Digitalisation for Industrial Companies in Norway: Projects, Documentation, Service and ERP Integration
TL;DR
For an industrial or engineering company that builds equipment to order, digitalisation is less about sensors and more about the project flow around production. Four areas matter most: project economics with estimate versus actual while the project runs, document control and traceability (MRB, SDRL, material certificates), service history per serial number, and integration with the ERP and accounting system you already have. Start with the flow that costs the most today, and build around the systems you have instead of replacing them.
Digitalisation for industrial companies means bringing the project flow, from quote and estimate through purchasing, production and documentation to service after delivery, into systems that talk to each other, so the figures and documents exist while the project is running and not only once it has been delivered.
When an industrial company talks about digitalisation, the conversation often turns to sensors, machine control and predictive maintenance. For a company that develops, builds, installs or engineers technical equipment and plant to order, much of the loss sits elsewhere: in the project flow around production. The estimate lives in Excel, hours arrive long after they were worked, the subcontractor's certificates are in a binder and three emails, and the post-calculation is the first time anyone sees what the project actually cost.
This article is about that part: projects, documentation, service and ERP integration. Machine control (PLC and SCADA), sensors and production line monitoring are separate disciplines with their own suppliers, and are left out here.
Who this article is for
Companies with 10–200 employees that work engineer-to-order: each order is designed to the customer's requirements, materials are bought against the order, welding and machining are often done by subcontractors, and the equipment is assembled and tested before delivery. That covers machine builders and equipment suppliers to energy, marine, aquaculture and process industries, engineering offices with a workshop or field work in the same project, automation suppliers and system integrators, and industrial service companies.
Four signs the project flow needs better systems
- Estimate versus actual only shows up in the post-calculation, when it is too late to steer the project.
- Engineering hours and workshop hours are logged in separate systems and first meet in the accounts.
- The documentation package is assembled from binders, email and shared folders in the last days before delivery.
- The service history of a machine lives with one technician, not in a system the office and the customer can look up.
If two or more sound familiar, that is probably where digitalisation should start, not with new machines or sensors.
Project economics: estimate versus actual while the project runs
In a company that builds to order, every project has its own economics: estimate, purchases, own hours, subcontractors and change orders. The figures exist, but they sit in different systems: hours in one, purchases in the ERP, invoices in the accounts and the estimate in a spreadsheet. The post-calculation then becomes the first time anyone sees the whole picture.
The goal is to see estimate versus actual per project and work package while the project runs: office and workshop hours on the same project, purchases booked against the estimate, change orders logged with their cost before the work starts, and invoice data going straight to the accounting system. That rarely calls for a new ERP. More often it calls for a link between time tracking, purchasing and accounting, such as time tracking and project accounting integrated with your accounts, or dedicated project and delivery control where the flow is too specific for off-the-shelf software.
Purchasing and subcontractors
Welding, machining and surface treatment are often done by subcontractors, and each order has an agreed delivery date, drawing revision and document requirements. When the overview of what has been ordered, what has arrived and which certificates are missing lives in email, chasing becomes manual work and missing certificates are found late. A digital purchasing flow picks up the order from the ERP, lets the subcontractor confirm delivery and upload certificates, and shows what is missing per project.
Document control and traceability: MRB, SDRL and material certificates
Suppliers to energy and marine face documentation requirements the customer sets out in an SDRL, often with NORSOK Z-018 as the reference. At delivery, everything has to be collected in an MRB: 3.1 material certificates traceable to heat and serial numbers, welding and NDT records, test reports and FAT/SAT protocols.
When documents are registered against the project, purchase order, heat number and serial number the moment they arrive, the package can be generated when the equipment is ready instead of being put together the night before. The status of each document in the SDRL becomes visible along the way, and the final invoice does not have to wait for a binder. This can be built as a dedicated MRB and documentation package per delivery. If you keep your own project or document system, building the document flow as an integration is often enough.
Service after delivery: history per serial number
For companies that follow their equipment after delivery, service history per serial number is the foundation: what has been delivered where, in which configuration, what was done last time, and which certificates are about to expire. When the history only exists with the technician, it is hard to decide whether a job is a warranty claim or billable, and the service report tends to be written the week after.
A field app for service technicians lets the technician scan a QR code or pick the serial number, go through the checklist, take photos, log parts and hours and sign on site. With a customer portal, customers can see their own equipment, certificates with expiry dates and the next service without picking up the phone.
ERP integration: build around the systems you have
The ERP and accounting system is the hub of most industrial companies, and replacing it to fix the project flow rarely pays off. ERP systems such as RamBase, Monitor and Visma.net have documented APIs, as do accounting systems such as Tripletex, PowerOffice Go and Xledger. An API integration means project numbers, purchase orders, hours and invoices are entered once and match in every system. What each API allows, and whether write access needs a separate licence, varies and should be clarified early. Which connections are live and which only have a documented API is shown in the integration table.
How an industrial company gets started
- Find the flow that costs the most: follow one project from quote to final invoice, and note where figures are typed in again, where documents are hunted for and where deviations are found too late.
- Keep what works: the ERP, accounting and project system should usually stay. What is missing is often the layer between them.
- Start small: solve one flow, for example estimate versus actual or the documentation package, and put it to use on a real project before you expand.
- Involve the people who do the work: the workshop manager, purchasing and the project manager know where things go wrong. A system that does not fit their working day will not be used.
- Expand phase by phase: once the first flow is live, the next phase is easier to price and prioritise.
What it costs
We do not quote prices before the scope is known. Pricing is set after the scoping phase, as a fixed price per phase. What drives the scope is how many systems need to be connected, how well your APIs are documented, how many users and locations the solution has to work for (office, workshop and field), and how much historical data needs to be moved in.
How WOLLUM works with industrial companies
WOLLUM is a software company at Forus with industrial and engineering companies as its specialism. I have worked as a consulting engineer and automation engineer at a company that developed and built wireline equipment, with its own assembly workshop and welding and machining at subcontractors. I know the requirements above from the inside.
We start with on-site scoping, in your workshop and project office, and build a first working version of the flow that costs you the most. Each phase has an agreed scope and a fixed price before it starts, and the source code is yours. See what we build as custom software for industrial and engineering companies.
Which part of your project flow costs the most today? Book 30 minutes with WOLLUM and we will look at your project flow together. Pricing is set after the scoping phase, as a fixed price per phase. Or write directly to adrian@wollums.no. For the wider picture, read our guide to digital transformation for Norwegian SMEs.
Frequently asked questions
- Is digitalisation only for large industrial companies?
- No. Smaller companies often have the most to gain, because they rarely have people dedicated to keeping spreadsheets and systems in step. A company with 10–200 employees seldom needs a large ERP project. More often it needs hours, purchases, documents and invoices to connect around the systems it already has.
- Do we need to replace our ERP system?
- Rarely. Most modern ERP and accounting systems have documented APIs, and what is missing is often the layer between quote, workshop, subcontractors and final invoice. That can be built as a separate solution and connected to the ERP, so project numbers, purchase orders and hours are entered once.
- What about sensors, PLCs and predictive maintenance?
- Machine control, sensors and production line monitoring are separate disciplines with their own suppliers, and not what this article is about. For a company that builds to order, there is often more to gain in the project flow: estimate versus actual, documentation and service after delivery.
- How do we make sure employees use the new tools?
- By building for their working day, not for a meeting room. The tool has to be quicker than what people do today, for example letting the technician log the service on site instead of writing a report afterwards, and it has to solve a problem they find annoying themselves. Involve the workshop manager, purchasing and project managers from day one.
- What does it cost to get started?
- Pricing is set after the scoping phase, as a fixed price per phase. The scope depends on how many systems need to be connected, how well the APIs are documented and how many users and locations the solution has to work for. Each phase has an agreed scope and a fixed price before it starts.
