The U.S. homebuilding industry is under pressure.

Material costs remain volatile. Interest rates fluctuate unpredictably. Land-use policy and permitting delays add friction. And the new home buyer expects more — faster communication, more transparency, and smoother experiences.

In this environment, operational excellence isn’t optional. It’s the difference between profitable growth and falling behind. Builders can no longer afford to rely on a patchwork of legacy systems and manual workflows. They need unified data, scalable processes, and technology that fits the way they actually build homes.

That’s where Constellation HomeBuilder Systems' NX platform comes in. We caught up on the show floor at the International Builders Show in Las Vegas, in February, with Constellation HomeBuilder Systems President Chris Graham and Bob Swainhart, Vice President of Enterprise Solutions. With Constellation’s NX rollout underway, the stakes are clear.

We want our customers to be fierce competitors," says Chris Graham, President of Constellation HomeBuilder Systems. "We want them to delight their home buyers and be easy partners to work with."

What Builders Told Them — and Why Constellation Listened

NX wasn't built overnight. It took planning, development, and iteration. The development team logged hundreds of thousands of hours. But the most important input came from the builders themselves.

We started off on the wrong track," Graham admits. "Our customers pushed us, and we adapted. Now we’re on the right path."

Unlike many ERPs repurposed from other industries, NX is built specifically for homebuilders. From day one, it has spoken the language of the industry. Concepts like communities, elevations, co-buyers, lot-specific pricing, and construction stages are native, not retrofitted.

Many of the large production homebuilders have had to force-fit generic ERP systems," says Bob Swainhart, Vice President of Enterprise Solutions. "With NX, there's no translation required. The system knows homebuilding."

Operational Gains That Drive ROI

One of the most pressing operational issues for builders today is time. The time it takes to update data. The time it takes to respond to market shifts. The time it takes to onboard new communities.

NX is engineered to streamline those bottlenecks.

In most legacy ERP platforms, your data footprint is massive," Swainhart explains. "With NX, you only manage the exceptions. If you’ve built a plan 1,000 times and nothing changes but a few standards or options, you only need to input what’s different."

That makes purchasing faster. It improves accuracy. It means scheduling, supply chain, warranty, design center, and even land management teams can work more efficiently.

It gives builders a foundation to do more with less," says Swainhart. "Protect margins. Reduce cycle-time. Respond to the market in real time."

The Implementation Question: Painful or Productive?

ERP implementation is notorious for being slow and disruptive. Constellation has no illusions about that. But their approach with NX is different.

The company uses a highly standardized process for onboarding. The first eight weeks of implementation are the same for every builder. Metrics are tracked from the outset to demonstrate early gains.

Implementation is the single biggest variable in the ROI equation," says Swainhart. "If you don’t get that right, it doesn’t matter how good the software is."

Early adopters are already seeing a difference. A first builder will go live April 1. Others are already mid-implementation. More will follow by year-end.

And unlike past ERP migrations, these implementations aren’t running into major roadblocks.

We’ve done hundreds of implementations over the years," Swainhart adds. "We know how to deliver."

Customer Experience, Unlocked

Buyers expect more. And they expect it now.

The NX platform includes homeowner portals, real-time updates, and tools to track satisfaction and service metrics. But it goes deeper than that. Because NX is fully integrated, it brings together operational data, field data, and customer experience metrics in one place.

That data was once locked in the back office," says Swainhart. "Now it’s accessible on a buyer’s iPad at 10 p.m. in their living room."

It’s not just about transparency. It’s about enabling builders to act.

If something’s going off the rails, the system shows you before it becomes a bigger problem," says Graham. "You can course-correct faster. You can improve satisfaction."

The Single Source of Truth

One of the biggest pain points for builders is data inconsistency. Sales uses one report. Construction uses another. Accounting sees something else.

With NX, that ends.

Everyone’s working from the same set of data," Graham explains. "That eliminates confusion. You get clearer decision-making and a more accurate view of performance."

This kind of integration also improves accountability across departments. Sales, accounting, purchasing, and construction are working in sync, not in silos.

It’s not meant to be just a cost-saving solution," Graham adds. "It’s about letting your team step up and focus on higher-value decisions."

The NX Roadmap: What’s Next

NX is live. But it’s still evolving.

In the near term, Constellation plans to release new modules for land development, construction collaboration, field ops, and build-to-rent functionality. Six major platform updates are scheduled each year.

Fifteen years from now, we’ll still be adding to NX," Swainhart says. "This is a long-term investment."

The product roadmap is shaped by active customer input. As new use cases emerge, new functionality follows.

We’re forever investors in homebuilding," says Swainhart. "And we’ll keep delivering what builders need next."

The Bottom Line

Builders need tools that flex with the market. That cut through operational noise. That help deliver great homes, on time and on budget.

NX wasn’t built to impress investors. It was built to help builders build better.

This is about enabling our customers to be better operators, better partners, and better brands," Graham says. "And we're just getting started."

For builders feeling the pressure of 2025, NX may be the strategic edge they’ve been waiting for.