From 30 documents to one clear overview: how Brainial works at Draaijer Heyday
From 30 documents to one clear overview: how Brainial works at Draaijer Heyday
From strategic advice and workplace design to hospitality and (sustainable) real estate management: Draaijer Heyday guides organisations through the full lifecycle of their working environment. The company operates through a network of specialist labels serving both the public and private sector and tenders play a central role in that work.
Proposal manager Lilian oversees all incoming RFPs and tenders. Together with innovation manager Brandon Kwey, she led the implementation of Brainial. Why they chose a specialist tender tool and how it went is exactly what they share in this case study.
The cost of gut-feeling bidding and scattered documents
Every new tender brings the same questions: do we bid or not, can we meet all the requirements, what are the risks? "Those decisions were too often made on gut feeling, or because someone knew the right person internally. Not on the basis of a proper analysis of the incoming documents," says Lilian.
That's costly. Qualifying a bid demands significant time from senior people in the organisation before there's any certainty you'll even submit. Without the right tooling, that means manually working through dozens of pages, chasing answers by email, and hunting for information scattered across folders. Draaijer Heyday had already trialed an internal Copilot pilot, but it didn't solve the analysis problem. "Copilot can help with writing, but not much beyond that," says Lilian. That was the moment it became clear they needed something purpose-built for tenders.
Why Brainial and not something else
The decision to go with Brainial came after a selection process that lasted almost a year and involved several sister companies. Two factors ultimately tipped the scales: the licensing structure suited the scale of the organisation, and the existing integrations with AFAS and SharePoint meant Brainial slotted straight into the systems they already used.
The implementation went smoothly, in large part thanks to strong support from Brainial's team. "Our contact at Brainial was absolutely brilliant," says Lilian. "Step by step, hands-on, and then picking up where we left off in the next session. They'll even jump in and have a look if you're stuck."
Winning their biggest wishlist tender on day one
The very first tender Lilian ran through Brainial happened to be one on everyone’s wishlist . "We put that tender straight into Brainial. If you want to talk about being thrown in at the deep end, this was it." They won.
That quick adoption had an impact internally too. Lilian demonstrated Brainial live using a proposal that members of the board had spent the whole weekend reading themselves. "They were genuinely checking: does it pick this up, and this? They were impressed." That validation made internal buy-in a lot easier.
Saving 16 to 28 hours per tender while boosting quality
"The biggest difference is having a clear grip on what a tender is actually asking for and being able to see across all the information at once," says Lilian. Brainial saves around 16 to 28 hours per tender in the analysis phase. But for her, the quality gain carries just as much weight. "You simply have a much better handle on what you're talking about when you write a bid. The quality improvement matters just as much as the time saving."
Where before, thirty documents would be spread across the team with everyone picking up on slightly different things, all stakeholders now start from the same set of priorities. When an amendment notice comes in, all action points are automatically updated. "Normally you'd have to track that manually. Now Brainial just does it for you."
The tender chat feature also gets heavy use. While writing a proposal, colleagues can query the documents directly: which certificate is required, can you bring in an external partner? The answer comes back with a source reference. Lilian: "That's a real lifesaver in those final stressful moments when you still need to be sharp."
Brainial doesn't replace a proposal manager
"Brainial is definitely not a replacement for a proposal manager. It's a tool," says Lilian. And she sees that play out in practice. The research work and the administrative side of the tender process largely disappear. "You really only need to prepare and submit the required certificates. That frees up time for the strategic work which is far more satisfying."
Brandon explains why they chose a specialist tender tool over generic AI: "Brainial already has a deep foundation of knowledge and expertise built around the entire tender process. And because so many different types of companies use the platform, it keeps improving. A homegrown tool simply can't compete with that."
Getting started is half the battle
"Just go for it. Stay level-headed and keep thinking." That's Lilian's advice to anyone still on the fence about bringing AI into their tender process. Don't start with a test case start with a real one. Exactly as Draaijer Heyday did. Curious what that could mean for your tender process? Request a demo via link.
