Digitalize successfully — this is how it works in small companies

You can hear and see it everywhere: digitization.

And one thing is undeniable today: Digitalization offers great opportunities, especially in the craft sector.

But what does digitization actually mean? And far away from theoretical constructs: How can I really digitize successfully? What is important, and how do I prepare myself?

What digitization means to you at its core and what are the success factors we have summarized for you here.

Basically, digitization is always a process. And it doesn't have a simple beginning and an end, so you can say “The day after tomorrow, my company will be completely digitized.”

From this perspective, digitization can be defined as follows:

In the 2000s, for example, it was the path to mobile data (including the ominous “Internet” button that you never wanted to press because it was pretty expensive).

This was followed by the 2010s and for the first time it was possible to interact digitally, globalized, directly and without time delay - we were connected in this way for the first time via social media.

Today, we are still connected, and smartphones and the Internet have become an integral part of our everyday lives. Today, digitization has new facets, one major topic: artificial intelligence. From autonomous driving to computer-aided diagnostics for early detection of diseases such as Parkinson's disease, a lot is possible.

And it is precisely these new technologies that make it possible to redesign our everyday lives, but also our work, in the sense of being more efficient and smarter, and at the end of the day: to simplify.

But until autonomous driving for construction site vehicles is in series production, we are using the tools that already give us a head start today.

In the craft sector, this means using software and related tools and machines. We are focusing on the software part here.

Before you start making a “digitization plan,” you should prepare yourself well. That starts with your processes to truly understand.

If you now take your craft and compare it with others, you will quickly notice that you differ in many aspects, especially when it comes to implementing assignments.

However, if you then look at the level of processes, it is also clear that there are many similarities. For example, every contract (in the main construction and ancillary construction industries) starts with the fact that it has been acquired - i.e. has been landed.

What follows is also similar: offer process including supplements, construction site planning, an order confirmation and, of course, reasonable billing at the end. And there are many other processes around this basic order processing process.

There are therefore plenty of processes and work steps that can be digitized. Of course, you could go here and try to do as much of it as possible in one go.

The ambition is commendable! But what we have experienced - and what you can certainly imagine - is that this project fails in the most cases.

It is important to have a digital foundation to pour, which then provides the basis for further measures.

What does that mean for you in practice?

It means solving basic tasks that take up too much time faster and more efficiently — digitally. Just the basic process described above: from the start of the order in procurement, through offers to archiving.

And these are essentially three Aspects that are critical there:

1. Minimize waste

Keep non-value-adding work as small as possible and reduce, automate or outsource it as much as possible. In this way, you can save a lot of time from your already scarce working day when, for example, it doesn't take 10 hours a week to create the documents for a customer.

2. Have an overview

In addition, an overview of your open topics is extremely important. Good example: Which customer still has one or the other unpaid bill? Which projects are currently being worked on?

3. Digital and audit-proof archiving#

It's not about you simply creating documents digitally. It is about your documents being stored in an audit-proof, long-term archivable (PDF-A). Ann and who made changes, at what point in time was construction progress and when were defects detected and recorded. Save in case of damage.

And when that fits then that can extended Foundation and associated employees & project planning are tackled and much more

When we spoke for the first time with Thomas Noll, master carpenter and managing director of a 25-man troupe,. He mastered his craft 100 percent, but the software for processing daily tasks was less understandable.

Why

The software used was simply too complex, significantly overloaded (tab in the tab with dropdown and 3 more new windows...) and far too confusing. In the end, this cost him and the carpentry time and therefore money every day.

This is often the case when a solution tries to solve many problems at once:

• Order processing
• time recording
• purchasing
• warehousing
• Fleet management
• Order management
• ...

It is properly to set yourself high goals. But that requires the necessary preparation.

We certainly see companies that manage to stringently digitize their processes either with a network of various good software solutions or a complete system. But there was always good preparation — or a very long period of familiarization, which cost a lot of efficiency.

Because after 5 years with a complex system, you finally found your way around.

Is this the right way? We can't find.

You know it yourself, your order books are full and time is scarce anyway. As a result, a change is often impossible to accommodate in everyday business life.

That is why solutions are needed that thou can understand and meet your requirements.

You certainly don't have time for 1 week of training or a 1000-page user manual.

There are many distinguishing features between bad and good software. Can the software really solve problems or not? Are key features missing?

Good and very good software, on the other hand, essentially makes the difference: How quickly can you use it independently for your purposes.

In the end, digitization is only successful if it happens on its own initiative. When you say of yourself: “Yes, I want to make my business more efficient and future-oriented — and that's why I consistently take all necessary steps to take so.” Part 1 in preparation is also: getting all relevant participants on board.

When you tackle critical, fundamental processes first, you lay the groundwork for further improvements in the future. Preparation for the current project and preparation for the next. If you can't digitally retrieve your order data on the construction site, you will most likely not be able to make the communication between construction site and office seamless.

Start the projects that you think are right — i.e. what is understandable to you and suits your entire team and company.

Today, Thomas and his employees save up to 25% time in the office. This enables the master carpenter and his team to focus more on important issues again.

But that only works because they have focused on one topic: preparing offers. Requirements were derived based on previous processes (drag & drop, reuse positions, cloud-based) and all relevant team members were involved.

Now it's time to move on to the next digital projects.

Julian, managing director and founder at plancraft, was able to present our view of digitization at the 360 degree conference of Forum Handwerk Digital. Feel free to watch his presentation, it's definitely worth it.

Here is the link to our webinar.

On this blog, we want to write about topics that interest you and really help you. Tell us what's bothering you: feedback@plancraft.de