Construction industry example: software has to be user-friendly

It wasn’t the only praise Mehmet Timuçin Erdoğu, head of IT for the STFA Construction Group, had to spare at his presentation at EASY WORLD.

But let’s start from the beginning: Turkish company STFA is one of the most successful construction groups in the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa). The company implements projects, building bridges, harbours, power plants, and much more in 24 countries. 700 people work for just the construction group alone.

Document-intensive construction sector

Erdoğu explained how STFA came to EASY in this way: “We experienced strong growth up to 2009, and invested first in SAP. We use SAP to manage most business processes – in purchasing, construction, import, and export, for example. All of these processes require a large amount of paperwork.” Additionally, the company completes projects at various locations in multiple countries. They needed to find a way to handle the sheer amount of paper created in their central office in Istanbul.

EASY is especially user-friendly and flexible

STFA looked at all potential suppliers, selected EASY, and wasn’t disappointed with its choice. “I wanted a software that’s so easy my daughter could operate it. Back then, my daughter was seven years old,” the head of IT remembered at EASY WORLD. At the same time, the solution needed to be highly flexible, since process adaptations from one day to the next aren’t unusual in the construction industry, according to Erdoğu.

“EASY proved to be a platform on which you could do just about anything, and do so on your own. We started with pilot projects in contract management, then organized health and safety reports. Then we followed with the area of import/export, and finally risk management.” All documents created here are managed with EASY, and the company is even currently running successful pilot projects in its most important area, construction work. Soon, EASY document management will support all of the group’s construction projects.

Domino effect – one consequence of user-friendliness

A great result, and STFA isn’t the only one who’s pleased. Many of the company’s partners – suppliers, subcontractors, designers, consultants – use the solution as well now too, according to Erdoğu. And the solution enjoys great popularity among employees and top management since it’s called up through the familiar SAP interface and is extremely user-friendly.

It’s now clear: STFA will expand on its application of EASY’s solutions. Currently, Erdoğu mentioned at EASY WORLD, the company is reviewing cloud solutions. The IT head says EASY is essentially the new in-house standard. And thanks to its high level of user-friendliness, it’s even a favourite among people who don’t really like software.