The 6 Core Principles / Pillars of our Approach
There are 6 basic principles / pillars over and above our meticulous attention to the detail of the business model and the standards that we view as critical to our approach in our quest to assist SME construction contractors to implement a practical, beneficial Construction Management System. These principles are not about the content itself, but rather about how the content is integrated within the SME environment in order for contractors to achieve the best possible results.
Benefit – Your business must derive practical operational benefit from implementing a management system and not just create huge amounts of theoretical documents to please somebody else. Every activity within your management system must pass the benefit test:- If there is no benefit IT DOES NOT BELONG! (See more about benefits…)
Technology – We focus on using technology as much as possible within the confines of the cost restraint experienced by SME construction contractors to make things easier, quicker and more accessible through the development and continuous improvement of the Kims Software
SME Challenges – Construction contractors operate VERY different from big companies and therefore we focus on the specific challenges facing SME construction contractors with specific reference to cost, availability of time and available knowledge.
Uniqueness – Every contractor operate in their own unique way and we ensure that the Kims software and our included suggested templates can be easily modified, deleted or added to to suit your unique needs.
Research and Consultation – The whole Kimomanzi Integrated Management System is based on formal research in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg and contributions from the SABS with ongoing consultations with construction contractors over the last 6 years. We value the input and comments from contractors to ensure the system stays relevant and applicable. After all – you know best what you need.
Quality – We have a formal collaboration agreement with the University of Johannesburg complementing our unwavering focus on quality.
We believe that adhering to these concepts is the only way to really implement a Construction Management System not only to comply to the requirement, but also to address the challenges facing construction contractors and actually benefit the contractors – after all – that is the purpose of management system standards.
* (Note: An SME in the construction industry in South Africa is defined as any company with an average annual turnover of less than R 170m. This figure is, however, not cast in stone – even if your turnover is much higher you may very well be facing the same or similar issues. Therefore we use the term SME in its very broadest sense.)