Sigel GmbH, a mid-sized company, sets its strategic focus and direction towards value-based leadership and systematic process management. The successful company, which has been well established for many years in the market for print products for corporate customers as well as high end office supplies, aligns its structures and management systems to meet the challenges of the future.
Business Process Optimization at Sigel
During a multi-year, step-by-step development process, managers, employees and structures are being prepared for continuous changes, digitization, and process orientation. Following the development and implementation of a value-oriented leadership concept and a review of the strategic alignment, Managing Director Dr. Joachim Roth decided to examine whether a rigorous process orientation could further advance the company. To ensure consistency with the company´s philosophy, a clear requirement was that the development should occur in cooperation with the employees and managerial staff. On the other hand, insight from outside sources was definitely required.
To this end, a project was commissioned in cooperation with Professor Jörg Puchan at the Munich University of Applied Sciences. The goal of the project was to implement process management, based on a situational analysis and joint decisions by senior management, on a gradual and prioritized basis. Accordingly, an internal cross-functional and planning position was created; it was filled by employee Christian Rettinger, who has extensive experience in organizational and IT issues. As Project Leader BPM and Process Manager, Mr. Rettinger is responsible for project implementation. A Control Board consisting of the Managing Director, who is also the CPO, as well as those accountable for IT, Personnel, and Controlling, was created to address this matter. The Control Board ensures transparency and fast decision making. “The regular report to the Control Board is an important tool to maintain attention on the issue, to reach decisions, and to receive management team input at an early stage regarding my project,” stated Christian Rettinger, who is pleased about this direct, process-oriented communications channel.
BIC as the Appropriate BPM Suite
Parallel to the first phase of the project, a suitable tool was selected to efficiently model, permanently embed the results in the company, ensure the connection between process modelling, documents and IT applications, as well as establish a solid basis for the desired ISO 9001:2015 certification. The choice for BIC (Module Designer, Portal, Document und Governance) from GBTEC AG was made.
To begin the implementation, a systematic inventory took place to identify potential improvements throughout the entire company. The results were accumulated by theme and formed - in addition to strategic aspects - the foundation for the prioritization of the processes. The corresponding discussion and decision occurred in a management workshop with approximately 20 leaders from the first two levels of management and the executive level. “The interdepartmental view clarifies how we can be more efficient and faster through teamwork,” summarized one of the participants. The process map, developed in parallel to the analysis and modified in the workshop, provided the functional orientation for the developmental stages. In this phase, the process management tool BIC was also prepared for use, so that the project results could be immediately visualized in its Designer and Portal modules.
Continual Tracking of Overall Objectives
Per the prioritized implementation plan, the processes were incrementally developed with the employees, process owners were named, and “on-the-job” training was conducted. A method toolbox (for conducting process workshops or for modelling, for example) ensured an efficient and uniform approach. Duplication of efforts were identified in the first process workshop and the elimination of these duplications led to immediate savings. Of course, there were also modifications to the plan, such as the addition of a new strategic line of business (“web-to-print”), which was structured on a high priority basis using the process management concepts. “Through this flexibility of our organization, our efforts will always be targeted and rendered in accordance with the priorities, without losing sight of the overall objective of the implementation of process management,” concluded CPO/GF Dr. Joachim Roth. The external consultation and collaboration in the initial phase included selective coaching, and since then focuses primarily on quality assurance of the results.
The plan for the continuous and participative implementation of process management is underway. Nevertheless, as with all step-by-step innovations, it must be ensured that daily events and short-term priority changes do not block or slowly obscure the development path.
About Sigel GmbH
Sigel GmbH, headquartered in Mertingen and founded in 1947 as a printing company, is today a renowned mid-size company with two strong, complementary business segments. As an international brand-name manufacturer, Sigel is a leader in the field of stylish business products. In addition, the company produces customized forms in the large format print market. Sigel has approximately 270 employees at its headquarters in Mertingen.
Business Process Optimization at Sigel
During a multi-year, step-by-step development process, managers, employees and structures are being prepared for continuous changes, digitization, and process orientation. Following the development and implementation of a value-oriented leadership concept and a review of the strategic alignment, Managing Director Dr. Joachim Roth decided to examine whether a rigorous process orientation could further advance the company. To ensure consistency with the company´s philosophy, a clear requirement was that the development should occur in cooperation with the employees and managerial staff. On the other hand, insight from outside sources was definitely required.
To this end, a project was commissioned in cooperation with Professor Jörg Puchan at the Munich University of Applied Sciences. The goal of the project was to implement process management, based on a situational analysis and joint decisions by senior management, on a gradual and prioritized basis. Accordingly, an internal cross-functional and planning position was created; it was filled by employee Christian Rettinger, who has extensive experience in organizational and IT issues. As Project Leader BPM and Process Manager, Mr. Rettinger is responsible for project implementation. A Control Board consisting of the Managing Director, who is also the CPO, as well as those accountable for IT, Personnel, and Controlling, was created to address this matter. The Control Board ensures transparency and fast decision making. “The regular report to the Control Board is an important tool to maintain attention on the issue, to reach decisions, and to receive management team input at an early stage regarding my project,” stated Christian Rettinger, who is pleased about this direct, process-oriented communications channel.
BIC as the Appropriate BPM Suite
Parallel to the first phase of the project, a suitable tool was selected to efficiently model, permanently embed the results in the company, ensure the connection between process modelling, documents and IT applications, as well as establish a solid basis for the desired ISO 9001:2015 certification. The choice for BIC (Module Designer, Portal, Document und Governance) from GBTEC AG was made.
To begin the implementation, a systematic inventory took place to identify potential improvements throughout the entire company. The results were accumulated by theme and formed - in addition to strategic aspects - the foundation for the prioritization of the processes. The corresponding discussion and decision occurred in a management workshop with approximately 20 leaders from the first two levels of management and the executive level. “The interdepartmental view clarifies how we can be more efficient and faster through teamwork,” summarized one of the participants. The process map, developed in parallel to the analysis and modified in the workshop, provided the functional orientation for the developmental stages. In this phase, the process management tool BIC was also prepared for use, so that the project results could be immediately visualized in its Designer and Portal modules.
Continual Tracking of Overall Objectives
Per the prioritized implementation plan, the processes were incrementally developed with the employees, process owners were named, and “on-the-job” training was conducted. A method toolbox (for conducting process workshops or for modelling, for example) ensured an efficient and uniform approach. Duplication of efforts were identified in the first process workshop and the elimination of these duplications led to immediate savings. Of course, there were also modifications to the plan, such as the addition of a new strategic line of business (“web-to-print”), which was structured on a high priority basis using the process management concepts. “Through this flexibility of our organization, our efforts will always be targeted and rendered in accordance with the priorities, without losing sight of the overall objective of the implementation of process management,” concluded CPO/GF Dr. Joachim Roth. The external consultation and collaboration in the initial phase included selective coaching, and since then focuses primarily on quality assurance of the results.
The plan for the continuous and participative implementation of process management is underway. Nevertheless, as with all step-by-step innovations, it must be ensured that daily events and short-term priority changes do not block or slowly obscure the development path.
About Sigel GmbH
Sigel GmbH, headquartered in Mertingen and founded in 1947 as a printing company, is today a renowned mid-size company with two strong, complementary business segments. As an international brand-name manufacturer, Sigel is a leader in the field of stylish business products. In addition, the company produces customized forms in the large format print market. Sigel has approximately 270 employees at its headquarters in Mertingen.
