Certification in record time

More than 650000 young people began studying in Germany in the 2010/2011 semester. Students receive qualified all-round support in their new phase of life from the Studentenwerke: Through economic, social, health and cultural support, these make a significant contribution to the realisation of equal opportunities, are closely networked with each other and, in cooperation with universities and cities, contribute to improving the general conditions of a course of study. There are about 58 of these non-profit institutions at the various university locations in Germany. Modern student unions see themselves as companies that want to offer first-class services and attach importance to measurable quality. In a pilot project, ten student unions sought certification in accordance with ISO 9001:2008 in order to have it confirmed that their internal process landscape is correct and that they can offer universities and students consistently high-quality services. The participating student unions chose different quality management solutions and took different approaches to their introduction.

ISO certification in just eight months

One of the participants in this project is the Studentenwerk Osnabrück, responsible for the Osnabrück, Lingen and Vechta campuses, which achieved the remarkable feat of going from kickoff event to certification in just eight months. With more than 240 employees, it is active in a wide range of business areas - from catering through university catering such as refectories and cafeterias, which serve around 10,000 meals a day, to renting out dormitory places and private rooms, advice and support on questions of student financing, psychosocial counselling services and childcare in its own day care centre, which is tailored to the needs of students. The Studentenwerk was awarded the "berufundfamilie" certificate as a family-friendly employer in 2010.

The search for the right software

Stefan Kobilke, Head of Human Resources at the Osnabrück Student Union, worked on this project as Quality Management Officer together with a core team of management and department heads. He remembers the beginnings: "Behind the introduction was a clearly defined goal: certification according to ISO 9001:2008. To achieve this, we were looking for software that could be used to easily model processes and compensate for the 'little time wasters' in everyday work. Through a recommendation, we came across ConSense GmbH from Aachen and finally decided on the ConSense IMS Enterprise software, an extended version for companies with multiple locations."

The starting signal for the new quality management system was given in April 2010. During the introduction phase of ConSense IMS, the Studentenwerk held workshops for the employees involved, in which the processes running in the company were developed for mapping in the new system. "This approach has proven particularly successful for us," explains Stefan Kobilke. "Most of our employees are practitioners who can provide quite precise information about their work processes, but have no connection to theoretical process sketches. We developed the description of the workflows together in the workshops and modeled them 'just in time' with the help of ConSense IMS."

"Measures management" simplifies compulsory training courses

In addition to a standard-compliant representation of all corporate processes, which is a prerequisite for certification, the introduction of ConSense IMS has resulted in many changes for the employees of the Studentenwerk that make their daily work easier. For example, all Student Union kitchens have been upgraded with terminals and color printers. ConSense IMS is now used, for example, by the facility managers to receive their cleaning schedules and to conduct hygiene training for the staff.

When organizing the mandatory trainings, which are prescribed in the gastronomic sector at regular intervals, the ConSense module "Measures Management" supports smooth processes: It manages the series dates and is linked to the central training database, which bundles all measures templates and ensures quick access to the appropriate training material. The facility managers automatically receive detailed information about upcoming training courses, linked to the appropriate training material and provided with an up-to-date list of participants. The system reports the completion of each training measure to the administration and simultaneously proves the fulfilment of all requirements for the upcoming audits. All employees of the Studentenwerk have access to ConSense IMS via the new terminals. There is only an obligation to provide information for employees with computer workstations. Stefan Kobilke learns from feedback with suggestions for improvement from different areas of the company that many other employees nevertheless use the system. The work of the Studentenwerk's management is supported by the key figures module, which displays company-relevant key figures in a simple form.

Proud of fast ISO certification

Finally, on 23 December 2010, the time had come: the Studentenwerk Osnabrück received its certification according to ISO 9001:2008. Stefan Kobilke is still pleased about the quick introduction: "The certification in record time only worked because many quality standards had long been lived in the company. These therefore 'only' had to be mapped in a suitable system in conformity with the standard." Another advantage was that the Studentenwerk was able to build up the documentation of the quality management system with the new software solution right from the start. The human resources manager is certain that the certification was achieved in record time, thanks in part to the ConSense IMS software, which is particularly well suited to individual requirements. In addition, the many motivated employees, who all pulled together, made a quick implementation possible. And so Stefan Kobilke is more than satisfied with the first interim audit, which contained only two small recommendations for improvement.

The students from Osnabrück, Lingen and Vechta will appreciate the efforts of their Studentenwerk: This means that they can continue to rely on the quality of all services from catering to childcare in the future.