Mid-September 2020, first meeting with the teams of Allez & cie Pézenas and Saint-Just Lunel (Hérault, 34), near Montpellier. Two areas specializing in roadworks, network infrastructure and public lighting - our core business. An instant friendship and alignment: on the one hand, the local anchoring, the dynamism and the desire to progress in the digitalization of the Allez teams, on the other hand, the particular attachment to this region (of origin of one of our associates), the alignment with the operational stakes of the agencies and the enthusiasm for long-term co-development. Three months after the beginning, we are making a first assessment with Patrick (Agency Manager), Julien (Works Supervisor), Marc-Antoine (Head of job site) and Xavier (QSE Manager). Here are the pictures and a written summary.
Road, network infrastructure and public lighting projects are exciting: by their nature, and because they are always at the junction of technical, human and financial issues. Despite the highest possible quality of preparation, the environments are always changing (nature of the ground, existing networks, complex urban areas, local residents), and the teams (team leader, manager job site, conductor, design office, project managers and contractors) must therefore communicate in a very reactive, fluid and traceable manner. Real challenges, which we help them to meet.
On a daily basis, the performance of the work sites is often determined by the reactivity of the teams. Sometimes it is the small unforeseen events that require a change of method or equipment, and that quickly cause the loss of half a day (for example, encountering a hard rock when making the trench). And sometimes the unforeseen events are blocking and require validation from the project manager to undertake additional work (a network snag, etc.). "The teams get stuck and can't move forward properly," says Patrick. To avoid wasting these precious hours, we have to bring up the photos or videos to the driver in the moment and quickly communicate them to the project manager, hoping for his quick return.
Before Kraaft was complicated. Now, the "Kraaft reflex" has taken hold and guarantees a centralization of all problems as they arise. The teams have gained in reactivity, there is much less siloed information, the interlocutors (especially the project managers) are brought into the loop more quickly.
"We come and take a picture of the excavation [for example], to show that there is really rock, we can treat very quickly, bring up the problem to the client who will give his answer quickly and allow us to continue the job site" explains Patrick.
Before Kraaft, it was by email, by text message, by anything and everything, there was no clear framework" explains Julien. It's typical of public works and under the load of the number of sites to follow, the time spent looking for information when you need it is quickly multiplied by ten. Some events are quickly forgotten: "It helps to avoid forgetting. At a given moment, you do something, you talk about it in the evening, you take a photo, you forget to send it..." confides Julien; "there could be information that [...] was kept by certain people and then other people needed it", explains Xavier. An equipment failure, a sick leave, and phones with important photos are lost.
"When the client complains [...] it's difficult to defend your point of view except orally," explains Xavier (QSE). In the worst case, this can lead to delicate situations that all public works agencies are familiar with. For example, at the time of finalizing the job site, a disagreement: "But if I had told you that we had lost 1 day because of this network snag, but if we had been obliged to make 20cm of additional trench, etc.", hence the importance of having traces of all the worksite events in order to value them. Or a few months after a job site, a dispute: "No the crack was already there before the job site, no the curb was in good condition when we left the premises."
Kraaft responds to these difficulties in two ways. First, by centralizing all old SMS, WhatsApp, email. Secondly, by the report function which allows to archive all the elements of job site sorted in their stages, their stopping points, and their hazards (see attached screenshot).
"The fact that we can make an extract from job site with Kraaft, it allows us to do the pros and cons, [...] it allows us to collect the information and to go and get the money back" - Marc-Antoine
The reality of the relationship between a project manager and his project supervisor is a human one, made up of initial contractual agreements, then adjustments over time according to new work to be valued, and a certain flexibility in the final negotiation. And EPCs are increasingly demanding transparency on what is happening at job site. Shortening the validation loops with MOE/MOA to avoid "I told you so" later, saving time on reports, and better tracking the work to be valued, are strong issues for decision makers and drivers. Platforms for filing events and reports such as e-Plan (internal to Enedis for electricity works) are the exception, and set an example for better communication.
Talking about ahazard 'concrete demolition' report declared on Kraaft, Marc-Antoine explains: "There is everything: I have the day, the date and the time [of the photos], I go on the Enedis e-Plan software or with [the electricity syndicate] Hérault Energie, [...] I take thehazard 'concrete demolition' and hop I send it." Ourhazard module [visible on the video] allows, from the simple exchanges of the conversation of job site, to extract the whole list of hazards from job site and to make clean reports in one click. This saves time and provides transparency on all the work to be valued at the end of the job site, "which in the end can make a nice bill for our sites", says Marc-Antoine. As for the project manager, he can follow the events with more transparency job site.
"A good preparation of job site is a successful job site ." is a typical phrase among drivers, managers job site and business engineers. This is the core of the job. However, they often have to go on site to manage and plot small events job site and on a whole department, it takes a long time. But centralizing all the photos throughout the days of job site (which is what Kraaft does), means being more serene about the process, gaining confidence, wasting less time chasing photos and information, and moving less for minor events. "The head of job site used to have to systematically go to job site to check the problem and bring it back to the client if necessary", explains Patrick.
In practice, visits to job site remain essential in order to be close to the teams - the human element is central to the passion of the drivers and engineers for their job. Kraaft frees up time for them to focus on their core business: technical and operational planning of sites, and monitoring of important events.
Allez & cie agencies, like many others, are not simply users, but really collaborators in inventing tomorrow's tools for their businesses. In each feature there is a piece of Allez via their feedback, and we accompany them on their digitalization needs. Next chapter in the running: standardizing and simplifying the process of ordering rubble, through the integration of an external digital form tool (Kizeo)! Expected to be released in February.
Beyond that, the two words that stand out about Kraaft from these 4 testimonies: simple, and fast! And the extra that makes us feel good: "it's a federative tool - they like to communicate on it!" admits Xavier. Giving the power of business modules while keeping a user-friendly and simple interface, that's our vision and we're committed to it!
