Highbar Technologies recently presented a Thought-Leadership Forum on ‘Building a strong foundation for growth with the Engineering Construction & Operations Software’. The summary below provides a comprehensive overview on the Industry Trends, Best Practices & Customer Case Studies discussed in the webinar.
SAP Discover Webinar held on October 9th, 2015 in partnership with Highbar Technologies recording is available at the link below:
http://www.sapdiscover.com/india/#onDemand_webinars
Professionalize your Infrastructure & Real Estate Projects with SAP. Discover smart IT-Led innovations to build a solid, scalable foundation for growth. Manage your projects, equipment, workforce, and financial operations efficiently.
For more information, please contact – Ravindra.jadhav@highbartechnologies.com
Context
Globally, Infrastructure industry has grown exponentially with an increase in government projects, foreign investments, public-private partnerships, pre-engineering buildings, etc. It’s imperative for the current infrastructure business leaders to drive their Engineering, Construction & Operations on the most suitable IT solutions to streamline functions, accelerate growth and bring about efficiencies.
The capital intensive nature of the Infrastructure projects with operations in remote locations, makes it all the more essential for a 360-degree project management.
With higher customer expectations, business has become far more competitive. Optimization of available resources and process efficiency is the key to meet with the challenges.
Highbar Technologies, an HCC group company, is the most preferred IT solutions provider for the infrastructure industry across Asia & Middle East.
The SAP Discover Thought-Leadership Webinar highlights the EC & O Industry Overview, Integrated ERP Solutions portfolio along with SAP Partner – Highbar Technologies successfully delivered projects across geographies.
Industry Overview
US Based Dodge Construction Outlook 2015, predicts that the worldwide construction projects will increase by nine percent in 2015, for a total of $612 billion in revenue. This is a definite improvement over the five percent improvement seen in 2014, with an estimated revenue of $564 billion.
Economic indicators show that growth in the PEB industry is expected to outpace India’s GDP growth. The Indian PEB industry has shown a healthy growth rate of around 10% (Y-o-Y).
Recent Developments
India is witnessing significant interest from international investors in the infrastructure space. Many international companies are keen on collaborating with India on infrastructure front.
The Government of India has earmarked Rs 50,000 crore (US$ 7.53 billion) to develop 100 smart cities across the country. The Government released its list of 98 cities for the smart cities project in August 2015.
The Government of India has announced highway projects worth US$ 93 billion, which include government flagship National Highways Building Project (NHDP) with total investment of US$ 45 billion over next three years.
International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of The World Bank group, plans to invest at least US$ 700 million in existing transport and logistics infrastructure projects in India.
The World Bank has approved a US$ 650 million debt funding for a part of the eastern arm of the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project in India.
Indostar Capital Finance Limited and Reliance Capital Limited have invested Rs 200 crore (US$ 30.10 million) in Alliance group, a real estate company. The consortium of institutions has invested in the holding company of Alliance group, Alliance Infrastructure Projects Private Limited.
The Government of India is taking every possible initiative to boost the infrastructure sector. Some of the steps taken in the recent past are –
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has notified 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) under automatic route in the construction development sector. The new limit came into effect in December 2014.
The Government of India has relaxed rules for FDI in the construction sector by reducing minimum built-up area as well as capital requirement. It has also liberalised the exit norms. In fact, the Cabinet has also approved the proposal to amend the FDI policy.
In the Budget 2015-16, the capital outlays for roads, and railways have been increased by Rs 140.3 billion (US$ 2.11 billion) and Rs 100.5 billion (US$ 1.51 billion) respectively.
India and the US have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in order to establish Infrastructure Collaboration Platform. The document showcase the relationship between both the Governments which intend to facilitate US industry participation in Indian infrastructure projects to improve the bilateral relationship and benefit both economies.
The MoU’s scope envisages efforts in the areas of Urban Development, Commerce and Industry, Railways, Road Transport and Highways, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, Power, New & Renewable Energy, among others.
Refer Data : IBEF 2015
Technology as an Enabler of Growth
Technology is enhancing traditional business models and creating new ones at an unprecedented rate. Social media, analytics, mobility, cyber security and cloud act as enablers to the next generation of infrastructure, construction and real estate growth.
Meeting the huge and changing expectations of consumers, and anticipating the yet undefined demand of tomorrow, requires technology. Customer engagement, enhancing sales channels, expanding customer touch points, product innovation, predictive analytics around buying behaviour, driving premium service standards, etc all of these are growth mechanisms that are inextricably linked to technology.
About Highbar Technologies
Highbar Technologies, an HCC group company, is positioned to be the most preferred Information Technology (IT) solutions provider for the infrastructure industry. The Company’s portfolio of enterprise business solutions, line of business IT solutions and process consulting is aimed at increasing efficiencies for Roads, Ports, Real-Estate, Airports, Railways, Irrigation & Water supply, as well as urban and industrial infrastructure (telecom, mining), both, in the private and public sector.
Genesis
Highbar Technologies is formed by spinning off HCC’s IT division that has implemented ERP as well as various other indigenous IT solutions to make HCC the first Indian Infrastructure company to connect all its project locations on uniform IT and SAP ERP platform.
Based on the successful implementation and the learning’s derived thereof, HCC realized the potential of IT and the significant positive impact it will create to propel the efficiencies of the rapidly growing Infrastructure Industry. Further it was realized that the primary reason for gaps prevailing between IT and Infrastructure industries was the lack of domain knowledge among the existing IT players and here HCC saw an area of opportunity wherein its IT division could use its learning’s and bridge the gap.
With this unique experience, Highbar Technologies started marketing IT solutions to other Infrastructure and Real Estate companies and achieved mega success.
The legacy of domain knowledge in the infrastructure business along with a well-equipped IT Team to understand and relate with the requirements of the sector., has helped enable Highbar Technologies to treat IT deployment as a “business transformation” initiative rather than just a technology implementation.
Customer Perspective – It’s imperative for an organization to evaluate the need of an advanced Engineering, Construction & Operations software solution when –
Basic Needs of an Organization –
- To construct new and innovative projects at multiple locations
- Shorten the construction and processes led time being spent across site
- Focus on overall organizational growth and efficiency
- Remote Access and Control on Data Management
- Gain market share by newer collaborations.
- Boost profit margins
- Eliminate resources overlap
Advance Needs of an Organization
- Manage Entire Construction Project Life Cycle
- Tightly Monitor & Control Project Performance
- Deploy Skilled Resources with Agility in the Cloud
- Collaborate, Procure & Report on the Move
- Keep Project Delivery on Track
- Optimize Construction Project Execution
- Exploit Your Business Data with 3D Visualization
- Innovate without Disruption
- Vendor / Suppliers Management
- Grow with Speed & Confidence
Case Studies –
- Salarpuria Sattva Group : Aligning Business with Real Estate Best Practices Using SAP® ERP and SAP CRM
Built on trust, innovation, and leadership, the Salarpuria Sattva Group is one of India’s leading property development, management, and consulting organizations. Having pioneered the early development landscape in Bangalore, it has been literally shaping the city’s skyline since the mid-1980s. As its plans to diversify into many vertical industries such as aerospace, high tech, education, facilities management, and warehousing, it must find a way to effectively manage growth.
Working with Highbar Technologies to deploy the SAP® ERP and SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) applications at 17 group companies, the Salarpuria Sattva IT team now has the knowledge it needs for continued rollouts.
A unified IT platform is improving visibility and customer service group wide – which is good news for Salarpuria Sattva, the people of Bangalore, and beyond.
- Brigade Group : Rapidly Achieving Uniform Operations across Group Companies with SAP® ERP
Focusing primarily on property development, Brigade Group is known for cutting-edge projects like the World Trade Center Bangalore and the integrated city, Brigade Gateway, as well as for fine hotels and schools across Southern India.
Together with its partners Classic and Valmark, the group established BCV Developers Pvt. Ltd. To replicate and integrate its own processes at the new company on a single IT platform, the group engaged Highbar Technologies to quickly implement the SAP® ERP application.
- GPT Group : Unifying Processes and Improving Visibility with SAP® ERP and an SAP-Qualified Rapid-Deployment Solution
GPT Group, made up of GPT Infraprojects Ltd., GPT Healthcare Ltd., and GPT Castings Ltd., supports construction projects across multiple sectors. To sustain growth and maintain oversight, it needed a single IT platform for all group companies.
Working with Highbar Technologies, the group deployed the SAP® ERP application using an SAP-qualified rapid-deployment solution for engineering, construction, and operations. Now costs are down and productivity is on the rise.
For more information, please contact – Ravindra.jadhav@highbartechnologies.com
