BE Bauelemente
Download Success StoryHigh-quality windows and doors “Made in Germany”
BE Bauelemente GmbH is a leading manufacturer of high-quality windows, doors and roller shutter systems and has been part of the Schweiker Group in Besigheim since 2006. Around 440 BE employees manufacture construction elements of the highest quality at two locations – 100% “Made in Germany”.
Windows and doors from BE stand for precision, durability and aesthetic design. At the same time, they offer maximum security: they provide reliable protection against burglars, noise and the effects of the weather. Regular quality tests, the RAL quality seal and a 20-year guarantee on standard products underline this claim.
Since 2004, BE has been re lying on the windream ECM-system for the reliable and efficient handling of document-based processes in the company.
Initial situation: Paper-based filing with enormous organizational effort
Before the introduction of windream, the document organization at BE Bauelemente was completely paper-based. Large folder containers were located directly at the workstations. Every day, two to four employees were exclusively occupied with sorting folders and taking them to the respective departments on trolleys.
This regularly led to delays, as no one knew immediately where a particular folder was located. This led to a lot of searching, long idle times and a significant slowdown in processes overall.
The original project idea at BE Bauelemente was to introduce a new ERP system in order to make the company’s processes more efficient. An ECM system like windream was not planned at this stage. However, the high amount of paperwork, the cumbersome search and the desire to organize the work processes faster and in a more modern way finally led to the extension of the project by a document management system.
Presentation, integration capability and technological accuracy of fit
The decision in favor of windream was made after a product presentation by Roger David, then managing director of windream GmbH (today dataglobal Bochum GmbH). His clear and practice-oriented presentation of the software convinced BE Bauelemente and showed the company how an ECM-system could solve the daily challenges.
A decisive point was the high integration capability: thanks to its open interfaces, windream could be seamlessly connected to the existing, specially developed complaints program. The detailed documentation of the SDK was also of great value to the IT department, as it enabled a smooth technical implementation. For those responsible, it was crucial that the effort for the employees remained as low as possible and that the processes were considerably simplified by windream.
“It was a very pleasant appointment. No exaggerated promises were made, but the possibilities offered by windream and the advantages of using it were clearly explained. This made our decision much easier.”
Implementation: Rapid introduction with growing acceptance
The introduction and implementation of windream went smoothly. A windream project employee accompanied the rollout on site, so that all systems were ready for use within a short time.
Although there was a certain reluctance among the staff towards the new software in the beginning, this quickly subsided. After three to four months, the entire project was completed and after six months at the latest, nobody wanted to do without windream anymore. Acceptance among employees was consistently high, as the workload was noticeably reduced and processes ran much more efficiently.
windream in everyday life: Wide use and sustainable increase in efficiency
Since January 03, 2004, BE Bauelemente has been using windream productively – directly connected to the ERP system. Today, there are about 23.7 million entries in the windream database. The system has long been established company-wide: Besides the sales and customer service departments, for which windream was originally introduced, the personnel, marketing, shipping and production departments also use the ECM-system today.
The automatic indexing of documents is particularly appreciated by all departments. For example, customer numbers are directly available and required information can be retrieved across all locations within seconds – even for employees in the field.
Last year, the importance of the ECM system became particularly clear: following a hacker attack, central systems were suddenly paralyzed:
“It was then that we realized how comprehensively windream is integrated in our company. The advantage was: windream’s support helped us immediately and prevented major damage. That was a very positive experience for us.”
Results and added value
With windream, BE Bauelemente was able to sustainably increase the efficiency of the document organization. Search times have been significantly reduced, processes are now faster and more secure, and all departments have direct access to the documents relevant to them. The susceptibility to errors could be considerably minimized by systemic checks and uniform filing – typing errors by employees are now a thing of the past. Over the years, windream has become an indispensable part of BE Bauelemente’s digital infrastructure.
Since a few months, BE Bauelemente has been using the latest version, windream 9, and is completely satisfied. The further development of the system ensures the necessary digital stability and flexibility for the company also in the future.
Conclusion
With windream, BE Bauelemente has successfully digitized its paper-based, time-consuming processes. From time-consuming folder filing to a fully integrated ECM system: This success story shows that company processes can be sustainably optimized with the right technology.