GMB, specialising in water safety, water quality, bioenergy, and industrial construction & infrastructure, faced challenges with its bid management process. Jeroen van der Meer, team leader of the Projectbureau, and Karina Wilting, product manager, encountered inefficiencies and difficulties in staying competitive.
The challenge: Annoying repetitive tasks and staying ahead of competition
The GMB tender team consists of four to five core specialists, with additional subject matter experts involved per bid. “If you count everyone contributing information, it adds up to about ten people per tender,” says Karina. The tender process took six to seven weeks, requiring careful coordination from bid/no-bid decisions to final submission. “Until last year, our win rate was around 40%,” Jeroen adds.
Even with an organised process, there was still room for improvement. “We wanted to eliminate tasks that don’t add real value to our work,” Jeroen explains. “With a tight labour market and a small team, we need to grow and stay competitive by handling more tenders. That means we can't waste time on non-essential tasks. How do you structure a team to work as efficiently as possible? At GMB, we wanted to work smarter, faster, and more digitally.”
The switch to Altura
Altura’s AI-driven tools matched their needs perfectly: reducing time spent on repetitive tasks and enabling more focus on strategic decisions and high-quality submissions. “We quickly realised that with Altura, we could eliminate a lot of unnecessary typing, which made us very happy.” They are now filtering out work that doesn’t add value.
Implementation started gradually. “At first, we had to adjust to the new workflow, but once we started actively using Altura, the benefits became immediately clear,” says Jeroen van der Meer, team leader of the Project Office. The tender team quickly learned to make the most of the software, with support from Altura’s customer success team. “Now that we can optimise everything at once, we’re creating higher-quality plans.” Looking ahead, it’s also a plus for new employees: “People enjoy working with innovative tools,” Jeroen adds.
The workflow with Altura
Identifying new opportunities
“New opportunities are automatically imported from TenderNed into Altura, saving us a lot of time. Previously, a colleague had to check TenderNed daily, select relevant opportunities, and manually download and upload documents. Now, Altura compiles all relevant information in one overview, including the necessary documents,” Karina explains. “This eliminates the need to check multiple platforms manually and significantly improves efficiency.”
GMB uses two boards within Altura: ‘Expected’ and ‘Active’.
- The ‘Expected’ board helps plan future projects strategically. Opportunities are structured in timeframes (0-6 months, 6-12 months, etc.), giving better insight into what’s ahead.
- The ‘Active’ board manages ongoing tenders and tracks progress.
Previously, this process was managed in Excel, which was labour-intensive and lacked clarity. While an additional Excel sheet is still used for revenue and time forecasts, GMB expects Altura to fully take over this function in the future.
Altura also allows automatic data generation with manual adjustments.
"We now work from a single source and can make better-informed decisions." – Karina Wilting, product manager, GMB
Analysing and summarising tenders
Tender documents are now automatically generated, reducing manual input and speeding up decision-making.
Previously, GMB had to decide whether to pursue a tender before gathering all necessary information. With Altura, they can now generate the data first, enabling a more informed choice. “It used to take us two days to create a summary and analysis. Now it takes less than a minute,” says Jeroen.
"With Altura we save 16 hours per tender on document analysis and summaries, that’s two full workdays. That time can now be spent on more valuable tasks." – Jeroen van der Meer, team leader, GMB
More efficient decision-making
According to Karina, identifying interesting projects is a crucial part of the workflow. All potential projects first appear on the ‘Identification’ board. From there, different departments determine which tenders are worth pursuing. “This process is now much more efficient because Altura automatically prepares relevant documentation and analyses,” Karina says.
Jeroen adds: “In the past, we sometimes worked on a tender knowing we had little chance of winning. With Altura, we have a stronger basis to decide against certain tenders because we can clearly see when an opportunity isn’t viable.”
Writing bid documents
The Proposal Search feature has greatly improved how employees retrieve past bid texts. Previously, they had to search through SharePoint, which disrupted the writing process. “SharePoint worked well enough, but it pulled you out of your writing flow. You could spend two hours searching, and at the end of the day, wonder: what did I actually accomplish?” Karina explains.
This wasted time and was frustrating. Now, they quickly find the right examples, making the process much more efficient and enjoyable.
"Altura reduces the administrative workload a lot and makes our work more structured and efficient." – Karina Wilting, product manager, GMB
The impact: time savings, clarity, and job satisfaction
With these improvements, Altura has helped GMB reduce administrative tasks and focus more on strategic decisions and project acquisition. “No more unnecessary typing,” says Jeroen. Since using Altura, they now win two out of three tenders, compared to much lower success rates before.
Key results:
- Automation of repetitive tasks: The TMD form is now automatically generated, eliminating the need for tender teams to manually search through and retype documents. “Previously, we spent 16 hours manually going through tender documents to extract insights and details. Now, we complete the same work in just one minute,” Jeroen explains.
- Faster and smarter text reuse: With Proposal Search, employees can quickly find the right references and texts on topics such as sustainability or ecology.
- Stronger bid/no-bid decisions: The bid/no-bid process is now better substantiated and documented in Altura. In the past, risks sometimes became apparent only later in the process, but now they are identified early on. “Altura allows us to take on more tenders and be more successful,” says Jeroen.
- Better market insights: By archiving and analysing tender data, GMB gains a clearer understanding of which projects are a good fit. This not only helps with future decisions but also provides valuable insights into the market and competition.
- Increased productivity and success: Tendering used to be time-consuming and labour-intensive. Now, the team saves hours on administrative tasks each week. “Altura makes us not only more efficient but also more successful. We now win two out of three tenders,” Jeroen states.
- Job satisfaction: “We can now make better choices about which tenders to pursue. We can tender more efficiently, which contributes to employee job satisfaction. And in today’s world, that’s the most important thing, having work that is both enjoyable and successful.”
“The real benefit isn’t just financial; it’s the time we get back. Employees can now focus on strategic decisions instead of repetitive tasks.” – Jeroen van der Meer, team leader, GMB
The future: smarter, faster, and even more innovation
GMB sees many more opportunities with Altura. The platform is increasingly becoming a central hub for bid management, where all information comes together. “We keep discovering new ways to improve our process,” says Karina. “The work has not only become more enjoyable but also more effective.”
The company looks forward to further developments, such as deeper integration of market analysis and tender forecasting within Altura. Jeroen adds, “The deeper we explore Altura, the more opportunities we see to optimise our process and strengthen our competitive position.”
"In two years, we’ll be able to see whether our decisions were the right ones. By building data with Altura, we’re making our tender strategy smarter." – Jeroen van der Meer, team leader, GMB
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