Building smartly for the next generation
Interview with Edwin van Dijk, Marketing Manager and Nathalie Brunnekreeft, Project Manager of 12Build Sales B.V.
Sometimes, the idea for starting a company comes from looking at your own personal environment. This was the case for Eric Nieuwenhuis, who saw how his father struggled with paper construction documents. He was convinced that processes could be done more digitally and effectively. And so, in 2007, this was the initial spark for the founding of 12Build Sales B.V. The company’s proprietary solutions perfectly optimize processes for applying for and receiving tenders, as Marketing Manager Edwin van Dijk and Project Manager Nathalie Brunnekreeft explain.
European Business: The main focus of 12Build has always been on optimization?
Edwin van Dijk: We wanted to simplify the quotation and tendering process in the construction industry. Initially, general contractors were able to collect and manage quotations centrally, and subcontractors could respond to them. In a traditionally structured industry, our approach was a huge step forward. However, greater control and transparency in the procurement process was also an issue outside the Netherlands, and so our company quickly developed into a leading European platform for intelligent collaboration between general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers.
European Business: How has your industry developed?
Nathalie Brunnekreeft: The European construction industry has had to conquer many challenges: disruptions in the supply chain, highly volatile material prices, staff shortages and, on top of that, increasing pressure from laws and regulations. This has made purchasing more complex and more risky. At the same time, these challenges have had a positive effect. Purchasing has evolved into a strategic discipline. Quality, reliability and long-term relationships have become more important. We see that contractors need our support: better insight into offers, better comparability and reliable partners. As a result, platforms such as ours, which bring together transparency, collaboration and intelligence, are becoming increasingly important.
European Business: What exactly do you offer your customers?
Edwin van Dijk: First and foremost, we support the entire source-to-contract process in purchasing: from the pre-selection and qualification of partners to the signing of contracts. A good example of an innovation is our publication function. Contractors can not only publish their requests individually, but also publish them on the market. Then, subcontractors and suppliers can express their interest. This reverses the demand, creates more transparency and results in better matches. We also invest in AI in order to offer smarter analysis and better comparison of offers. In addition, the quality of requests improves, making it easier to qualify and respond to them. Overall, this makes the work process faster and more meaningful.
European Business: What growth opportunities are there for 12Build in the near future?
Nathalie Brunnekreeft: We see a great opportunity in the further standardization and professionalization of the procurement process in the European construction industry. Our data shows that there are still significant regional differences. For example, on average suppliers in the Benelux countries upload compliance documents 2.4 times more often than in the DACH region. This means that there is still great potential to improve risk management and professionalism outside our home market. We have been able to expand into Belgium, which is an important market for us after Germany. We are active in Denmark because we see Scandinavia and Eastern Europe as markets with great potential for our SaaS offering.
European Business: How do you position yourself in the market?
Edwin van Dijk: We see ourselves as a link on an European level. Our unique selling points lie in bringing together expertise based on historical data and providing a single platform where general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers can work together transparently.
European Business: Is digitalization a key focus?
Nathalie Brunnekreeft: Historically, the construction industry has only invested one to two per cent of its turnover in IT. This makes the impact of intelligent digitalization more urgent. At 12Build, we integrate AI directly into the work process. An example is our AI tool for bid analysis and comparison. Where it used to take two hours to compare bids, it now takes only five to fifteen minutes. That is an enormous increase in efficiency.
European Business: Where do you see your company in the next few years?
Edwin van Dijk: An important issue is the further professionalization of purchasing in the construction industry, with a strong focus on digitalization and the intelligent use of AI. We use AI to help contractors create requests for quotation more quickly and in a more targeted manner. This means that subcontractors and suppliers know what is required of them and can submit higher-quality quotations. We are currently hearing that nine out of ten quotations submitted are not optimally tailored to demand. There is enormous potential for improvement. Our tools are increasingly serving as guidelines for junior staff. This means we are not only building faster and more efficiently, but also more intelligently. For the next generation.