How Bouygues UK improved efficiency in supplier payments by 271%

Construction company Bouygues UK is now able to pay its suppliers in a matter of hours rather than days, with the help of automation tool Qflow from Qualis Flow.

This payment efficiency has helped the organisation to maintain strong relationships with its supply chain as part of its Castle Park View development in Bristol.

Bouygues UK is set to deliver 375 new homes on a 180,000 sq ft development at Castle Park, and a key focus for its commercial team is to ensure prompt payment for its suppliers.

However, the payment reconciliation process was time-consuming and not optimised.

The challenge

Like most construction sites, Bouygues UK’s process relied heavily on paper-based waste transfer notes and delivery tickets as part of its procedures for payment processing, by matching purchase orders and invoices with the proof of delivery on site.

This made the workflow of data capture on Castle Park View vulnerable to data loss and human error. It also resulted in a reconciliation process lasting approximately three to five days. This could result in late payments to the supplier and disruption to the delivery of materials, something that the project team were not willing accept.

The existing reconciliation process was not only slow and resource-intensive, the manual steps increased the risk of potential disruption and error.

The solution - Qflow

Castle Park View deployed Qflow to capture the site’s waste and material data as soon as it entered the site, giving the team instant access to the data they needed independent of the supply chain.

With the help of Qflow’s technology, Bouygues UK automated the capture of waste and delivery data using smartphones at the site gate and offices. Information on the paper tickets is automatically digitised and uploaded to the cloud, using a combination of OCR and machine learning models. This data was then structured and audited against key criteria for the project.

The commercial and finance team now have instant access to the data, allowing them to review and reconcile payments on time.

The outcome

As a result, Bouygues UK has managed to slash its reconciliation time from over three days to less than 24 hours. Additionally, it has increased its efficiency in supply chain payments by 270%.

This innovative push from Bouygues UK has increased clarity on Castle Park View and allowed the team to regularly hit its project targets.

Off the back of this successful project, Bouygues UK has deployed Qflow across half of its UK construction sites. It is also working with the Qflow team to explore how this same data can support other project functions, including environmental compliance, quality control and sustainability reporting:

• Qflow’s proactive auditing of delivery data can flag non-compliant materials such as uncertified timber, and incomplete waste transfers, empowering project teams to act and eliminate the risk of their project falling short of client expectations or legal requirements.
• With detailed data on the materials entering the site, and waste leaving, project teams can carry out detailed Scope 3 carbon assessments on their development without having to chase an extended supply chain for historic information.
• Developers and asset owners are starting to ask for this detailed itinerary of materials in their buildings to empower future circular economy initiatives and safeguard against future regulation changes.

To find out more about Qflow, contact the team on [email protected] or check out its website at www.qualisflow.com.

This is a sponsored case study from an external party. No ICE endorsement is meant or implied.