Innovation

How tech helped a Bosnian engineering firm succeed in the US

This sponsored case study describes how Bluebeam Revu enabled collaboration across continents, boosting revenue for a Bosnian-Herzegovinian civil engineering firm.

Founded by respected Bosnian-Herzegovinian architect Zvjezdan Turkić, Aksa has been operating for 30 years. Clients have included the World Bank, the European Union Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and USAID.

Three years ago, Aksa was offered a project by clients in the US.

The distance meant Aksa had to adopt new ways of working and communicating, not least because it had to calculate the surfaces and quantities needed for the construction of buildings, and execute final works, in short time frames. A more sophisticated approach to editing, annotating and collaborating was needed.

At the client’s request, Aksa decided to use Bluebeam Revu. As well as a successful project outcome, Aksa says Revu’s functionality meant it replaced up to five separate softwares it would have used for the same job.

The increased volume of work Revu enabled meant a 23% increase in company revenue in 2018 compared to 2017.

"In order to provide the client with a high-quality project with complete data precision, most of the tasks that needed to be done would be impossible to do in some other software, considering that we get projects in PDF format," says Ajla DivoÅ¡, a member of Aksa’s staff.

One issue was the need to measure façade panels with absolute precision.

Said Divoš: "With Bluebeam Studio, communication with customers on the other continent was excellent. Thanks to the tools for annotations and the ability to send projects through hyperlinks, all mistakes were noticed in advance, and great time savings were made across the entire project."

Anel Hajdarević, leader of the Aksa Group for the American market, praised the comprehensiveness of the technology.

"In order for the business to have had success within the US market, we would certainly need upwards of five new software programs to calculate the quantities and surfaces. Bluebeam has not only saved us money, it has also enlarged our staff and overall business success,"  Hajdarević said.

The software helped overcome a fundamental difference in process between the two countries that would otherwise have been a barrier to collaboration.

Copyright in the US construction industry is highly protected, so project information gets exchanged exclusively through PDF formats, while in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in neighbouring countries, information and drafting are most often done via open formats that allow changes.

Company founder Zvjezdan Turkić said that thanks to the new opportunities Bluebeam opened in the US market, company revenue rose by 23% in 2018.

"We teach our employees that working and acquiring new knowledge and new technologies should not be an obstacle, rather a challenge that will ultimately result in success," said Turkić. "That’s exactly what happened with Bluebeam Revu."

Click here to read the full case study. 

Image: The software helped overcome a fundamental difference in process between the two countries that would otherwise have been a barrier to collaboration (Bluebeam)

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