltd of Port Louis is playing a key role in the industry’s growth in Mauritius.
Founded in 2013, Kuros Construction Solutions Ltd has approx. 650 employees. Focused on the high-end residential market, the company is one of just a few firms that are concentrated on this specific construction sector. In spite of the pandemic-related challenges it had to work through in 2020, the company now has project pipeline that will keep it busy through 2022.
As head of Kuros Construction Solutions Ltd’s procurement department, Aksaay Jeebasseea said supply chain interruptions (due to global shipping problem associated with the Covid-19 pandemic) continue to present steep challenges for firms that are trying to get projects completed on time.
Over time, these supply chain issues could translate into higher material costs for the company and its customers. “We’re expecting an increase in every aspect of the procurement of materials, and it’s pretty worrisome,” said Aksaay.
On the Fast Growth Path
After years of using manual processes and spreadsheets to run its business, the Kuros Construction team started looking for a unified, cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that could help automate specific processes and streamline its workflows.
At the time, the company was experiencing rapid growth and its existing systems and processes couldn’t keep up. During just eight years, it had advanced from being a Grade H to a Grade A construction firm (in Mauritius, this system is used to rank firms by size, with Grade A companies being the largest).
“It usually takes 10-15 years for a company to go from H to A,” says Aksaay. “We did it in eight and it was a giant leap.” Along the way, the team realized that it needed to put an enterprise system in place to be able to run its business, track performance, manage compliance, and handle day-to-day tasks.
Kuros Construction Solutions Ltd is now working toward compliance and ISO certification to become a Grade A construction firm (over 1 billion Rupees in annual revenues).
Working with ERP Success Partners
Kuros Construction Solutions Ltd has carefully evaluated the different options available to them including partners to work with for their implementation. It was clear after talking to some different partners in the local area that ERP Success Partners was determined by demonstrating the understanding of the required business processes and the methodology used to perform the various activities required to setup the ERP.
Working with ERP Success Partners, Kuros Construction Solutions Ltd has been able to maximize its ERP investment and use the solution for the entire procurement-to-payment process, including inventory management. It plans to start using other features and functionalities of the system in the near future.
“I didn’t expect NetSuite to be so vast,” said Aksaay, who particularly liked working with ERP Success Partners’ Resources.
“When we met ERP Success Partners, introduced to us by NetSuite and after listening to our requirements, they told us they had the right product for us,” he said. “ERP Success handled the walkthrough sessions, the implementation, the fine tuning, and anything else we needed. I rate them 10 out of 10 both for the implementation and for ongoing support.”
Simple Reporting with One Click
“Time management has been a huge benefit,” said Aksaay, “along with the audit trail and new levels of accountability that we now have.” The fact that the system is cloud-based ensures that data won’t be lost or compromised, and that a computer won’t crash and wipe out a day’s worth of work.
Aksaay said NetSuite has also significantly reduced the time it takes to produce a report—an exercise that was very manual and time-intensive when the company was using Excel spreadsheets. “We can produce reports with just a click of a button,” said Aksaay.
“We can produce reports with just a click of a button. NetSuite is just so easy to use, and such a big improvement over our previous setup.”