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Construction companies and project developers are facing a major digital transformation of the construction and civil engineering sector. When building and managing projects, they work with an increasing number of different and often specialized software. "This digitalization creates a lot of data and makes managing quality, costs and planning complex," says Joost Bolkenstein of Thinkproject. "Working in the cloud then offers a solution."
Optimally managing the triangle of quality, cost and schedule is Thinkproject's central vision. The European provider of cloud software for collaboration in construction, infrastructure and engineering serves customers in 60 countries from 18 offices. Thousands of companies in the construction and infrastructure sector use the cloud platform for collaboration among the many partners in large international projects. Thinkproject has had an office in Utrecht for ten years from which customers in the Benelux and Scandinavia are served.
According to Bolkenstein, the trend toward the cloud in construction and infra is driven by the need for openness and collaboration between parties. "Thinkproject offers companies in the GWW sector an open platform where they can manage all their data and processes of a project in the cloud. The moment customers also want to continue working with their own, customized or specific software, it can be linked through APIs. This way, information from that software is also available through our platform. Purchasing or installing additional software is not necessary." According to Bolkenstein, it is enormously important that partners clearly define at the start of a project how all those involved will work together in all phases of the construction process. "By centralizing all project information, building data and communication in the cloud, all partners in construction projects work with up-to-date data in a 'single source of truth.' That is the core of good collaboration and Thinkproject facilitates this process."
Regardless of the tooling or software, Bolkenstein says the goal is always for companies to be "in control" of the quality, cost and schedule triangle. "Contractors are increasingly positioning themselves as total companies, but in doing so they are becoming responsible for the management, maintenance and contract management of buildings and infrastructure. In fact, the total life cycle of a project. But then they have to keep a tight rein on the reins. Data management is then increasingly important. Companies need to organize their processes, planning, budgets, reporting and analysis of projects with maximum error reduction and minimum administrative actions. Collaboration in the cloud offers exactly this," said Bolkenstein.
That Thinkproject's vision and solution work is shown by the fact that its cloud services contribute to good collaboration within 75,000 projects worldwide. This includes the construction of impressive megaprojects, such as the 18-kilometer tunnel under the Fehmarnbelt between Denmark and Germany. "Optimal cooperation, grip on planning, control of budgets and forecasting of costs are crucial for the future of GWW companies and the success of their projects. It is of course very special that an international consortium of leading construction companies relies on Thinkproject to organize all information within a large-scale project like the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel. We are quite a bit proud of that," Bolkenstein concludes.
