Managing the assets of a construction giant like Eiffage can be a daunting task.
The group, whose activities range from energy to real estate, roads, civil engineering, building and metal, relies on a fleet of over 25,000 vehicles, 250,000 materials and 2 million pieces of equipment in batches.
These assets are worth over 4 billion euros and require annual maintenance costs of 200 million euros. Optimizing asset management practices is important for sharpening operational efficiency, bolster financial performance and ensures adherence to regulatory requirements.
Digitizing and transforming asset management practices at a construction industry giant
However, before the mid-2010s, the company had yet to digitize its core operations. “Eiffage was behind in the digitalization of almost all business processes, including the management of its projects and equipment,” Mikaël Goeta, head of AI, data and business applications, reminisces.
As a result, it was using a dozen outdated maintenance solutions, which provided only a fragmented view of its vast fleet. This situation hindered Eiffage’s growth prospects, which increasingly depended on large, multi-disciplinary projects that require real-time visibility into the availability of machinery, equipment and vehicles.
Having multiple solutions also resulted in hidden costs, from suboptimal equipment rentals to regulatory reporting complexities, and hindered the adoption of critical technologies, including mobility and connected objects.
Attune EAM, the top pick for asset management by business and functional experts
In 2016, Eiffage launched a major digitalization program with the goal of having a modern, scalable and ergonomic solution to manage its entire equipment fleet. The platform would also need to interface with the newly launched finance, ERP and HR platform.
To tackle these challenges, Eiffage mobilized several dozen business experts representing the full spectrum of its activities and functions. They evaluated eight potential solutions and chose Attune EAM because of its user-friendly interface, scalability and flexibility to address a wide range of business uses.
Renamed ‘eMAT’ internally and placed under the executive sponsorship of the General Manager for the road construction activity, the solution underwent six suc- cessful pilots in each of Eiffage’s business branches between 2016 and 2018. In April 2018, the decision was made to give the go-ahead for large-scale deployment.
Building a digital future: Eiffage’s success story
Since its implementation five years ago, Attune EAM has become central to Eiffage’s digitization, unifying processes across the group’s diverse branches.
“Attune EAM is the central repository for all of Eiffage’s asset-management information. Any project that needs to refer to a machine, tool, asset, or materials does so today through Octave’s solution” Yetsy Monteros, head of group business information systems in the group applications department, explains. “In total, 2,600 users connect to it every day.”
Attune EAM is now a cornerstone of Eiffage’s digital transformation, integrated with the company’s core finance and HR systems. Implementing this core package has become a top priority whenever Eiffage acquires a new business.
Additionally, with the ability to connect to third-party platforms, such as fuel suppliers, construction equipment manufacturers and rental companies, Eiffage can gain a comprehensive view of its operations and identify opportunities for optimization. Yetsy Monteros explains how Eiffage’s business IT department was able to digitize and streamline the entire process of provision, management and return of employee vehicles by unifying the three sources, opening up new possibilities for the company.
Driving innovation, mobility and sustainability with Attune EAM
Implementing a flexible, cutting-edge asset management platform has also helped speed up innovation and new product development.
Attune EAM’s mobility features powered the launch of five single-use mobile applications for simple management of use cases such as maintenance processes, inventory, consumable management and Click & Go. Attune EAM has also had a significant impact on Eiffage’s sustainability efforts. The platform measures the carbon emissions of the equipment fleet, which is reported in the group’s Extra-financial Performance Declaration (DPEF) and helps identify areas of improvement using data such as fuel consumption, to guide action at the individual asset level.
Eiffage’s experience is now serving as a model and “template” for other companies in the construction industry to improve their asset management practices. As Mikaël Goeta notes, “When we started, we were lagging behind our competitors and partners. Today, we are three years ahead,” a solid foundation for future successes.
