The challenges of Sogea Hydraulics Provence before using Kraaft

‍

‍

‍

The agency, based in Hyères, is a specialist in sanitation and drinking water works. Radiating around the Var (83), it is attached to Sogea Hydraulics Provence, and since 2021 at the new Vinci Construction Center, which brings together more than 120,000 employees.

‍

Today, Mustapha and Yoan welcome us to a sanitation site in Valette du Var, commissioned by the city of Toulon. “The challenge of this project is the conditions” begins Mustapha. “We don't have enough space for trucks and access is difficult because it has a slope of +25%.” A usual situation for the public works company that often works in the mountains, where the ground is rocky and where access must be free morning and evening for local residents who take the road home and work. “We attack the construction site at 9 am on site with all the equipment and we must free access at 5 pm, so that the residents can come down” explains Mustapha.

‍

On this type of project, it is important to explain to the customer the difficulties encountered in real time, in order to anticipate overruns of deadlines and budgets. “We brought in the trencher last week to open the rock for 300m” testifies Mustapha, for example. A type of soil that it is not possible to anticipate 100% at the time of costing, hence the importance of good communication with the project owner. “Customers cannot monitor your work every day, they come by once a week and (...) they have several projects to manage” explains Yoan. So we rely on paper reports and photos to explain our progress. “But it's a lot of paperwork and photos in my personal directory (...) and then you have to take time at the end of the day or on the lunch break to report, and you don't remember exactly all the conditions of the moment” adds Mustapha.

‍

Saving time and quality on follow-up reports

‍

‍

“With Kraaft we have all the news at the moment, we send it all directly, it's immediate. In addition, it is listed by site like a filing cabinet: each photo goes to the right site and goes directly to the construction manager. It allows me to stay focused on the field (...) and to save 30 to 40 minutes a day” begins Mustapha.

‍

The principle is simple. For each site, Yoan creates a conversation on the mobile application. As easy to learn as WhatsApp, Kraaft makes it possible to centralize all progress photos, stopping point forms, safety greetings and milestone approvals (opening, pipe installation, earthworks, finishes) in the construction site news feed.

‍

“With this I can make very detailed and very precise reports (...) instead of calling the site manager I watch Kraaft and I have all the right information (...) when you have several sites it's even better you don't forget anything, it's really comfortable” says Yoan.

‍

“It's a good application (...) we are in contact with the construction manager and it's as if he were on the construction site every day.” (Mustapha El Kandouly, site manager at Sogea Hydraulics Provence)

‍

Strengthened trust with the city of Toulon

‍

‍

Kraaft offers customized report formats for the company: in a few clicks, the history of the construction site is shared in Word, PDF or Excel format to the customer. And since April 2022, it is possible to add the MOA directly to the application so that it has direct access to the events that we share with it.

‍

“I use the [mobile] application 5 to 6 times a day to put a photo with a comment (...) the construction manager who is behind his desk receives the photos directly [on the web application] and if available he can send the report directly to the customer who sometimes receives it within half an hour” explains Mustapha. Thanks to the geo-located photos, “they know exactly when the main stages of the construction site took place (the trencher, the vacuum cleaner, the machines), when we had constraints and why”.

‍

“The customer was in favor of the reports, it convinced him, he is very reassured to see that everything is transcribed. If there is ever a need to find information that happened a week or a month ago we will have it, so he is happy” underlines Yoan. Exploring the photos on the satellite map or the chronological gallery allows him to easily explore the life of the construction site. “Everything is better ordered (...) it saves me between 45 minutes and 1 hour per day” he concludes.

‍

“It's much easier with Kraaft now, I work healthier.” (Yoan Moussu, assistant construction manager at Sogea Hydraulics Provence)

‍

The benefits

‍

✅ Easy adherence for the whole company to a field tool similar to WhatsApp

✅ Save time on generating geo-located and time-stamped photo reports

✅ More responsive and transparent collaboration with MOA

✅ Better traceability of hazards during construction

✅ Integration with business tools (Kizeo Forms, SharePoint)

‍