Electrifying progress

"Making electricity flow properly" is Gifas' customer promise. The company supplies end users from industry, trade and commerce with high-quality electrotechnical products and implements individual solutions based on them. "We have developed from a K to an M company in recent years," says Managing Director Yves Rödiger. In order to cope with the growth structurally and organizationally and to systematize the processes, they were looking for a suitable CIP software at the beginning of 2014. The choice fell on Improve from Synprovis (Eich), "with excellent success", as the quality manager Sandro Carbayo explains. In the meantime, the tool has been in use for two years, and on a broad thematic front:

• Customer, internal and supplier errors
• Repairs
• Suggestion system/ideas
• Customer surveys
• Training plans
• Certificates
• Measuring and test equipment management
• Audit Management
• Risk Management
• Employee qualification

The cross-cutting effects of the CIP software, namely clear processes and effective efficiency contributions, are briefly highlighted below

Higher process reliability
"In the past, we only had a few standards, but a lot of paper," says Yves Rödiger. In addition, the management and control of task fulfillment was person-related, so that the company-wide overview was easily lost. With Improve, responsibilities are now systematically regulated and independent of individuals. In addition, Improve applies the consistent methodological principle of "record, decide, complete, improve". This analogy to the famous Deming circle (PDCA cycle) is as much a part of the software's fundamental approach as is event-based. "We are now improving better," says quality manager Carbayo happily. Product-related issues are identified more quickly and accurately. Sources of error can be eliminated at the root cause, "whereas before you were often in the dark," says the 31-year-old.

Clearly defined processes also apply to the handling of customer complaints with Improve. Compared to paper time, the complaints are dealt with much faster. Thanks to the complete documentation in the software, there are no more repeat errors, which Gifas sees as a key plus point. "We also attach great importance to straightforward processes," adds Sandro Carbayo; if, for example, a defective cable reel is encountered today, the repair or replacement is carried out immediately. As a positive consequence of such optimizations, customer satisfaction has already increased measurably.

Other factors have contributed to the increased process reliability. The internal acceptance of the software, for example, is a decisive factor for success. At Gifas, the initial skepticism among employees was great. "Today, we have many Improve fans in the company," reports Q Manager Carbayo. The CIP concept is put into practice with Improve and enjoys full backing from the management level. The tool's wide range of evaluation options also promotes acceptance. Finally, the creation of the new position 'Head of Quality and Process Management' in the course of the Improve introduction is of considerable importance for process reliability. "My function noticeably relieves the workload of all other department heads," explains Sandro Carbayo.

Better repair process
What does it actually take to be able to speak of a 'safe process'? Carbayo: "Control and controllability, reproducible results, known process risks that are avoided or minimized, and the limitation of any damage that may occur. This has been achieved on a broad scale at Gifas-Electric, as the example of the repair system shows

"We used to have 'management by walking around' in the company," says CEO Yves Rödiger. Many hours were lost when employees walked around the company with papers in their hands. Sandro Carbayo provides a metric for this: in the paper era, an employee left his workstation an average of five times, "today it's zero times". The throughput time of the repair process has been reduced by 50%, which also results in considerable cost savings. Even the cost-significant splitting 'repair with or without warranty' is now handled seamlessly, whereas previously, due to a mixture of time pressure and convenience, most cases were handled under warranty. Naturally, Improve also has a positive effect on the number of forms required. In total, Gifas now needs 19 forms less, and this with drastically higher transparency.

Despite all the improvements, Gifas does not yet see itself as having reached its goal. The average total repair time is to be reduced further, from seven to five days today. "We are aware that a good and rapid repair system makes a significant contribution to customer loyalty," emphasises Yves Rödiger. Gifas intends to exploit this potential consistently, also with the help of Improve.

Simplicity in everything
Simplicity' is the key vocabulary of the CIP tool when it comes to learning and operating it. According to the Q manager, the Gifas employees are already familiar with it after a three-hour training course, which subsequently covers 80% of the user's daily routine. Synprovis CEO Hubert Geisseler puts it even more pointedly: "Anyone who can read and write can also handle Improve". All in all, Gifas-Electric is convinced that it has chosen the right software. Beyond the pure product advantages, price and cooperation factors also count for the company: With Improve, there are no fees for the installation of updates and the Synprovis service is experienced as timely, cooperative and literally worth the price. "We are ready for the future and confident that we will be able to handle the planned further growth without any problems," concludes Managing Director Rödiger.