CEM AX Construct Document

AX 2012

Private viewing only | Confidential of 23

CEM AX Construct

Introduction

CEM, the Centre of Excellence for Management, was established in the year 2003 with the clear focus on

providing implementation services to Microsoft Dynamics practices. Being an ISO 9001:2008 certified company

and a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner; it delivers Dynamics AX add-on solutions for various projects from

construction, contracting, oil & gas and retail industries. CEM also bears the honor of bagging the “Certification for

Microsoft Dynamics” for one of its products, CEM AX Payroll. With a combined experience of over 150+ man

years, 278 customers across 19 industries, CEM has discovered ways to assist numerous companies to be

prominent. The growth of CEM is vital in the past 10 years, with the privilege of being one among the fastest

growing IT companies. Right now, CEM has around 12 International offices, across 8 countries and is looking

forward to further expand and grow. The growth is not only limited to its infrastructure, but extends to the service

provided as well.

CEM Business Solutions have developed sundry products, which includes CEM AX Construct, CEM AX Payroll,

CEM AX HCM, CEM AX ProjectPro and CEM AX Retail. Developed by Microsoft Dynamics AX, formerly known

as Axapta, these products of CEM have helped an array of companies across the industries to achieve a

competitive edge in their respective industries.

CEM AX Construct is a salient product in this array. In short, CEM AX Construct is an industry centric, ready-

made ERP solution developed by CEM having the construction industries in mind. It has about 8 modules

developed for different functionalities concerning to the construction industry, features of which are explained in

the later sections in this document. The 8 modules are the following;

Sub-Contracting

Workforce Augmentation

Advance project management

Advances inventory management

Plant Machinery and Vehicle

Staff Accommodation

Scaffolding Tools Management

Concrete Purchase CEM constantly focuses on developing new products and improving the existing products. CEM AX Construct is

constantly being developed for additional modules to solve every problem that is faced by construction industry.

To know more about CEM, CEM AX Construct, its growth and happenings, subscribe to our newsletters.

Administrative Core Workloads

http://www.cembs.com/subscribe


CEM AX Construct

1 CEM AX Construct

The construction industry is complicated with a number of micro components that need to be managed to

complete the project on time and thus to obtain a competitive advantage in the growing economy. CEM AX

Construct is the right solution to shrink these complications.

Unlike general ERP solutions which focus only on main processes, CEM AX Construct concentrates on sub-

contracting, labor management, tool management and advanced project management. Thus, CEM AX Construct

assists construction companies to manage their activities efficiently, making their process easy and simple.

1.1 Construction Workloads

Horizontal Operational Workloads

Administrative Core Workloads


CEM AX Construct

1.2 Why CEM AX Construct?

CEM AX Construct is well known for its numerous benefits such as:

User-friendly interface

Manage project efficiency

Complete control of project finances

Subcontractor tracking and management

Sophisticated procurement

Scalability of operations

Improved quality of work

Better equipment utilization

Reduced inventory levels

CEM AX Construct delivers many modules for fulfilling various business needs of the customers. These modules

can be tailor-made according to the business requirements.

2 Feature Description for various modules:

2.1 Sub-contracting:

Subcontracts

Create subcontract purchase orders for lump-sum or bill of quantities (BOQ) based works

For lump-sum contracts, link Payment milestones with scope reference, where the payment

milestones are entered as PO lines along with scope link

In the case of BOQ contracts, the scope lines are updated as PO lines with a single click. Track the

individual items in the PO lines, while keeping the scope reference intact with each PO line

Change Order Management

Create and maintain change orders effectively

Maintain separate payment milestones for main scope and individual change-order scope items, to

facilitate easy management

Payment Certification

Account for sub-contractor invoices based on milestones completion

Process and track payments by entering flexible advance recovery and retention either in terms of

percentage or amounts

Query the amounts to be deducted for sub-contractor’s stay in labor accommodation or other

miscellaneous charges

Security Documents Tracking

Create and track unlimited documents for advance checks, performance bonds or guarantee with

expiry dates and other necessary alerts

Track material issues and food & accommodation expenses related to subcontracts for prompt back

charging


CEM AX Construct

Illustration 1: Report of CEM AX Construct for Subcontract Management

1: The screenshot displays the subcontract purchase order invoice and cumulative & current invoices for change order scope and base-line

scope.


CEM AX Construct

2: The below screenshot displays the annexure for the subcontract invoice. This provides detailed information on each

component of the subcontract invoice.


CEM AX Construct

2.2 Workforce Augmentation

Trade Agreements

Maintain trade agreements for labor supply with effective dates for competent workforce

enhancement

Maintain Rates

Create and maintain rates for various classes of skilled and unskilled resources, from various vendors

for efficient back-charging

Purchase Orders

Record and maintain purchase orders for hired skills with various terms and conditions, such as

provision of food & accommodation, security passes and safety items for fast back charging, and also

to agree on the back-charge rates in the PO itself

Hired Manpower Enrollment

Enter and post the incoming manpower in more than one transaction, based on PO. Proper

validations keep track of how many were enrolled earlier and how many are pending to be processed

etc.

Integration with Payroll

Create hired employee master with a separate ID and track them in the same way as own

employees, including history of hired employees and option for purging hired employees details

Track and post timesheets to accumulate the amount payable to vendor as well as the amount to be

charged to projects


Enter and post vendor invoices after validating it against the timesheet generated from the system

Use payment certification process for approving vendor invoices


CEM AX Construct

Illustration 2: Report of CEM AX Construct for Workforce Augmentation

1: Below is the screenshot of service order for hired manpower. This gives information on the number

of hired labour, working hours, and their wages per unit or per day.


CEM AX Construct

2: The below screenshot exhibits the reconciliation of hired manpower. This makes the comparison of the

company’s record and the vendor record easy. Thus the vendor invoices are certified after this

comparison.


CEM AX Construct

2.3 Advanced Project Management

Project Wizard

Create and maintain project values, project duration, advance and retention terms, and project store

locations as required

Budget Hierarchies

Create and track budget amounts and variances at various levels such as item category, skill

category and cost category

Scope & Change Management

Maintain and track project main scope and variation scope, change management details and use

them for cost tracking and billing the customer and reporting

Contract Trend Notice (CTN)

Create and post individual CTNs for potential change orders that are possible in the project. Track the

status of CTNs as submitted, approved, rejected or cancelled. Link CTNs with Change orders and

use these for analyzing the conversion ratios, and improve your planning capabilities

Material Approval Requests (MAR)

Ensure that the customer approved items and vendors are applied for the project with the help of

Material Approval Requests. Track the various MARs with applicable status and validate at the time

of entering purchase requisitions or purchase orders for the respective projects

Control Accounts

Use Control Accounts as a part of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to logically categorize the

project into manageable components, for cost tracking the completion stages by control account with

effective dates and reporting. Activate or deactivate the independent control accounts based on the

project phase to facilitate accurate capture of required information

Productivity Codes

Build benchmarks for work packages by tagging the transactions with productivity codes. Use this

history data for cost estimation, better planning and bidding exercises

Use productivity codes for manpower and equipment usage, for effective Quality Management

Project Specific Documents Numbering

Enter and post transactions with project specific number sequences, for easy identification and

tracking

Secured Access

Obtain secured access to project information and relevant transactions on a need-to-know basis

Extensive reporting

Extensive reporting on sundry project components, such as budget vs. actuals, consumption by

various project-dimensions and estimate at complete, for better project management


CEM AX Construct

Illustration 3: Report of CEM AX Construct for Project Management

1: The report provides the local purchase order (LPO), store receipt voucher (SRV) and the material issue

voucher (MIV) on a single record. This makes the cost analysis of projects simple.


CEM AX Construct

2: The report provides the sales information of projects. The gross invoice, received amount and the

amount to be received are recorded.

2.4 Advanced Inventory Management

Item Classification

Create departments and item categories for better classification, reporting and workflow routing

Item Types

Create and maintain various item types such as specialty, fuel, safety and spares, in separate filters.

Use these filters in the respective purchase requisition and purchase order types

Item Master Wizard

Create items and release it for usage in a single form with all the required parameters

Returnable Items Management

Deal issues and returns in project, vendors and clients with ease

Tools Management

Track issues of tools to each employee and set them off at the time of return

Surplus Declaration

Enable project sites to declare surplus quantities of material and show visibility to the procurement

division at head office, so that the items could be used in sites where they are required

Material Transfer Request

Use the purchase requisitions to create a transfer request to other project sites where these materials

are available and let the sites accept fully or partially, for the transfer. Use the surplus material

analysis to gain visibility on the availability of material in all the project sites

Budget Validation - Purchase Requisitions


CEM AX Construct

Compare the potential cost and budget impact on the current requisition documents with that of the

already existing purchase request documents

Budget Validation - Purchase Orders

Compare the potential cost and budget impact on the current purchase orders with that of the already

existing purchase orders. Visibility is also available on open requisitions for further information

needed


CEM AX Construct

Illustration 4: Report of CEM AX Construct for Inventory Management

1: Below is the screenshot of report which displays the closing & opening of inventory quantities and amount per unit of each item. The items

are displayed with specific codes, which make the identification easier.


CEM AX Construct

2: The below report exhibits the data of the current stock and the surplus available. The stocks are categorized on the basis of projects, design,

trade and other factors. The surplus stock can then be used at the places where required.


CEM AX Construct

2.5 Plant, Machinery and Vehicles (PMV) Management

PMV Request Management

Use the workflow infrastructure, to request PMV items from the site, purchase recommendations

given by the asset division [in-charge of maintaining these tools] and budget validation done by cost

control. The asset division bears the cost the purchased PMV items and charges the projects with the

internal hire transfer price.

Equipment Master

Manage equipment details with effective equipment purchase and rental dates and transfer history,

both internal and external

Equipment Management

Manage equipment and other related factors such as fuel consumption and documents renewal at

ease

Surplus Declaration

Declare surplus availability of equipment, and facilitate its usage in places needed for effective project

completion.

Stop/Loss Request

In workflow process, a project can request for stop of rental charges of equipment due to break-down

or other reasons. This request assists accurate cost apportionment of equipment usage for the

projects

Daily Log

Generate daily log of the equipment’s working in each site and segregate the hours as normal hours,

OT hours, breakdown hours, and repair hours for more clarity, proper accounting and accurate

reporting

Cost Booking

Generate and post the costs of the equipment usage for respective usage based on the consumed

hours and transfer price. The credit goes to the PMV division which is in charge of maintaining the

assets, resulting in the profitability tracking of the PMV division


Enter, validate, approve and post vendor invoices for rented PMV items by comparing the vendor

invoice quantities with the consumption daily register. The workflow handles the site certification, cost

control certification and invoice posting smoothly

Manage mobilization/demobilization costs of equipment

Regular alerts for equipment related documents including registration, license, Security pass, warranty

period expiration, etc.


CEM AX Construct

Illustration 5: Report of CEM AX Construct for PMV Management

1: Below is the screenshot of the service order for PMV developed by CEM. This provides information on

the estimated working hours, amount paid for hiring, maintenance terms and safety fittings.

2: Below is the report for reconciliation of plant, machinery and vehicles. This is used for the comparison

of company’s data and the vendor data.


CEM AX Construct

2.6 Staff Accommodation

Obtain more visibility on the operational efficiency. By accurately charging the projects with the respective

food and accommodation costs

Camps Master

Create and maintain internal and externally-hired camps and record information on the expenses

made

Link with Fixed Assets

Link internal camps with Fixed Assets for asset maintenance, enhancement and disposal activities

Track Profitability via Internal Project

Link internal camps with an internal project to track the operating expenses and match it against the

transfer price revenue

Capacity & Availability Management

Maintain rooms, room category, capacity and availability of each and every room of the camp

Food & Accommodation Types

Maintain various food and accommodation types to cater multicultural workforce

Camp Occupant Types

House various kind of occupants such as own employees, hired employees, customers, sub-

contractors or guests

Trade Agreements

Maintain rates with effective dates for internal camp transfer prices, food- supply vendors and back-

charge rates for both hired manpower and subcontractors

Check-In / Check-Out Transactions

Enter and post check-in and check-out transactions for the occupants, along with their project

assignments and food & accommodation types

Food Transactions / Adjustments

Track the meals consumed by occupants. Optionally, enter and post deductions or additional meals

transactions based on the actual consumption of food coupons

Camp Daily Register

Activate the logging routine and generate daily camp register to track, which occupant's cost should

be assigned to which project, on a daily basis

Post the generated costs to the respective projects on a monthly or weekly basis

Project Cost Booking

Enter, validate, approve and post vendor invoices for external camps and food vendors

Efficient camp capacity planning

Manage camp capacity, accommodation of diversified occupants and guests

Manage trade agreement for caterers to facilitate the accurate cost booking

Cost allocations to respective projects

2.7 Scaffolding

Manage scaffolding items

Maintain purchase and rental of tools and other scaffolding items

Requisition for Scaffolding Items

Utilize the workflow infrastructure, to request scaffolding items from the site, purchase

recommendations given by the Asset division [in-charge of maintaining these tools] and budget


CEM AX Construct

validation done by cost control. The asset division bears the cost of the purchased scaffolding items

and charges the projects with the internal hire transfer price

Surplus Register

Encourage the project managers to reduce cost, by asking them to declare surplus of their items. The

system transfers the stock to a project specific surplus warehouse, from which the procurement

division can request transfer of these items to other projects

Hire Stop Request

If a project wants that hire charges not be booked into their project for some reason, they can make

an application for head office review. When approved, the hire amount will not be charged for the

specific project and the requested quantity of the specific items

Requisition for Scrap Disposition

Formalize the scrap handling through a workflow for cost control and efficient management

Better utilization of internal materials including scrap and lost

Hire Cost Booking

Generate daily stock register in an automatic batch job to calculate and charge the projects with the

accurate cost of items consumed on a daily basis

External Hire Payment Certification

Enter, validate, approve and post Vendor invoices for hired scaffolding items by comparing the

vendor invoice quantities with the consumption daily register. The workflow handles the site

certification, cost control certification and invoice posting smoothly. Track vendor invoice and have

better control & reconciliation

Scaffold Logistics

Analyze the scaffold logistics from list of requested items to invoiced items

Flexible and controlled receipt management


CEM AX Construct

Illustration 6: Report of CEM AX Construct for Scaffolding

The report displays the service order for tools management. This specifies the quantity of tools required,

rate for each unit and hire period.

2.8 Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC) Purchase

Trade Agreements

Maintain trade agreements for different items with various vendors and store this data along with

effective dates, to ensure that the rates entered are controlled at a level higher than the transactions

entry

Purchase Transaction

Store the concrete purchase transaction which includes special sections for entering the summary

quantities and optional items such as ice, pigment and pumping charges, in addition to the entry of

the main-item. There's a tight validation and cross-checking functionality between the different

sections in order to ensure accurate data-entry



CEM AX Construct

Enter, validate, approve and post vendor invoices for ready-mix concrete purchases by comparing the

vendor invoice quantities with the quantities delivered

Quality Threshold

Maintain quality thresholds for activities like truck load and pumping charges

Reporting

Summarized and detailed reporting is available on concrete purchases for invoice certification

Maintain optional items along with main concrete items


CEM AX Construct

Illustration 7: Report of CEM AX Construct for Ready-Mix Concrete Purchase

The reports below display the provision and certified amounts for ready-mix concrete. Thus the certification process of vendor quantities can be

managed efficiently.


CEM AX Construct

3 Reports:

The screen shots above are only samples of reports that CEM has developed. The reports can be customized

based on client’s requirements. Additional reports can also be developed based on the intricacy of client’s

business.

CEM AX Construct Document

Software

Transcript of CEM AX Construct Document