Construcciones Meridiano reduces project cost overruns by 35% with abemonFLOW

The challenge

Construcciones Meridiano is a residential construction company headquartered in Malaga, specializing in mid-to-high-range housing developments along the Costa del Sol. With annual revenue of 45 million euros and a portfolio of 12 simultaneous active projects, the company had grown to a point where their management tools could no longer handle the operational complexity.

Managing each project relied on a combination of spreadsheets, emails, and WhatsApp groups. The site manager kept their own cost tracking spreadsheet. The procurement department had theirs. Accounting reconciled invoices against budget with yet another spreadsheet. And management received a monthly summary that, by the time it arrived, was already two weeks out of date.

The problem wasn’t a lack of data. The problem was that data was fragmented, outdated, and contradictory. A single cost item could appear with three different amounts depending on whether you looked at the site manager’s spreadsheet, the procurement department’s sheet, or accounting’s version. Budget deviations were detected when the invoice reached accounting, not when the spending commitment was made. And in construction, a cost overrun detected early can be mitigated; a cost overrun detected three months later is an established fact.

Subcontractors were another blind spot. Construcciones Meridiano regularly worked with over 40 subcontractors simultaneously across their 12 projects. Each subcontractor invoiced according to their own criteria for work progress. Work certification was done by the site manager through a physical walkthrough and a paper form. The reconciliation between what was certified, what was invoiced, and what was actually completed was a manual exercise that generated recurring disputes and payment delays.

The solution

The 4-week Blueprint revealed numbers that management hadn’t expected: an average gap of 22% between actual cost and the cost appearing in monthly reports, with an average delay of 6 weeks in deviation detection. The 12 active projects shared exactly zero standardized processes for cost tracking.

We implemented three Engine layers, prioritizing real-time financial visibility:

Visibility transformed how management sees their projects. We designed a control panel that displays the financial and progress status of all 12 projects on a single screen. For each project: committed budget vs. executed, deviations by chapter (foundations, structure, installations, finishes), physical progress vs. financial progress, and a risk indicator that calculates automatically. The dashboard updates every time a movement is recorded: an invoice, a certification, a purchase order, or a work report. The COO went from receiving a monthly report with stale data to having a real-time picture of the entire project portfolio.

Control was the layer that attacked cost overruns directly. We implemented a layered spending approval workflow. Any spending commitment (material order, subcontracting, machinery rental) is recorded before it occurs, validated against the corresponding chapter budget, and requires approval if it exceeds the authorized margin. The site manager can approve deviations up to 5%. Above that, it automatically escalates to the project director. Above 10%, it requires COO approval. This preventive control eliminates the root problem: deviations are detected before they become actual cost.

Data unified the project data model. Each development has a master budget broken down by chapters and line items, with a single reference system for unit costs, measurements, and prices. Subcontractor certifications are recorded digitally with geotagged photos of progress, eliminating disputes about the actual state of the work. The cost history by line item type feeds a predictive model that alerts when a chapter has an abnormal cost trajectory compared to similar previous projects.

The transition was gradual. We started with 3 pilot projects during the first month, incorporating the remaining ones in groups of 3 each month. Each site manager received in-person training and a two-week parallel running period (old system + new) to ensure adoption.

The results

Project cost overruns were reduced by 35% in the first 12 months. The reduction came from two sources: early deviation detection, which allows corrective action while there’s still room to maneuver, and preventive spending commitment controls, which prevent out-of-budget spending from being authorized without visibility. In absolute terms, the company estimates savings of 2.8 million euros in avoided cost overruns during the first year.

Delivery timelines improved by 28%. Not because workers moved faster, but because visibility into actual progress allowed bottleneck detection before they became critical delays. When the dashboard shows that a building’s electrical installation is running 15% behind schedule, action can be taken while there’s still time: reassign resources, negotiate with the subcontractor, or adjust the work sequence.

Simultaneous management capacity stabilized at 12 projects without needing to expand the management team. Previously, each new project required nearly full-time dedication from a project director during critical phases. With automated visibility and control, project directors manage their portfolio by exception: the system shows them where they need to intervene, and they dedicate their time to solving problems instead of gathering information.

ROI reached 2.1x in year one, considering total project investment against demonstrable savings in cost overruns and delivery timeline improvements. The COO sums up the impact directly: the project cost was equivalent to half a cost overrun on a single project, and the generated savings cover the investment with margin to spare.

Engine layers used

• Visibility: Multi-project control panel with real-time financial and progress status, automatic risk indicator by chapter, updates on every movement
• Control: Layered spending approval workflow with configurable thresholds, preventive spending commitment control, automatic escalation by deviation level
• Data: Unified master budget by chapters and line items, digital certifications with geotagged photos, predictive cost model based on historical project data