Interactive portal drives transparency for customers through the build process
SYDNEY — Australia’s Most Professional Builder Porter Davis has implemented SAP throughout its business and built an interactive portal to help manage the home building process and deliver transparency, flexibility and real-time access to customers.
Implemented by SAP partner, Fujitsu, Porter Davis is now one year on from fully integrating SAP technology into its business processes. Porter Davis has achieved significant benefits and savings delivered to its customers, suppliers and internal operations.
The leading builder identified that after just 12 months, they are well on their way to recovering initial cost outlays and expect to fully realise ROI long before the three year average.
Porter Davis is the 2010 Australian Most Professional Builder and Victoria’s Most Professional Builder as awarded eight consecutive years by the Housing Industry Association (HIA) – the peak industry body.
The multi-award winning builder attributes its success to consistently delivering quality homes while offering a fast and efficient build process. Porter Davis is one of the only building companies in Australia to offer customers a guaranteed site start and construction time frames on all its houses.
In November 2009, the company implemented SAP ERP 6.0 to increase process efficiency, reduce costs and eliminate duplication, with a SAP portal for its customers, called 24seven.
The portal offers customers unparalleled real-time services and access to their individual build process and is a vital part of their unique value proposition. It provides clients with instant access to their contract and building documents, photos and images of the various stages of construction and an individual build progress indicator.
SAP technology provides the vital back-end support to keep the portal up-to-date and helps deliver real-time information. The Porter Davis Customer Service team update and report on the build process in the ERP system and this is automatically updated in the customer portal. This has streamlined business processes and the Customer Service team now offer complete transparency, while providing immediate and meaningful assistance to customers.
The benefits of adopting SAP technology have extended beyond customers and allowed Porter Davis to respond to demand from the building industry for the simplification of invoicing and compliancy practices. Motivated to create tools that were usable and driven by industry demand, Porter Davis has now replaced manual invoicing with a unique electronic system, which allows for automated weekly payments based upon job stage completion.
According to Porter Davis Director Paul Wolff, maintaining Australia’s Most Professional Builder status means continually innovating and adapting through technology.
“The new home experience can be financially and emotionally stressful; this technology has opened our communication channels and streamlined the entire process, increasing our customer satisfaction. We are extremely pleased with the SAP technology and continue to see improvements and business benefits one year on from our initial investment.”
The optimising impact of SAP processes is gaining momentum, with significant savings in time spent on reporting and work flow. Increased employee productivity and accountability are attributed to the streamlining of internal processes, which has had a positive impact on the financial bottom line of the company.
About Porter Davis
Porter Davis is not only Australia’s Most Professional Builder; they are also Victoria’s Most Professional Builder for the eighth consecutive year as awarded by the Housing Industry Association (HIA).
The multi-award winning builder guarantees site start and construction timeframes while they also include independent quality inspections, 12 month extended maintenance and a 24seven online customer portal – all designed to help home buyers plan their move with certainty and peace of mind.
Clients are also able to fully enjoy their new home with membership to the PD Rewards program, which offers ongoing discounts at leading service and homeware providers.
The last 12 months have seen Porter Davis introduce the industry’s first interactive iPhone application, which is free to download, while the interactive website showcases its entire design portfolio and a comprehensive and stunning photo gallery.
Porter Davis is committed to providing affordable and stylish new home designs while delivering the most professional service along with inspirational display homes.
Finding a display home centre near you is also as easy as calling 1800PORTER, or heading online to www.porterdavis.com.au
Further information:
Peter Sertori, SAP Australia and New Zealand, +61 2 9923 5544, peter.sertori@sap.com
Katie Dufficy, Burson-Marsteller, +61 2 9928 1519, katie.dufficy@bm.com
