Custom Kraan Bouwcomputing integration
Kraan is an ERP solution for the construction industry, developed by Kraan Bouwcomputing and now a product of ECI Software Solutions. Construction and installation companies use it for estimating, project control, time tracking, purchasing, service and financial administration. Other software often runs alongside Kraan: a planning tool, a custom site app, a customer portal or a dashboard. Appfront builds the Kraan Bouwcomputing integration between those systems, so projects, hours and invoices are not entered twice.
What is an integration with the Kraan construction ERP?
A Kraan Bouwcomputing integration connects the Kraan construction ERP with the software you use alongside it. According to ECI, Kraan is intended for construction and installation companies in the upper SME segment and consists of modules such as Estimating, Project control, Time tracking, Purchasing, Service & Maintenance, Buyer management, Document management and Financials. Once a project is awarded, an estimate from Begroot & Bewerk or Bouwplus becomes a working budget, and hours, purchase orders and invoices are booked against it. The integration makes sure that data is also correct in your other systems, and that whatever happens there ends up back in Kraan.
Without an integration, it often goes like this. The planner takes the projects from Kraan and puts them in a planning board. Site managers enter hours or materials in their own app, and someone in the office then enters them in Kraan. A customer portal for buyers shows extra work that was first copied by hand from Buyer management. And management gets a report built from Excel exports. Every time someone retypes something, a discrepancy can arise between Kraan and everything else.
Kraan already has its own supply chain integrations. ECI cites the Ketenstandaard (now DICO), the KOVRA standard for housing associations, sales invoices in XML/UBL, OCR for incoming invoices and preconfigured APIs, with SAP and Excel as examples. We don't rebuild what is already there. We build for the parts you have yourself: your own planning tool, your own app, a portal or reporting. We haven't found any public API documentation, so we'll look at which route your Kraan environment offers in the first step with you and, if needed, with ECI.
No retyping
Data entered once.
One version of the truth
Kraan and your software in sync.
Back to Kraan
Hours and extra work booked.
How we build your integration with the Kraan construction ERP
We start with your processes: which Kraan modules you use, which other software runs alongside it and where data is currently retyped. Then we build the first integration, usually between projects and planning or between the timesheet app and Kraan, because that's where most of the manual work is. A few project managers and work planners use it on live projects. Purchasing, invoices, buyer extras and reporting follow once that works well. After that, we maintain the integration when Kraan or your other systems change.
Modules, systems and routes.
Projects or hours.
Purchasing, extras, reporting.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when things change.
What an integration with the Kraan construction ERP actually does
The components below appear in almost every Kraan integration. Which ones you need depends on the modules you use and the software running alongside.
Projects
From Kraan to planning.
Hours
From your app to Kraan.
Purchasing
Orders per project.
Invoices
XML/UBL or your own route.
Additional work
Buyers in your portal.
Reporting
Budget and forecast.
Who we build a Kraan construction ERP integration for
The integration is meant for companies that use Kraan as their ERP and also have their own software, or want to have it built. The more projects and systems you have, the more it delivers.
Contractors
Projects to planning.
Installers
Work orders and service.
Housebuilders
Buyer extras in the portal.
Maintenance companies
Contracts from housing associations.
Technology and integrations
This page is about connecting Kraan to your own software. If you work with a different ERP, see our page on the 4PS integration or the Syntess integration. If you estimate in a separate costing package, there is our page on the Ibis costing integration. For the supply chain's own messaging standard, see our page on DICO integration, for specifications our page on the STABU integration, and if you want your own works budget, see works budget software for construction. You can read about our approach on building software.
Why Appfront for your integration with the Kraan construction ERP?
Hours that reach Kraan a week late, a planning tool working from an outdated project list, or extra work that the buyer sees differently from the project manager all cost a construction company time and margin. That's what we build on: every item of data entered once, the same version in Kraan and in your other software, and every exchange traceable.
Less manual work
Nothing entered twice.
Up to date
Project monitoring with the latest hours.
Traceable
Every exchange logged.
Security and privacy in an integration with the Kraan construction ERP
Kraan holds budgets, cost prices, employee hours and financial data. The integration gives other systems only the data they need: a planning board gets projects but no cost prices, a buyer portal only that buyer's extra work. Every exchange is recorded with time, direction and result.
The integration runs in a European data centre, with encrypted connections and storage and daily backups. If your Kraan environment runs on its own server or with ECI, we will work with you and your IT administrator to determine how the integration reaches Kraan securely and what should be read-only.
Frequently asked questions about an integration with the Kraan construction ERP
Questions that directors, project managers and application administrators at construction and installation companies ask before they start.
A link between the Kraan construction ERP and your own software, such as a planning tool, a site app, a customer portal or reporting. Projects, hours, purchasing, invoices and additional work are exchanged, so nobody has to enter them twice.
An ERP solution designed specifically for construction, developed according to ECI for construction and installation companies in the SME+ segment. Kraan is made by Kraan Bouwcomputing from Capelle aan den IJssel and has been part of ECI Software Solutions since the acquisition of Treetop Group.
Under Chain integrations, ECI lists the Ketenstandaard (now DICO), the KOVRA standard for housing associations, sales invoices in XML/UBL, OCR from WhiteVision and Z-Solutions for incoming invoices, and preconfigured APIs. If that covers what you need, a custom integration is not necessary.
That depends on the module. Estimating supports import and export in CUF and Excel, invoices go through XML/UBL, and ECI mentions APIs without public technical documentation. We determine which route suits your environment based on your own projects and, if necessary, with ECI.
Yes, provided Kraan can receive those hours. In Kraan, a manager approves hours before they appear in project monitoring. The integration preserves that step, so hours from your app go through the same check as hours from Kraan's Hours app.
No. We build the integration on your side, using the exchange options that Kraan offers. For licences, modules and the configuration of Kraan itself, ECI remains your point of contact.
For companies with many projects and their own software alongside Kraan, such as a planning tool, an app or a portal. If you only use Kraan and its accompanying apps, an additional integration is often not needed.
Kraan and your own software working in sync?
Tell us which Kraan modules you use and which software runs alongside it. We will show you how an integration can take over the retyping.