DE
From switching back and forth between different tools to one central workplace: Bavarian control cabinet manufacturer Alphatec Schaltschranksysteme GmbH now runs not only its entire internal organization but also its operational work in KenCube, from ISO documentation, tickets and chat to meal ordering and payslips.
About Alphatec Schaltschranksysteme
Alphatec Schaltschranksysteme GmbH in Brennberg near Regensburg manufactures custom and standardized control cabinets and enclosures, including assembly and wiring: power distribution boards, charging stations, metering equipment, service connection technology, sub-distribution and floor-standing distribution boards, transformer metering cabinets, construction site distribution boards and charging infrastructure for e-mobility. What sets the company apart is its in-house production depth, covering metalworking, powder coating, electrical assembly, wiring and e-mobility.
Alphatec Schaltschranksysteme GmbH is a family business. It is run by three brothers, one of whom is Stefan Schiegl, who is responsible for engineering. The company is certified to DIN ISO 9001 and has grown from 40 to 160 employees over the past twelve years. Many of them work in production without a PC workstation of their own. According to Schiegl, Alphatec benefits from KenCube on several levels, because for them it is a company portal, an employee app and a digital workplace all at once.
The starting point: two tools and constant friction
Before KenCube, Alphatec worked with two separate systems: a chat with groups for handling tasks and work instructions, and a somewhat dated intranet for sharing information. Schiegl recalls that this caused constant friction. A work instruction was written in the intranet tool and shared via chat. Anyone who clicked the link ended up in a different application, possibly had to log in again and in the end did not look at the document at all.
In the end, the trigger for looking for a new solution that combined several functions was something else entirely. The caterer that supplied the company canteen canceled the free use of its online meal ordering software at very short notice. Meals would once again have had to be ordered laboriously by email or, in production, in person at reception. Until then, this process had been automated. In other words, ordering would have become worse overnight. That was not an option.
The search for an alternative led to KenCube. The deciding factor, says Schiegl, was that KenCube combines several functions and above all makes switching between intranet and chat a thing of the past. The solution brings chat, news, information and work instructions together. It even handles meal ordering, both from external caterers and from in-house providers such as the canteen. A cost comparison of the existing tools against the new solution then made the decision clear.
“Which functions do you use?” Practically all of them
From chat to a complete collaboration platform
It started with chat and news. From there, the range of functions quickly expanded, Schiegl explains. The departments saw how much the employee platform can do and replaced further standalone tools. Alphatec now handles catering directly in KenCube, including an interface to the payroll software that automatically deducts ordered meals from wages. The internal employee shop for workwear followed the same pattern.
The range of functions in use is correspondingly wide. News and the dashboard provide company-wide information, covering decisions, investments and announcements. Ongoing exchange and day-to-day operational work largely take place in around 15 topic-based chat groups, including a downtime chat for machine breakdowns. And the calendar holds more than appointments: minutes, tickets and documents are linked there directly.
There is hardly a function in KenCube that we don't use.
Stefan Schiegl, Managing Director Engineering, Alphatec Schaltschranksysteme GmbH
The organizational core is the ticket system and the documentation. All internal tasks run through tickets, from maintenance to payroll accounting. Quality management holds work instructions, change notices, safety briefings, the first aider plan and the org chart, each with versioning. Content can be translated automatically into several languages. The most recent addition is e-learning for onboarding and safety briefings, which is currently in the test phase.
The internal shop for workwear is used with defined allowances and budgets. Payslips are delivered to each person's eBox. So that production staff can reach all of this without a PC of their own, terminals are available in production, giving employees touch access to KenCube as well.
“What are the benefits?” Everything in one place instead of constantly logging into different tools
KenCube on the terminal in production
Parts of Alphatec's production are paperless, Schiegl reports. Every workstation has a large screen on which employees receive their orders. The production plan contains links that lead directly to the relevant KenCube pages: phone list, meal ordering, safety briefings, first aider plan and much more. One touch and you are in the system. This makes the digital workplace accessible to employees. In addition, the KenCube platform and its employee app make documents readable for everyone, even for staff without their own PC or a Microsoft Office license.
Maintained once instead of multiple entries
The second effect concerns content maintenance. Content is maintained in KenCube exactly once, and all other media link to it. Outdated information disappears, which used to be a regular cause of complaints.
We have linked our media and platforms so that employees get straight to their information.
Stefan Schiegl, Managing Director Engineering, Alphatec Schaltschranksysteme GmbH
Everything under one roof, and auditors who are amazed
For Stefan Schiegl, the biggest benefit is having all documentation under one roof. This also pays off in certifications and inspections. Alphatec is certified to DIN ISO 9001 and also receives visits and audits from the employers' liability insurance association. Instead of searching for binders, Alphatec opens KenCube. Every time, the auditors are genuinely “blown away” by how clearly everything is organized, says Schiegl.
The auditors always ask: ‘Where are your documents?’ And we say: ‘On the intranet.’ And they're always blown away by how neat and tidy everything is filed and how easy it is to find your way around.
Stefan Schiegl, Managing Director Engineering, Alphatec Schaltschranksysteme GmbH
Linking instead of searching
Closely related is the consistent linking within the digital workplace. The meeting with the departments involved is in the calendar, minutes are written up quickly, and from there a link leads directly to the related ticket, work instruction or change notice.
Multilingual content and versioning
Another building block is multilingual support. Since the team includes employees whose native language is not German, every entry can be translated automatically into their native language with a single click. Change notices, documents and safety briefings are simply created as text in KenCube. This makes them fully translatable and also ensures the versioning that is essential for certifications.
Tickets: from skepticism to second nature
The change was most visible with the ticket system. At first, long-serving employees smiled at it, Schiegl admits. Someone who has worked with a notepad for decades does not switch overnight. Today, however, “Please write me a ticket” has become part of everyday work. And the request often comes from employees themselves.
The benefit lies on two levels. For individuals, tasks no longer get lost in the hectic daily routine. For managers, a glance at the department's tab during the department meeting is enough to see who has to do what by when. In the past, everyone wrote in their own notebook, and at the next meeting the usual answer was “I forgot about that,” Schiegl says with a laugh.
Chat or ticket? Choosing the right medium
The different purposes of chat and tickets quickly became established. When a machine is down, everyone involved posts the status in the downtime chat. Even those who are not on site know immediately, without having to make a round of phone calls. Tickets, by contrast, are reserved for tasks that have to be completed reliably, Schiegl explains.
At first, some people smiled at tickets. Today they say: ‘Better write me a ticket, then I won't forget it.’
Stefan Schiegl, Managing Director Engineering, Alphatec Schaltschranksysteme GmbH
Staying informed despite growth
In the past, with a team of 40, everyone learned everything in personal conversation. With a workforce of 160, that no longer works. “I don't hear about anything anymore” was a sentence often heard at company events, Schiegl recalls. Today, Alphatec publishes a news post in KenCube early on about internal decisions, new contracts or machine investments, and everyone is informed.
Everyday tasks bring the workforce onto the platform
A digital workplace works well when it also covers everyday tasks. Anyone who wants to order lunch or workwear simply opens the employee app or KenCube in the browser. This automatically increases usage, especially among production staff who do not sit at a desk all day.
With 160 employees, it is no longer possible to tell everyone personally what we are working on. But via the intranet I can communicate news early, so that every employee, whether new to the company or with us for years, feels included.
Stefan Schiegl, Managing Director Engineering, Alphatec Schaltschranksysteme GmbH
Rollout in a few weeks, with a clean cut
The switch was quick: not months, but a few weeks. As a family business with short decision paths, the entire management team was on board. On a single day, all chat groups were set up anew and the old ones archived. From then on, KenCube was the standard. At the same time, a working student transferred news and existing work instructions from the old intranet solution, so there was no transition phase with half-migrated data.
Schiegl's experience: you have to guide employees toward new processes and stay consistent. Choosing the right medium is just as important: chat for one purpose, a ticket for another, a document for yet another.
Looking ahead: e-learning as the final building block
A wish from last year has since been implemented and is in the test phase: the e-learning tool. The plan is an e-learning platform for production, office and the various work areas. New employees are introduced through it during onboarding, while existing staff receive their training and mandatory safety briefings. These used to be handed out on paper and, as Schiegl openly admits, were not always read.