The snapshot
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Data Visualisation: Complex information was made accessible through intuitive dashboards.
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Simplification: The management of complex workflows has been streamlined and simplified.
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Award-Winning Solution: Go-Lab received the IDC Portugal Digital Award for Best Manufacturing Solution 2022.
About the customer
Established in 1946 and listed in the Lisbon Stock Exchange Market since 1987, Mota-Engil is a leading construction and engineering company. Operating in 24 countries across Europe, Africa, and South America, it’s a truly global player. With over 38.500 employees and €2.256 M turnover in 2021 and €412 M EBITDA. In 2024 achieved €5,951 M in turnover and €955 M EBITDA. Has a strategic plan to 2026 called ‘Building 26’ where the turnover goal has already been reached in 2024, they also have other metrics to be achieved, including an EBITDA margin of 16%. It is ranked among the 25 biggest construction companies in Europe and the top 100 worldwide.
Mota-Engil’s core business is in construction and engineering, however, recently it has diversified its businesses, especially into areas such as industrial engineering services, waste management and processing, financial investment, energy sector and motorway concessions management.
The Challenge
The company’s extensive international presence created a complex challenge for the laboratory work that supports every construction and engineering project. It faced a decentralised system with numerous technical rules and regulations that varied by region. This led to a lack of visibility and standardisation across the organisation.
Its teams were forced to navigate different technologies, platforms, and procedures, leading to complex, manual, and time-consuming workflows. This increased the risk of human error and the loss of critical information, all while managing a heavy load of documents.
The Goal
Mota-Engil’s objective was clear: simplify and centralise its entire laboratory workflow. It needed an end-to-end solution that would connect its engineering, construction, and laboratory processes worldwide. The goal was to make data accessible to everyone, anywhere, at any time, with a single click, all while ensuring compliance with mandatory regulations and industry best practices.
The Solution
To address this challenge, Devoteam suggested building a new solution called Go-Lab on its existing OutSystems platform. This strategic decision was a key factor because it allowed Mota-Engil to implement a robust, agile, and efficient platform for laboratory workflow management without disrupting its core enterprise systems.
Go-Lab now acts as a single, unified platform, with the goal to cover the entire Mota-Engil group. It aggregates all necessary information in one place, providing an agile way to manage lab analysis requests, visualise results, and share information. The solution ensures compliance with local protocols and regulations, which is crucial for a multi-regional business. This new platform, fully integrated with the existing ERP infrastructure, provides a clear overview of documentation and processes, significantly enhancing managerial efficiency and laboratory workflows.
I considered the POC (Proof of Concept) to be fundamental. It allowed us to study and verify that the planned solution truly met the client’s expectations and solved all challenges. The second very important factor was teamwork.
Catarina Gomes
Squad Lead / Engagement Manager at Devoteam
The Methodology
Devoteam employed a highly flexible and agile methodology, placing Mota-Engil’s users at the centre of the process. The focus was based on continuous testing and improvement, with different users feedback incorporated at every stage to ensure the solution met its exact needs. This approach was instrumental in building a solution that not only simplified complex workflows but also ensured full compliance with the various regional legal requirements and best practices it must follow.
The Result & next steps
The implementation of Go-Lab has been a resounding success, bringing significant, measurable changes to Mota-Engil’s operations.
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Award-Winning Recognition: The solution received the 2022 IDC Portugal Digital Award for the Manufacturing Sector, a testament to its innovation and business value.
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Enhanced Visibility and Agility: Mota-Engil now has a unified platform that provides a clear overview of complex information through intuitive dashboards. This has increased agility in decision-making and reduced the time and resources wasted on document-heavy processes.
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Reduced Risk and Improved Accuracy: The new platform has eliminated the manual and often error-prone processes that previously existed. This has led to a reduction in human error and critical data loss, ensuring greater accuracy and reliability across all laboratory workflows.
The full integration with Mota-Engil’s existing ERP and other systems has facilitated communication across the group, while roadmapped procedures guarantee compliance with all local legal requirements. Go-Lab has not only streamlined complex workflows but also provided a future-proof, innovative solution that adds significant value to its business.
Mota-Engil’s goal by 2026 is to have GoLab exclusively implemented in 80% of their laboratories by 2026. This means roughly 35 laboratories across 14 countries, with 100 to 200 users, and an average of 35,000 reports per year.