What is a material control layer?

A material control layer is a system that sits between procurement, field operations, and financial systems to provide real-time visibility into material state across the full lifecycle — from purchase order to installation to reconciliation. Unlike ERPs or inventory apps, it tracks the physical material itself, not just the transaction.

How is RunBlu different from an ERP or inventory management system?

ERPs track dollars and transactions. Inventory apps track what's on a shelf. RunBlu tracks the material itself through six enforced states: Ordered, Received, Stored, Allocated, Installed, and Reconciled. Every state change is an immutable event. When RunBlu says you have 200 feet of conduit in Bay 4, it means someone put it there, nobody has moved it, and it's not allocated to another job.

What trades does RunBlu work for?

RunBlu is built for specialty trade contractors including electrical, mechanical/HVAC, plumbing, fire protection, and civil contractors, as well as general contractors who need visibility across all subcontractor material flows. It's designed for contractors in the $5M to $50M revenue range.

How long does it take to implement RunBlu?

RunBlu is implemented in four sprints over 17 to 24 weeks: Foundation, Receiving, Allocation, and Readiness. The system is configured around your workflows, your team is trained, and you go live together.

How much can RunBlu save my company?

Contractors typically recover $400K to $700K in working capital in year one through reduced over-purchasing, waste elimination, and improved reconciliation. The average contractor over-purchases 10-20% of material due to unreliable inventory data. Eliminating that alone often delivers 13x+ ROI.

Does RunBlu integrate with Procore?

Yes. RunBlu is the material control layer and Procore is the project management layer. They are complementary systems. RunBlu integrates with Procore as well as accounting systems like QuickBooks and Sage.

Integration

RunBlu + Sage 300 Construction: Construction Accounting with Material Intelligence

Connect RunBlu with Sage 300 CRE to bridge the gap between financial tracking and physical material tracking. Your Sage job costs reflect actual material consumption.

How it works

RunBlu connects to Sage 300 CRE via API or scheduled data exchange

Job, cost code, and PO data sync from Sage to RunBlu

Material lifecycle events in RunBlu (receiving, allocation, installation) are tagged with Sage job and cost code references

Actual material consumption data flows back to Sage for job costing

Variances between PO values and actual consumption are reconciled in both systems

Data flow

From	Direction	To	Data
Sage	→	RunBlu	Jobs and cost codes
Sage	→	RunBlu	Purchase orders and commitments
Sage	→	RunBlu	Vendor and material catalog
RunBlu	→	Sage	Material costs by job/cost code
RunBlu	→	Sage	Receiving confirmations
RunBlu	→	Sage	Reconciliation adjustments

Data flow diagram — coming soon

Setup guide

Connect Sage 300 CRE

Establish the connection between RunBlu and your Sage instance. Supports API integration or scheduled file exchange for on-premise installations.

Map jobs and cost codes

RunBlu imports your Sage job structure and cost code hierarchy. Material categories are mapped to your existing cost code system.

Configure data flow

Define which data syncs, in which direction, and how often. Most customers run continuous sync for receiving and daily sync for cost data.

Validate and go live

Process test transactions through both systems to validate accuracy. Verify a complete cycle: PO in Sage → Receive in RunBlu → Cost update in Sage.

Use cases

Real-time job costing

Your Sage job cost reports reflect actual material installed — not PO values, not estimates. Know your true material cost position at any time.

Commitment tracking

Material commitments in Sage are validated against physical receiving in RunBlu. You know exactly what's been ordered, received, and consumed vs. what's still committed.

Period-end reconciliation

Month-end and job-end reconciliation is dramatically simplified. RunBlu's immutable audit trail provides the physical evidence that Sage's financial records need.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it work with Sage on-premise?

Yes. For on-premise Sage installations, RunBlu supports scheduled data exchange via secure file transfer. For cloud-hosted Sage, direct API integration is available.

How does it handle the cost code structure?

RunBlu imports your Sage cost code hierarchy and uses it to tag material events. Material consumption data flows back to Sage at the cost code level, maintaining your existing reporting structure.

What about change orders?

When change orders modify material requirements in Sage, the updated commitments sync to RunBlu. Material allocation and consumption track against the current commitment, not the original PO.

Ready to connect RunBlu + Sage 300 Construction?

Book a walkthrough and we'll show you the integration in action.

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