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The name of BIK bouw stems from its association with construction work through collaborative partnerships. This means that the company works with selected regular parties. Ronn: “We have a project template of regular subcontractors we collaborate with for all specialisations. There is therefore no need to search high and low for a specialist we might award the project to.” Is the 12Build database not an option? ''Not really. Not for this.''
Ronn always wanted to work in construction. He started out as a carpenter and then quickly developed from there. “The majority of people working in the construction industry are from the ‘older’ generation and this affects the level of innovation. Fortunately, however, more and more construction professionals recognise the benefits of digitalisation.”
Ronn has been Head of Planning and Support at BIK bouw for three years, but has been working with 12Build for the past decade. “One of the conditions I made before starting at BIK bouw was that I wanted to continue to work in 12Build.” No sooner said than done. “That is typical of the company: if the director, Jasper Sluimer, wants you on-board, it is hard to say no and you will always come to an agreement.”
About BIK bouw
BIK bouw offers integrated and sustainable solutions for new build, renovations and transformations, with the aim of adding value to real estate and providing affordable comfortable living for all residents and users. Ronn explains that the company started life in an attic.
“BIK bouw sees itself as a young enthusiastic company with extensive knowledge and experience in construction,” according to Ronn Blijleven. “Our strength lies in combining the knowledge and expertise that exists in the chain. We put the interests of the commissioning party and its clients first and we carry out projects as efficiently as possible through collaborative partnerships.”
“One of the conditions I made before starting at BIK bouw was that I wanted to continue to work in 12Build.”
Collaborative partnerships for both the subcontractor and the project manager
“We do not misuse 12Build to send out invitations to tender indiscriminately,” explains Ronn. “For every component of contracted work, we have about five regular subcontractors who we use for every project.” Ronn is eager to eliminate the favouritism that is prevalent in the construction industry. “I want to assess people on their qualities. It is important for us that a project manager can collaborate with a certain party. And it is something we consciously consider during the preliminary phase when looking for a new party. If there is no click, we feel a project will fail.”
BIK bouw has simply compiled this list of regular subcontractors in 12Build Procurement process. Which component of work do we need carried out? Who do we have on our list with a green or gold star? Okay, they will receive an invitation to tender. That is all there is to it.
In the past, this process was anything but straightforward. Ronn paints a picture of a whole team coming together to deliberate and assess which subcontractors delivered good work, before searching out their contact and e-mail details again each time and then sending the invitation to tender via e-mail and WeTransfer. ''Two days before the tender should have arrived, you would receive an e-mail with the message: ‘Ronn, the WeTransfer link has expired. Could you send it again, please?''
Benefits of 12Build
The big advantage of 12Build is that you can see what you have sent, when you have sent it and whether a subcontractor has opened the files. It does not matter when they open them. They are always available.” Another huge benefit according to Ronn is the ability for general contractors to see immediately whether subcontractors have indicated beneath the invitation to tender that they are intending to submit a quote or not (using particular buttons).
“In the past, we had less time for costing and less time to immerse ourselves in the project. I might have the ability to send out more invitations to tender now, but that is not what I want to use 12Build for. I used to send invitations to 25 plumbers and would then call them afterwards. Now I use 12Build as a tool within BIK bouw for specific subcontractors.”
Ronn still calls the subcontractors regularly, even though it is not strictly necessary. He just enjoys doing it. “Now that we are no longer spending three or four days on invitations to tender, we have time to spare.” Instead of taking a few days, BIK bouw now does it within an hour. This leaves more time for other important things. Ronn: “The margin of error is much smaller now. Often in the past, we used to write the company name incorrectly, e-mail addresses missed a dot and WeTransfer links expired. Everything had to be done quickly so that you had a little time to spare. I am happy that it now runs so effectively and efficiently.”
“The digitalisation was not up to scratch. Unless you consider Word and Excel as forms of digitalisation, in which case we were completely digitalised.”
“If one of our regular parties goes out of business, we see it in 12Build Procurement process and then add a new subcontractor to our regular list. And for this, we do use the services of the 12Build database,” explains Ronn. The 12Build Database is large in size and of very high quality.
Collaboration with Creditsafe
12Build works with Creditsafe, which provides general contractors with direct access to information about bankruptcies and the health of a company. Creditsafe is the most widely used credit information provider in the world. Every night, all the information about subcontractors is automatically updated in 12Build.
Ronn: “This insight into the credit rating is extremely useful for us. If we are looking to add a new regular subcontractor to our list and we see that one of them has a financial health rating of D, we will not include them. At that moment, the risk of bankruptcy is just too high and that is a risk we at BIK bouw simply cannot afford to take.” And Ronn believes another advantage of working with Creditsafe is that it enables him to see whether the rating of the subcontractors that BIK bouw is already collaborating with has remained the same. “If the rating of a subcontractor goes down, from B to C, for example, we will call to ask why that is.”
Digitalisation in the construction industry
Before BIK bouw started working with 12Build through the initiative of Ronn Blijleven, digitalisation was not up to scratch. “Unless you consider Word and Excel as forms of digitalisation, in which case we were completely digitalised,” says Ronn with a laugh. “We did everything via WeTransfer and Excel lists. Everything manually. I still have documents on my desk from five years ago, which I do not even want to start on. They are logs showing what was said, by whom and when. If you were to do that today, considering the number of tenders we have to deal with, you would be busy all day with lists. I prefer to do things with the least possible effort to achieve the greatest possible result and 12Build can help me realise this.”
BIK bouw made great strides once the company started working in 12Build. “Approximately 70% of our processes are now done digitally. Many of them almost automatically,” explains Ronn. The financial processes are carried out with AFAS, another company with an interface with 12Build. This means that changes in 12Build are automatically processed in AFAS, and vice versa. BIK bouw is also busy with Docstream and the interface with 12Build. “We want to have that implemented within a year.”
One of the greatest fans of 12Build is Ronn Blijleven
Ask Ronn one question and he will provide you with an outpouring of information about working with 12Build: how it works, what he likes about it and why everyone should work with 12Build. “The construction industry is being revitalised with 12Build!” There seems to be no end to it.
He is even more enthusiastic about the collaboration between BIK bouw and 12Build: “Roy Welink carried out the onboarding process with us. I really like the contact I have with Roy. He is also the only one who calls me Ronnie, instead of Ronn. That is nice, very amicable.” Ronn says that he sees a lot of sales people in his work and it is often clear that they want to sell you something. “12Build, on the other hand, really wants to collaborate with us and you are keen to know what I miss in 12Build. I really like that attitude. Have you had enough compliments for now?”
Ronn Blijleven
Cost expert
