Dairy producer gains transparency and saves 7,200 hours a year

Challenge: Package redesign process is critical

Berglandmilch has close to 6,000 different varieties of packaging in regular use within its business and implements around 300 changes every month. It is important for various teams to have input in the packaging redesign process. The legal department, for example, checks each change in forensic detail to ensure compliance with national and international food labelling laws.

As many as 15 different people from up to five internal departments play a role in making and authorizing packaging changes, as well as several external suppliers such as graphic design agencies. Until recently, this highly complex process was managed entirely using paper forms, which made it difficult for managers to monitor the progress of projects and intervene promptly to prevent mistakes in printed items.

Solution: Automation and seamless integration

Berglandmilch used Nintex K2 Five to create an automated workflow for packaging changes that integrates with its existing SAP system and Microsoft applications to create a seamless business process.

The change process still has roughly the same duration from beginning to end because the company is highly diligent in checking changes for accuracy. However, Nintex K2 Five enables employees to make amendments much faster. Markus Pum, a process manager at Berglandmilch, estimates that some tasks that used to take 3 – 4 hours now take around 2 hours, and this valuable time savings enables employees to undertake additional activities for the business.

Berglandmilch also enjoys closer collaboration with its partners, as the workflow process extends out to third-party graphic designers. All communications and process steps are completely integrated despite differences in systems; Berglandmilch runs Microsoft applications exclusively throughout its business, while partners almost all use Apple products. Tasks are sent directly to the graphics partners as a part of the automation process, eliminating the need for separate project briefs and emails.

Berglandmilch’s large retail customers audit its factories regularly, and the workflows help to demonstrate the rigor of its processes for compliance with food labelling laws. The European Union is constantly introducing new legislation, but Berglandmilch now has a proven process that will enable it to sustain high volumes of packaging changes, with complete confidence.

Challenge: Long process completion times

Before Nintex K2 Five, paper forms and email processes made it difficult for anyone at the company to reliably get the information they needed. Previously, if managers wanted to know the status of a specific item of packaging mid-way through a change process, it would take a lot of phone calls and emails to different people to access the information.

This information is mission critical. If packaging were inadvertently produced with errors, the company would not be able to use it, and additional budget would be needed to reprint it. Reprinting could result in delays, which is a critical scenario for Berglandmilch; much of its food output is fresh produce with a finite shelf life. In the worst case, a mistake in the packaging change process could cost the business thousands of euros in discarded packaging, production delays, and food waste.

Solution: Accurate, transparent updates

Now, the process is completely transparent; everyone involved can see what stage projects have reached and who needs to take what action next. Pum says, “The process is so much clearer than before. Consequently, there is less likelihood of mistakes occurring in packaging, which could cost the business a lot of money.”

This transparency is largely thanks to K2 Software’s seamless integrations with line-of-business systems. Nintex K2 Five integrates tightly with Berglandmilch’s existing SAP system and Microsoft applications. For example, managers copy existing designs from SAP to initiate the change process with a unique reference number. Then, all process-related documents are stored on the cloud, using Microsoft Office 365, so that everyone, including those both inside and outside of the company, can access required documents easily and securely.