All processes can be mapped
Success story from A2 Doku GmbH
We utilise almost the entire scope of Projektron BCS and have aligned our topics accordingly. All our processes, sales, quotations, preliminary and final costing, project management and invoicing can be mapped and handled. We will continue to rely on BCS for the next few years.
Mission - Technical documentation
We, the Dokuhelden of A2 Doku GmbH, are service providers from Nuremberg and offer our customers holistic solutions for the CE conformity assessment process. Our mission is: Superheroes sometimes have a cape, always have superpowers and are usually inconspicuous. The mission of A2's documentation heroes: We create really good instructions from product information. For more focus in our customers' core business.
We support our customers in three areas. In product safety, we provide advice during the development phase with recommendations for action, create risk assessments in accordance with the Machinery Directive, calculate the performance level in accordance with SISTEMA and create the declaration of conformity.
In the area of documentation, we create, revise and automate instructions of all kinds. We take care of graphic editing and translation management. We work with professional editing systems such as SCHEMA ST4, docuglobe, SMC and others.
Our third focal point is the bracket around the editorial department. We create and revise editorial guidelines and processes, advise on and implement CMS and create videos. We also accompany our customers on their way to digital documentation.
Our customers come from medium-sized companies, but we also work with large corporations. We work in the fields of telecommunications, mechanical and plant engineering and the software industry.
We are 27 colleagues and have been on the market since 2003. Since 2008, we have been working almost exclusively in the field of technical documentation. In 2020, the then sole proprietor sold the company to me and two of my colleagues. We converted the company into a limited company and are now successfully continuing to run it with new processes.
Time recording in projects
Our projects always have a similar structure but vary in size.
Our projects can cover the complete preparation of CE documentation - risk assessment, functional safety and operating instructions - or just individual parts of it. The duration varies from two weeks to one year, in special cases even longer. In total, we complete around 120 projects a year. Our teams are interdisciplinary and work on different projects at the same time.
Therefore, the first requirement was time recording and booking the hours to the planned projects. Given the large number of projects, this is no longer manageable using traditional MSOffice products.
Introduction of Projektron BCS
After deciding in favour of Projektron BCS and taking over the company in 2020, we made a conscious decision to continue and expand the system.
The decision in favour of Projektron BCS was made under the previous company management. There was no special selection process after the takeover. As the system was already in place, we decided to continue using it in the first instance. The introduction of completely new software was not possible for reasons of time and cost.
First and foremost, the software had to map our flexible project business, including time recording. It had to be quick and easy to use for the employees, display the necessary KPIs for the management and be easily accessible from the home office at all times. There was therefore no introduction in this sense. A lot of things came about through trial and error and with the help of guidance and support, we managed to establish the system.
Expansion of the functions used
We started with the classic project modules. At the beginning of last year, we then switched to implementing the calculations with Projektron BCS. In mid-2023, we then decided to do away with our CRM and also map all sales and commercial activities with BCS. This eliminates "cold" interfaces and enables the entire process and its data to be mapped in one system.
Unfortunately, importing data from the old system turned out to be a little more complicated than we were used to and expected.
The familiarisation initially took place via standard training courses in the areas of contact management/CRM and invoicing. The further introduction then took place over two months of simultaneous test operation until we were able to switch off the old system on 1 January 2024. New issues are constantly arising from our day-to-day work, which we then gradually work through, also with the help of the support team. All 27 employees now work with the web-based Projektron BCS software.
Conclusion: We continue to rely on Projektron BCS
Our verdict on BCS is overwhelmingly positive. All our processes, sales, quotations, preliminary and final costing, project management and invoicing can be mapped and handled. What we are sorely missing, however, is a module for ordering, as we purchase a lot of external services and this cannot be mapped in BCS. Reporting is also very complex. All the data is available, but extracting it from the system in a meaningful composition takes a lot of time and searching.
If someone is considering introducing BCS, all processes should first be analysed and compared with the possibilities offered by the system. It is also a decisive advantage if the processes are adapted to BCS and not the other way round.
The contact with Projektron GmbH is always very professional and pleasant. To date, all issues have been resolved with the help of sales and support.
The training courses are good, but a little too superficial, which is probably due to the different levels of knowledge of the participants and the time available. We would like to see more intensity here.
We now utilise almost the entire scope of Projektron BCS and have aligned our topics accordingly. The next step is to get to grips with reporting. However, we will continue to rely on BCS for the next few years.
