Gallant and Fondion begin cooperation to make the construction industry more efficient
“Productivity jump of up to hundreds of millions of euros”
Gallant and Fondion are embarking on a partnership that could improve the productivity of the construction industry by up to hundreds of millions of euros. “Current manual calculations expose you to errors, as much as one percent error can be in the hundreds of thousands of euros,” points out Krista Himanen, Gallant’s Head of Construction Customers. The solution can be found in Fondion Oy’s modern software service. “Our software both eliminates the possibility of errors and saves the precious time of construction companies”, says Jukka-Pekka Tahkola, CEO of Fondion.
A new leaf is turning in the history of Finnish construction when the software house Fondion Oy and the group of financial experts Gallant start cooperating.
“It is great to start cooperating with Gallant, which also represents excellence in financial management in the construction industry. Our expertise complements each other nicely and I believe that together we can offer our customers a lot”, says Jukka-Pekka Tahkola.
Fondion’s service is a unique innovation in ERP in the construction industry. Order management, quote accounting, cost tracking, and employee and contract notifications are starting to run smoothly.
“We expect a lot from this partnership! There is a lot of work to be done, as software issues are now out of order for most construction companies. In fact, only the largest companies have been able to develop their software”, says Krista Himanen.
Errors and waste of time cause huge losses
A construction company may lose up to hundreds of thousands of euros in contracts due to an excel formula error.
“Calculations are still done manually, which takes time and increases the likelihood of errors. Attempts are being made to transfer figures between different software manually and the human risk is increasing. An error of one percent can mean hundreds of thousands of euros”, Himanen describes the daily life of construction companies.
“Of course, we can’t make an exact promise, which would be an improvement in productivity with modern service. However, given the large billing errors that have occurred as a loss for construction companies, a 2% productivity improvement is more than realistic. Especially when the time saved in streamlined processes is considered”, Himanen estimates.
For example, in a five-million-euro project, a 2% error already means a loss of € 100,000 – and € 5M is not yet very big for a construction project.
The turnover of construction companies in Finland is about EUR 40 billion, of which companies exchanging less than EUR 100 million account for about EUR 28 billion. It is for this overwhelming majority of construction companies that Fondion’s service combined with competent financial management is a tremendous improvement.
“Looking at the construction industry as a whole, it is quite easy to estimate that a productivity jump of up to hundreds of millions of euros is promised here,” estimates Himanen.
From blind decisions to leading with knowledge
With Fondion’s service, productivity management becomes more predictable.
“Currently, the companies’ decisions are not based on real-time figures, which comes as nasty surprises. With Fondion’s service, the figures are real-time, so decisions no longer have to be made blindly, but based on information”, Himanen glows.
“One of the clear benefits of our software is support for management decision-making. Planning, predictability, keeping to the schedule and budget will be much easier for the company”, says Tahkola, President and CEO.
Construction costs have risen sharply in recent years and prices are changing at a rapid pace – which is why it is very difficult to calculate the final price of a contract.
“Decent tools for making valid calculations and predictions are really needed. Inadequate accounting systems can cause significant losses if real-time data is not available. With Fondion, we can eliminate these problems”, Himanen rejoices.
Modern smart construction companies are taking the lead in the reform and will not be held captive by old practices.
“Who will use old hammers anymore once the nail gun is invented? Why not innovate in this field as well, especially when there are only significant benefits to be achieved”, Tahkola concludes.
Additional information:
Krista Himanen, Gallant, Head of Construction Customers, +358 40 642 8169, krista.himanen@gallant.fi
Jukka-Pekka Tahkola, Fondion Oy, CEO, +358 50 376 9619, jukka-pekka.tahkola@fondion.com
