Goodbye, bureaucracy: When GESTRA’s safety equipment and tool dispenser suddenly becomes as intuitive as a smartphone.
How Bremen-based GESTRA AG is radically modernizing its materials management with the SaaS intelligence of simple system and making the human factor a guarantee of success.
There is a form of progress that is not heralded by noise, but by the disappearance of frictional losses. At GESTRA AG, a global pacesetter in the world of steam and condensate technology, precision is part of its DNA. The Bremen-based company, which is part of the Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc group, ensures that industrial thermal processes run safely and efficiently worldwide. While GESTRA's products stand for high-end technology, the analogue past lurked in the company's own machine room - the material output - for a long time.
The break with analog inertia: dispensing and management of tools and work safety now completely digital and online.
The problem was as classic as it was paralyzing: manual removal processes, a lack of transparency and the creeping loss of time due to search processes. In a world geared towards maximum productivity, keeping manual lists seems like an anachronism. The solution required more than just new cabinets; it required a digital architecture that merges hardware and software into a seamless unit.
The makers' alliance: technology meets acceptance
GESTRA formed a powerful project team from Purchasing, IT, the works council and the actual users for this radical change. The goal: maximum user-friendliness. The SAM machines from URAI form the physical basis, which are controlled by the SAM Supervisor as an intelligent master computer. This manages compartments and stocks and documents each removal precisely in order to transfer the order impulses directly to the digital heart - simple system.
simple system acts as the key interface to the suppliers, fully integrated into the existing SAP landscape via OCI and using proven catalog data. This ecosystem was flanked by the expertise of partner E/D/E and the operational strength of TEGRO Runge GmbH, which as a local specialist retailer ensures stocking and on-site service.
Intuition beats instruction
The success of this transformation is measured by the immediate acceptance by the workforce. Onboarding was completed faster than originally planned - a rare phenomenon in industrial IT. The decisive lever was the intuitive usability of the software. Anyone who shops online privately understands the system immediately. The checkout process follows the logic of modern e-commerce platforms; identification is seamless and the hurdles have been removed. The consistent use of article images has drastically reduced incorrect withdrawals, as the visual feedback provides immediate clarity where previously cryptic numbers dominated.
The project team sums up the collaboration positively: "E/D/E supported us as equals and quickly delivered practical solutions. At the same time, simple system was indispensable for us - thanks to the existing SAP integration, the database and the long-standing partnership."
The bottom line: liberated processes
The GESTRA case study shows: True digitalization does not fail because of technology, but because of resistance to complexity. Simple system has proven that process optimization is strongest when it hides behind a façade of simplicity. For GESTRA AG, this means gaining sovereignty over its own processes and the certainty that efficiency can also be a pleasure in everyday industrial life.