Power BI dashboard dynamics: Streamlining construction data

Manually compiling data for reports is time-consuming and susceptible to errors. A more intelligent approach is to interlink various data sets. Microsoft Power BI enables you to easily connect and synchronise data from diverse applications and transform it into engaging dashboards or practical reports, all without the lengthy process that usually takes days.

What is Power BI?

Microsoft Power BI is a data visualisation platform that comprises a suite of connectors, software services, and applications. It facilitates the effortless integration of various data sources, enabling you to merge data from your ERP system with information from Excel, Google Analytics, or other applications. With Power BI, you can create dashboards that succinctly visualise key business data, offering a quick and clear view of your construction company’s critical metrics.

What are the possibilities of Power BI for your construction company?

Rapidly develop visually appealing dashboards.

Power BI enables the creation of visually appealing dashboards and reports that are customisable to your preferences. It offers various options for crafting tables, flowcharts, graphs, maps, and more, regularly adding new features. Power BI is an effective tool for engaging key stakeholders with insightful reports, providing them with the necessary information without overwhelming them with raw data.

Are you curious about the standard Power BI reports construction companies can use to better manage their projects and service orders? Read our blog titled “Three useful Power BI reports for the construction industry” for insights into reports that can enhance your project oversight and service execution.

Seize opportunities and mitigate threats

During a construction project, various factors can impact the trajectory of your work. Regularly analysing available data helps you proactively respond to these (unexpected) events. Microsoft Power BI empowers you to understand a project’s status quickly. For instance, you can monitor actual versus forecasted costs on a per-project basis, track material usage, and immediately identify areas of profit and potential loss. With this knowledge, it becomes simpler to keep projects within their predefined financial boundaries.

Consolidate all relevant data within a single unified environment

Your ERP system and various software solutions are a treasure trove of data for your construction company. While data is a valuable asset, extracting maximum value from it can be challenging due to the complexities of data integration. Microsoft Power BI simplifies this by linking directly to your ERP system. Leveraging its numerous connectors, you can merge ERP data with information from your logistics or estimating software. Power BI allows you to transform this data into actionable insights through effective organisation, combination, and visualisation. This process is not only time-efficient, but once set up, your Power BI connections, reports, and dashboards essentially require only analysis and strategy planning, saving you even more time and effort.

Construction firm De Vries en Verburg has implemented Power BI for their reporting and dashboard needs. Their controller, Jan Muit, remarks on the transition: “Our goal was to establish an information system that ensures our reports are precise and comprehensive, and that also provides the appropriate information to the relevant staff promptly.” This highlights their commitment to enhancing data accuracy and accessibility within the company.

Are you looking for business software for the construction industry for now, and tomorrow?

Power BI has become an essential tool for crafting dashboards and analyses in the construction industry. As a component of the Microsoft Power Platform, it ensures that companies adopting business software based on the Microsoft ecosystem benefit from an IT infrastructure where data from multiple applications can be seamlessly integrated. Are you curious about how this works in a real-world setting? You can gain insights by reading our whitepaper titled ‘Working Smarter in Construction’.

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