How a 90-Year-Old Electrical Engineering Contractor Became Future Ready with Acumatica

Quebec-based Groupe SGM has been specializing in turnkey automation and electrical projects since 1932. The over 90-year-old electrical engineering contractor believes in doing everything they can to evolve their operations so they can meet their customer’s needs today and into the future.

Groupe SGM implemented Acumatica Construction Management in 2024 with the goal of becoming more proactive by unifying its fragmented, manual systems and gaining access to critical data. And it met—and exceeded—its goal.

“With Acumatica, the advantage is that the entire database is now within Acumatica,” says Chief Financial Officer Mathieu Cotton. “Everything is centralized.”

What Running A Growing, Complicated Business Was Like Without Acumatica

Groupe SGM grew quickly over the past decade. It acquired two companies, expanded its headcount from 100 to 350 employees, and managed multiple departments dedicated to fulfilling specific functions, from building electrical panels and dealing with engineering needs to handling large-scale projects and providing responsive electrical and maintenance services.

Cotton says the complex operation was being run on a specialized management software designed for Quebec electrical contractors. Unfortunately, it was an on-premises solution that required manual processes and reliance on Excel spreadsheets.

“We were able to produce financial reports, but when we looked at the big picture, it was difficult to get true data on what was happening,” Cotton says. “We relied heavily on hearsay conversations we had with managers, but we didn’t have the data itself to validate what was being said.”

This inability to see into the financial and operational health of the company was compounded by the fact that much of the work was done manually. Alexis Veronneau, VP Corporate Services, says for pricing agreements, they had to manually record the different prices for each quote and each sale. He also says that inventory management was difficult with their legacy system.

Jessica Seracino, Chief Information Officer, adds that the old system’s limitations extended to a lack of visibility into departmental costs and revenue. “It wasn’t very integrated, so we had to go and find the information to develop KPIs to make us more proactive in our decisions.”

However, Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Jean-Francois Martin says that out of all their software challenges, the most complicated was handling remote data entry from the construction sites.

“Our software was very closed with no possibility of exchanging data with cloud platforms or other systems,” he says. “We had to create a lot of Excel files to try to help us, but it became a bit chaotic and very difficult to manage.”

What Running a Growing, Complicated Business is Like With Acumatica

After thoroughly reviewing their ERP options, the Groupe SGM leaders realized Acumatica could meet their construction, manufacturing, field service, project management, and finance needs—all within its single, integrated, and cloud-based ERP solution. According to Veronneau, the implementation of Acumatica’s construction ERP was very smooth, thanks in large part to their Gold Certified Acumatica partner SiPD.

Says SiPD’s Anthony Tairy, ERP Solutions Architect SR, “We believed that Acumatica was a good choice for Groupe SGM because of its capability to bring together different departments, whether its service, manufacturing, or project management.”

With Acumatica’s highly customized, affordable solution as its technology foundation, Groupe SGM is reacting faster to any issues that arise, and the team’s strategic initiatives can now be measured.

“If I want to increase sales in my strategic department by 15%, we are able to measure this and then track it week by week, month by month, to ensure that at the end of the day, at the end of the year, we are in line with the strategy,” Cotton says.

Additionally, Groupe SGM has:

• Achieved real-time project visibility, empowering faster, more informed decision-making.
• Enabled field service teams with reliable access to information, reducing delays and eliminating unnecessary communication.
• Automated essential processes, such as timecards and purchase requests, increasing efficiency and data accuracy and gaining 30% in time savings.
• Centralized inventory and asset tracking for over 6,000 pieces of equipment, streamlining company-wide operations.
• Integrated its parts catalogs, allowing them to monitor supplier agreements, record all data by project, and anticipate replenishment needs.
• Empowered real-time invoicing, reducing the process that previously took 30 days from service completion.

What the Future Holds for a Growing, Complicated Business

When Groupe SGM chose Acumatica, the company made it a priority to familiarize the team with Acumatica’s capabilities and functionalities. They quickly discovered how accessible and user-friendly Acumatica’s system is, assuring them that it would meet each team member’s needs.

“Every administrator can set up dashboards with whatever data they need,” Cotton says. “Instead of being very reactive, we’re ahead of costs and able to see what’s coming.”

As Groupe SGM’s single source of truth, Acumatica is giving the electrical engineering contractor the tools and capabilities it needs to create a strong, connected team that works together to build a strong future for itself and its customers.

To learn more about Acumatica, why it’s a top usability leader in G2’s Mid-Market Construction ERP Report for Winter 2026, and how it can work with your team to help you succeed, contact our team today.