Heijmans Moved from Tender Chaos to Clarity with Brainial

From regional projects to complex national assignments: at a successful player like construction company Heijmans, the tender process never stops. Successful, yes—but also filled with piles of documents, countless meetings, and endless Excel sheets.

“Sometimes I’d still be going through files in the evening, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything,” says Stefvan Breed, Department Head at Heijmans Infra in the Northwest region.

He shares how his team said goodbye to manual work and scattered approaches. And how Brainial now brings peace of mind, structure, and focus to a process that never stands still. “You suddenly realize: it doesn’t have to be this way anymore.”

Manual Work and Fragmented Information

Heijmans has been a trusted name in the Dutch construction sector for more than a hundred years. Yet until recently, the tender process still involved a massive amount of manual work, Stefvan explains. “Tenders came in through TenderNed. We read them from start to finish and made a summary, all while searching for the right documents.”

Each region also had its own way of working. “I had an email template with questions, while others worked in Excel files. There was no uniform approach, which meant information was scattered and knowledge was hard to retrieve. Files were either buried in folders or stored separately. And if you wanted to update a colleague, you often had to start all over again.”

Bringing Order to the Chaos  

Through Paul Jezeer, who used to work at Heijmans but is now part of the Brainial team, Stefvan first came across Brainial.

“He told me about a demo he had attended of a system that creates clarity right at the very start of the tender process. I immediately saw that we needed something like that too. It would save us an enormous amount of time. Most importantly, it would allow us to move toward a uniform way of working, with everything accessible in one place.”

Trust Earned

Because Paul knows both Brainial and Heijmans inside out, the implementation went smoothly. Still, Stefvan’s team initially did a lot of double work. “The tool still had to prove itself in practice. But we quickly saw how well the AI performed.”

Today, Stefvan fully trusts the system: “In the morning, I open my Tender Alert, scan all relevant tenders, and focus only on the exceptions.”

Not everyone was convinced at first. “Especially colleagues who stuck to their familiar Excel methods needed time to adjust. But I like taking the lead, and now they’re using the tool with full confidence as well.”

Working Efficiently, Fewer Late Nights

By now, Heijmans uses Brainial not only for the initial scanning, but also for writing project proposals with the Proposal Writer and retrieving specific tender requirements via the Tender Chat. “You ask a question and instantly get the right document, with the right paragraph highlighted.”

“Everything I’ve already reviewed is also visible to others. That’s extremely useful. It means you don’t have to reinvent the wheel each time or duplicate work. As a result, I no longer have to spend my evenings checking tenders and files: I go home with peace of mind. This efficiency frees up time to focus on other important matters,” says Stefvan.

Collaboration with Brainial

Stefvan is enthusiastic not only about the software itself, but also about the collaboration with Brainial. “We have monthly meetings, and through the feedback function, all users can share input. Plus, we get the chance to actively contribute ideas for new features.”

That Brainial aligns so well with the tendering process makes a huge difference, according to Stefvan. “It’s not a generic system; it really follows the way we work. And because Paul knows our practice, we can move quickly.”

Peace, Space, and Clarity

“Thanks to Brainial, I now have much more peace of mind, space, and clarity in my work. I don’t need to remember everything myself anymore, which gives me the freedom to truly focus on content and strategy again.”

Want to bring more peace, space, and clarity to your own tender process? Schedule a demo and see for yourself how Brainial’s tender-specific AI can support your team.

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