Automate monthly project updates from Procore construction management

29.09.2024

Managing construction projects requires juggling multiple elements — timelines, budgets, teams, compliance, and more. Fortunately, tools like Procore streamline the construction project management process, while services like PPTXMailMerge.com can automate project update generation. By combining these two, you can simplify reporting and ensure stakeholders receive professional, data-driven updates on time, every month. Let’s explore how this can work.


What is Procore?

Procore is a cloud-based construction management platform used to manage every phase of a construction project, from planning to completion. It centralizes all project data, enabling collaboration between project managers, contractors, architects, and clients. With Procore, you can:

  • Track budgets and manage costs.
  • Monitor project milestones and schedules.
  • Coordinate teams and communication.
  • Manage permits, compliance, and insurance data.
  • Track safety violations and ensure project compliance.

All of this can be accessed and updated in real time, making it a powerful tool for keeping complex projects on track.


Challenges of Reporting Project Progress

Construction projects often require regular updates to keep clients, stakeholders, and teams informed. Typically, project managers spend time compiling data, formatting reports, and making sure everything is up to date. This manual process can be repetitive and time-consuming.

Solution: You can automate the creation of these reports, saving time and ensuring consistent updates. This is where PPTXMailMerge.com comes in.


Automating Project Updates with PPTXMailMerge.com

PPTXMailMerge.com is a service designed to create PowerPoint presentations by merging data from external sources, such as Excel or CSV files, into pre-designed templates. With this service, you can:

  • Generate data-driven reports in PowerPoint format.
  • Use Procore data exports (in CSV or Excel format) to populate the slides.
  • Save hours on manual report generation and ensure stakeholders receive timely updates.

Here’s how you can set up this automation workflow.


Step-by-Step Workflow: Procore to PPTXMailMerge.com

1. Export Data from Procore

At the end of each month (or any chosen interval), you can export project data from Procore, such as:

  • Financial data (budget, committed costs, actual costs)
  • Project milestones (status of deliverables, deadlines)
  • Team members and their roles
  • Permits and compliance updates
  • Violations and safety incidents
  • Insurance details

Procore allows you to download this data in Excel (XLSX) or CSV format, which can be used to feed the PPTXMailMerge.com service.

2. Design a PowerPoint Template

Before automating, design a PowerPoint template that contains placeholders for the project data you’ll pull from Procore. For example:

  • Slide 1: Project Overview – Title, Team Leader, Date
  • Slide 2: Financial Overview – Budget, Actual Cost, Change Orders
  • Slide 3: Milestones – Key dates, Progress, Status
  • Slide 4: Compliance – Permits, Violations, Insurance

Each slide should contain placeholders (like {{Budgeted Amount}} or {{Milestone Status}}) where the Procore data will be inserted.

3. Set Up PPTXMailMerge.com

  • Upload your PowerPoint template to PPTXMailMerge.com.
  • Upload the exported Procore data (in CSV or Excel format).
  • Map the data fields to the corresponding placeholders in the PowerPoint template. For example, map the “Budgeted Amount” from the Procore financial data to {{Budgeted Amount}} in the PowerPoint template.

4. Automate the Monthly Updates

You can schedule a report generation in PPTXMailMerge.com to occur once a month (or on any custom schedule). Each month, simply upload the latest Procore export data, and the service will automatically generate a PowerPoint presentation with the updated project information.

5. Share the Report

The generated PowerPoint file can be downloaded, emailed directly to stakeholders, or saved to your cloud storage for distribution.


Benefits of Combining Procore with PPTXMailMerge.com

1. Time Savings

By automating the process, you eliminate the need to manually input data and format PowerPoint slides every month. What might take hours can now be done in minutes.

2. Consistency

Automated reports ensure that each update follows the same format and structure. This creates a professional, standardized presentation that stakeholders are familiar with.

3. Real-Time Accuracy

Because Procore data is updated in real time, your exported reports will reflect the most accurate and up-to-date information, leading to more informed decision-making.

4. Scalability

Whether you’re managing a single project or a portfolio of projects, this workflow scales to handle multiple updates without additional effort. You can generate customized reports for different stakeholders, all with the same underlying Procore data.


Conclusion

Integrating Procore for project management with the automation capabilities of PPTXMailMerge.com simplifies the process of generating monthly project updates. This approach not only saves valuable time but also ensures accuracy, consistency, and professionalism in your reporting. By automating these updates, project managers can focus on high-value tasks while keeping all stakeholders informed about progress.

For any construction project, staying on top of data and keeping stakeholders aligned is crucial. With Procore's data management and PPTXMailMerge’s report generation, you’ll be able to streamline project updates like never before.


By adopting this workflow, you'll improve communication efficiency, maintain professionalism, and ensure that your project updates are always accurate and timely.

-- For details on merging Excel data into PowerPoint template checkout our other blog post - Generate project status PowerPoint from Excel with images (Fast & Easy) and Frequently Asked Questions section.