Building a better future

The buildings and construction industry is one of the most polluting and least efficient industries in the world. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

TEXT: DAVID J. CORD

“One improvement can have a big impact on profitability and sustainability,” says Rasmus Vainio, COO of SokoPro. “That’s where we come in.”

SokoPro is the leading document management system in Finnish construction. They use a cloud-based SaaS for managing, sharing and archiving information. SokoPro are part of the iBinder Group, who offer digital services for the construction and real estate industries. Sister brands include iBinder, Byggnet and SundaHus.

“Our clients use us for centralised document management,” Vainio explains. “Blueprints, invoices, BIM objects, videos – everything is securely managed in one system.”

One of the biggest benefits of SokoPro’s solution is efficiency. Time isn’t wasted saving the same file in multiple programs, for example, or manually syncing with other systems. Even their help desk is effective, with the company striving to provide the fastest and best services their customers can find.

“Our user interface is easy-to-use. We put a lot of effort into learning exactly what customers need and designing it accordingly,” Vainio continues. “Standardisation can save time, but we know that each project is unique, so you can customise folders, metadata and other aspects to your liking.”

SokoPro understands that personnel management is an important part of document management. It is easy to set different rights and restrictions for different users on the platform. The cloud makes the solution simple and efficient to scale for even the biggest projects, and SokoPro don’t charge based upon the number of users.

“Companies need to protect their data, so we work hard on information security,” says Vainio. “It’s a benefit we are based in the EU, so we are already on top of GDPR and other data protection rules. Our logs are very good: you can see exactly who did what and when. If something is deleted by accident, it can be restored.”

Sustainability depends upon information management. Companies, investors and even governments are increasingly demanding detailed environmental lifecycle analysis on construction projects. Collecting the data is good, but using that data to make valuable decisions is even better.

“Our sister company SundaHus is an expert in material data,” says Vainio. “You can use them to make environmentally conscious material choices, such as setting CO2 targets or avoiding all products which contain specific hazardous substances.”

“It’s a benefit we are based in the EU, so we are already on top of GDPR and other data protection rules,” says Rasmus Vainio, COO of SokoPro.

For the near future, SokoPro is investing heavily in BIM, project management and improved sustainability. If you want to learn more about how they can help you lower costs and emissions, please visit sokopro.com.