Enterprise Resource Allocation Unpacked: Tailoring Solutions for Dynamic Work

April 18, 2024

8 min read

No matter the size and scale of your organization, the success of every project hinges on resource allocation. Resource allocation is the management of any resources a company has at hand for a given project — including cash, materials, employees, or even tech. From mom-and-pop shops to Fortune 500 businesses, resource management is an essential part of business operations. That said, the larger the organization, the more in-depth and nuanced the overall resource allocation procedures can be.

When implemented by a well-organized project leader, enterprise resource management shows a magnificent payoff. According to a Forrester Total Economic ImpactTM (TEI) study conducted on behalf of Quickbase, enterprise resource management software tools can be used to boost company ROI by 315% within three years.

But it’s not always that simple. Consider this: 23% of projects fail to meet deadlines due to poor resource allocation, according to a 2020 Project Management Institute (PMI) report. Resource allocation can be hindered by productivity bottlenecks, skill shortages, miscommunications, or the use of outdated technology.

In this blog post, we’ll delve into how dynamic enterprise resource management tools can create solutions tailored for any project – from skyscrapers to software.

The Heart of Resource Management

Enterprise resource management software is an essential practice for organizations looking to harness technology to grow. At the enterprise level, resource allocation must be well-organized and well-executed. That’s why dynamic teams turn to enterprise resource management systems, leveraging machine-learning-empowered technology for organizational productivity.

What is enterprise resource management (ERM)?

Typically, project management processes differ on a project-to-project basis, depending on the preferences of individual project managers. In a bubble, that’s a perfectly fine way to get the job done, but it’s not effective on an enterprise level.

The recent growth of enterprise-wide software offers a solution to this organizational bottleneck through streamlined, standardized project management processes. Enterprise resource management looks not only at a single project but at the big picture of the organization and how resources can be best distributed for success.

The combination of breadth and depth of view allows project leaders to deeply understand the needs of individual projects and the entire organization at once. This allows leaders to better utilize the resources on hand. Enterprise resource management allows leaders to pinpoint specific, often small changes that can have a major organizational impact.

Benefits of resource management

Enterprise resource management ultimately comes down to understanding what resources are needed within the organization, what resources are available within an organization, and what must be done to bridge the gap between the two. It requires careful planning, knowledge of employees’ skills, prioritization, adaptability, and attention to even the smallest detail. Suffice it to say, that enterprise resource management is no easy feat. But the payoff can be huge. The following are just some examples of the benefits of enterprise resource allocation.

Streamline communication
Improve efficiency
Consolidate duplicative processes
Control costs
On-time project delivery
Increased productivity
Overall improved morale
Improved organization at the enterprise level

Use cases of enterprise resource management across industries

Resource management is a complex, yet essential tennant of project management, that can be applied to great success across industries. Below, we’ll break down several different ways complex industries use enterprise resource management tools.

Construction

Asset management: Keep tabs on what you have. Manage equipment, materials, and team members are available when needed.
Stay on schedule: When bottlenecks hit, you swerve. Redistribute resources between projects to minimize delays.
Cost control: No one wants to go into the red. Resource allocation includes monitoring spend on an individual project and enterprise level.
People management: Improve overall productivity when you match employee skills with project needs.

Manufacturing

Improve communication: Dynamic work requires dynamic solutions. Use mobile features to streamline communications related to task management.
Increase productivity: Improve safety, and reduce potential errors by assigning employees tasks that match skills.
Employee scheduling: Plan wisely when making your schedule. Maximize efficiency by scheduling employees based on skill matching and individual availability.

Solar

Collaboration: To get the job done, everyone needs to be on the same page. Use one software to coordinate installation, servicing, and maintenance.
Manage deadlines: Oversee the supply chain to deliver on time, every time.
Streamline and organize: Centralize communication across teams. Strategically coordinate resources between multiple teams to keep projects moving on schedule.

Custom Solutions for Every Industry

There’s certainly no shortage of software solutions out there.

But when it comes to resource allocation at the enterprise level, Quickbase’s no-code approach democratizes project management, empowering even the least tech-savvy team leaders. Its dynamic work management solutions go beyond tracking and allocating resources — breaking even the most complex projects into approachable tasks across a plethora of industries and use cases.

The following customers have used Quickbase to harness the power of resource allocation for positive results on an enterprise level.

Customer story: ProPoint Graphics

Challenge: ProPoint Graphics was growing rapidly, which should have been a good thing. Instead, the brand struggled without centralized project management software and poor staff resource utilization.
Solution: Quickbase offers ProPoint Graphics real-time data access, which improves staff productivity. This software also improved resource allocation based on time-card data.
Results: Using Quickbase helped ProPoint reduce unproductive staff time by 33% while also achieving a 95% staff utilization rate.
Customer testimonial: “Before Quickbase, we were struggling with managing 30 to 40 open projects. Now we are easily managing four times that. Quickbase is just what we needed to grow our company without stressing our resources. We couldn't have made a better choice.” - David Pries, Founder and Principal of ProPoint Graphics.

Customer story: 3 Men Movers

Challenge: 3 Men movers relied on paper systems, which were inefficient for high-volume jobs; The lack of digital systems created bottlenecks and duplicative processes for customers. From a managerial perspective, there was also a lack of visibility into crew performance due to the overall lack of records.
Solution: 3 Men Movers left the analog behind and turned to the Quickbase app for planning, managing, and tracking 30,000 jobs per year. By turning to digital, 3 Men Movers now uses tablets for contracts, which saves customers time and stress. This also allows managers to track employee performance via real-time, digital customer feedback.
Benefits: Integrating enterprise resource allocation tools streamlined the job process and increased customer satisfaction. Now, 3 Men Movers easily completes 120 jobs per day with 60 moving trucks across three markets.
Customer testimonial: “Coordinating where 60 trucks are going in three cities on any given day is quite complicated. We use Quickbase to dispatch our moves, which means organizing and assigning as many as 120 jobs, for multiple different move, pack, and storage services, serving 30,000 customers per year.” - Lorie Clements, President of 3 Men Movers.

The Power of Integration

With Quickbase, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Instead, the app allows you to streamline resource management within existing frameworks, allowing you to keep the things that work.

Think of Quickbase as a hub for your enterprise. The productivity software allows users to consolidate disconnected data, link apps, and monitor workflows in one, centralized dynamic work management platform.

Quickbase drives productivity grounded in data and insights that can be easily translated into actionable next steps. Quickbase, of course, offers templates and frameworks for success in project resource allocation. But it does more than just set up the framework for complex project management — it also helps bring your organization across the finish line with adaptive operational tech designed to work across industries.

AI, Data Security, and Compliance

With Quickbase, you can rest assured that all your data is safely stored in an easy-to-use, no-code platform — that also has enterprise-level security features. Thousands of businesses trust Quickbase to build and deploy their web applications across the enterprise, including mission-critical solutions. Quickbase includes robust administrative and governance controls to ensure compliance with your organization’s IT policies related to user management, roles and permissions, and data safety. For those with advanced encryption needs, Quickbase offers custom encryption solutions while staying compliant with external regulatory best practices and internal security standards.

Just as Quickbase is at the forefront of compliance, it also has robust offerings through Quickbase AI, including:

AI Smartbuilder: A no-code, generative AI app builder that lets users build apps and programs easily.
Data analyzer: Machine learning that identifies and predicts key outcomes by identifying patterns in data points across databases
Data Scanner: Machine learning that carries out proactive data governance protections.

ROI and Payback

Quickbase offers a swift payback period through enhanced efficiency and resource allocation. According to a Forrester Total Economic ImpactTM (TEI) study conducted on behalf of Quickbase, enterprise resource management software tools can be used to boost company ROI by over 300% within three years, translating to a net present value of $16.7 million.

Michaelangelo didn’t carve David out of marble with a rock. He used custom tools to create his masterpiece. And that’s true even today: It takes the right enterprise resource management tools to tackle complex projects. A far cry from Michaelangelo’s chisels, enterprise resource allocation can be accomplished with the click of a button (or two).

Ready to level up your project management skills as it applies to enterprise resource management? Dive into all things dynamic work with online training and certifications: