On May 17, 2022, we went to meet Alexandre Chopine and Ali Saidi, works supervisor in Suresnes and head of job site at Watelet TP (Eurovia group). Kraafteurs for more than a year, they tell us about their experience.
"In Suresnes, we have a maintenance lease with Watelet TP. We have a team of 2 people on a daily basis in the city" begins Alexandre. We work on large projects as well as on small road maintenance jobs: changing bollards, pavement subsidence, potholes. However, on these small projects, the follow-up is sometimes quite heavy for the amount of the estimates.
"We had an Excel spreadsheet where I entered all the data and we shared it with Watelet TP. It was a bit like the Bronx. I had to enter everything, the boss had to look at it and print it out. We met almost once a week to keep track of everything," says Alexandre. "Every time we had a task to do, we had to travel with the client. It took us an hour a day" says Ali. Not to mention the evening hours spent updating the Excel and preparing the as-built records.
"We had to find a more efficient and effective monitoring system," says Alexandre. The work supervisors do not only have to manage the external control system and their work also involves a lot of communication with the elected officials about the work in progress.
"For me, the first particularity of Kraaft is that we have instant information. When I open the application, I know what has been done" explains Alexandre. The principle is simple: for each request coming from internal services or from residents, the Suresnes teams create a Kraaft conversation with the type of mess, the photos, the address and a short description.
Watelet TP has real time information, Ali can see all the tasks created by the municipality and organize the schedule of his team leader according to it. He has direct access to photos and addresses, and his foreman takes a photo once job site is finished. "I use Kraaft every day (...) I can even manage from my phone and validate quietly at night. And during the day I have more time to do my job, which is to be on the construction sites (...) I save at least one hour per day because the application eliminates a large part of the visits with the customer", says Ali.
This real-time monitoring strengthens the relationship of trust between the customer and the company, and allows the teams to be more responsive on urgent sites. "I managed to do a job in 5 minutes, fortunately my teams were close by, 100m away, they did the job and within 5 minutes I sent back the picture: the customer was very satisfied" continues Ali. "Before, it would have been an Excel spreadsheet, a phone call, a visit to the site, etc.".
The simplicity of the interface, close to Google Maps and WhatsApp, allowed the teams to get used to the application in a few days. "Today it would be difficult to do without Kraaft (...) when you get used to the good things it's very hard to go back" adds Ali.
All the interventions are also visualized on the satellite map of the town with a color code according to the status of the job site. "The map allows us to communicate with our elected officials to know the progress and the number of interventions that there are on the city" says Alexandre. This feature is available on cell phones and allows Ali to optimize the schedules with his two bosses.
"Even on longer operations, Kraaft allows us to communicate on the progress of the work (...) and to exchange in real time with the customer on the complications or questions we may have", says Ali.
And at the time of the as-built records at the end of the month, all the building sites can be exported in Excel format with the photos. This saves time on invoicing and allows us to monitor the work in progress. "Today, Kraaft improves Watelet TP's service" on the reports testifies Ali, who also uses the Word or Excel export to generate his as-built records.
"On a daily basis, Kraaft allows us to work serenely. We are not lost and if we fill in our requests well, for the company behind it is much easier and the work is better done. In the end, everyone wins" concludes Alexandre.
"Today it would be difficult to do without Kraaft (...) when you get used to the good things it is very hard to go back" (Ali Saidi, head of job site at Watelet TP)
✅ Ease of use by all market players;
✅ The work manager avoids unnecessary travel: in particular the triple visit with the client, the head of job site and at the reception;
✅ Fewer phone calls to track progress;
✅ More transparency between the construction company and the community on the monitoring of job site ;
✅ Appreciated formalism for job site reports and as-built records ;
✅ Adaptability of the solution to the specificities of the market: 100% customizable forms and reports ;
