People of LMS: Firat Yalgin

01.12.2022

Today, in our traditionaPeople of LMS section we want to share an interview with Firat Yalgin, our Head of Procurement for General Building Works.

Tell us what you do in LMS company, your area of activity, functions, position?

– I work as a Head of Procurement for General Building Works. I am responsible for the management of the company's procurement processes from the preparation of the tender documents until the completion of the construction.

I take an active part in the negotiation process, monitor the market situation for procured products and search for possible alternatives of suppliers, conduct tenders for the selected counterparties. I supervise correct carrying out of calculations under the signed contracts, actively cooperate with heads of other subdivisions on matters of supply of construction objects. I am engaged in settlement of disputable situations with suppliers.

How did your career in the construction industry begin?

– I graduated from Yeditepe University in Istanbul with a degree in building and architecture. Initially, I worked as an architect on projects.

I started my career in Russia. I worked in the production and technical department at Renaissance Construction. We were implementing the OZ Mall Shopping Centre in Krasnodar with a total area of 207,000 m².

When the work ended, my career took a short break due to the financial crisis of 2008. When I returned to Russia, I got a position as a civil engineer directly on the construction site of several projects. After completing them, I moved into supply and have been working in this field ever since.

Before LMS, I participated in the implementation of the facilities of Renaissance Heavy Industries - Zapsibneftekhim-2 in Tobolsk and Amursky GPP in the Amur region.

Tell us about your experience in previous projects?

– Before relocating to the LMS head office in Moscow, I worked on the construction of the G-Drive Arena multifunctional sports complex in Omsk.

Due to the unique ecosystem within the LMS Group structure, I became involved in contract and agreement negotiation in tandem with the legal department, starting with the project in Omsk. In my previous jobs, I was not directly involved in these matters. 

Why are the processes of working on a project unique?

– What makes my business unique is that I close important and urgent issues of construction sites that are experiencing difficulties with the supply of materials, technical equipment and even staff shortages. We push and speed up the process of resolving issues with contractors and contractors.

What developments or technologies that allow you to improve the quality and efficiency of your work do you implement?

– I have my own language of communication, I can work through any query that comes in and assist in solving any problem. Thanks to my knowledge of the Russian language, higher education in architecture and construction, experience with lawyers and contracts, the field of procurement and budgeting, there seems to be no unsolvable task for me. 

How do you see the development of your direction in the company? What are the prospects, in your opinion?

– My direction in the company and department are getting stronger. We are in the process of developing our own ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning), the software for automating the company's business processes. This includes the development of a production plan, capacity planning, cost calculation and budgeting, production routing and monitoring of all available LMS resources.

And I think that when we connect this ERP system to all our projects under construction, we will be able to resolve issues more quickly. All data will be recorded in the system - we will be able to bring up the history of work processes, what was done, how and why, record data clearly and work out the best options for implementing a particular process.

What prospects does LMS have, in your opinion?

– LMS takes its work and projects under construction seriously. The founders will not take on a project they cannot implement. This is the main difference, in my opinion, from many other companies. Projects in tenders are scrupulously scrutinised, a team of specialists is carefully selected, each stage of project implementation is strictly monitored and the quality of the work undertaken is constantly assessed.

LMS is proud of its portfolio of completed airport construction projects. Clients themselves invite us to take part in infrastructure construction tenders due to our reputation as a reliable general contractor. 
As I see it, with the construction of the Ostrov and Simvol Residential Complexes in Moscow at the moment, LMS can become a favourite in housing construction projects in Russia.