Process-Oriented Thinking and Working

Heijmans is a publicly traded company that combines activities in real estate, housing construction, utilities, roads, and civil engineering. It operates in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. By focusing on an integrated approach and quality of execution, it offers added value to its customers. Heijmans realizes integrated, innovative projects for large companies, governments, and housing for investors and residential consumers. With over 8,000 employees, they build the spatial contours of tomorrow.

Quality

To realize Heijmans’ ambitions, continuous improvement of the organization and processes is vital. Heijmans works on this improvement using the Lean6Sigma program. This program is a combination of the Lean Thinking and Six Sigma methodologies. Six Sigma is a methodology that focuses on quality improvement by eliminating the causes of errors and minimizing deviations. Lean Thinking stands for smarter processes that enable cheaper production.

With the Lean6Sigma program, Heijmans focuses, among other things, on reducing the number of outstanding items. The ultimate goal is to achieve zero outstanding items on every project. Lean6Sigma contributes to the pursuit of satisfied customers, well-running projects, and a profitable organization.

Maintenance vs. Quality

Frans Münninghoff is Quality & Safety Manager at Heijmans Real Estate & Housing Construction, and Sandra Steijvers is Quality & Safety Coordinator at Heijmans Utilities. They both have the ambition to take Heijmans’ quality to a higher level. In addition, safety and environment also play an important role. Heijmans is a certified organization according to ISO9001, 14001, VCA, FSC, and PEFC standards.

Previously, they worked with paper quality manuals and loose documents to achieve quality in business operations. Keeping track of changes was a time-consuming task. Updated pages of manuals had to be replaced, which took a lot of time. All the time spent on maintenance came at the expense of quality.

Frans: “We noticed that the manuals were hardly consulted. Most quality manuals and progress documents remained in the cupboard—it wasn’t alive. Furthermore, it was a risk that employees used outdated versions.”

Comm’ant comes standard with a document management environment. Readers always get the most current version of documents such as work instructions, checklists, procedures, etc. Older copies are accessible to Comm’ant administrators. This way, there’s also no sprawl of information silos.

Process management vs. Microsoft Office

In addition to quality management, Frans and Sandra are involved in process management. Previously, they worked with Word and Excel to map and control business processes. This method, like the quality manuals, required a lot of time for maintenance and version management. After all, they worked with separate Word files where each file described a small part of the total process. Sandra: “When something changed in one document, this change wasn’t carried through to the rest of the relevant documents. Everything had to be adjusted manually.” Comm’ant is an integrated management system and can be used for multiple aspects such as quality, safety, and environment with the goal of effective and efficient processes. In the rapidly changing world, a management system must be automatically consistent and at the same time flexible.

Looking for one solution

It was clear that the old method wasn’t optimal. The process and quality management systems required a lot of maintenance and lacked crucial functionalities. Heijmans went looking for a new system. They examined several packages, and ultimately the choice fell on Comm’ant’s system:

“We were allowed to try Comm’ant’s system first, then we really experienced the ease of use and functionality.”

Implementation

After the choice fell on Comm’ant, the system and methodology were implemented. The process drawings were simply implemented digitally in the Comm’ant system. After a fast and smooth implementation process, Comm’ant’s system was up and running. Sandra notes that support from all layers within the organization is crucial. Without support, the implementation and change would certainly have failed.

Feeling of certainty through consistency

After implementing Comm’ant, Sandra quickly experienced the advantages of the new working method. The first thing she noticed was that she spent much less time on maintenance—the system is automatically consistent: “When you talk about process and quality management within an organization, you immediately notice the difference between using loose process drawings and using a real management system.”

Frans: “Compared to the former working method, with Comm’ant we can create relationships between processes within and between departments. That communicates much more smoothly because employees see exactly who fulfills which role within the organization.”

According to Sandra, the entire business operation has become more transparent after the implementation of Comm’ant:

“You see that a uniform working method emerges within the organization. Employees use the same terms, process structures (inputs and outputs), and methods. In addition, we have the complete quality system open to every employee. This means that everyone has access to all departmental processes, raising insight into our own business operations to a higher level.”

In addition, employees have the ability to store and share knowledge through the system. Through document management, employees truly learn from each other, and Heijmans can increasingly profile itself as a knowledge company.

Frans: “Another advantage is that work continues in the absence of a colleague. Knowledge is centrally secured in the system!”

Quality through continuous certification

Heijmans’ ambition is to raise not only quality but also safety and environment to a higher level. “We want to achieve this by focusing on the standards and requirements of VCA, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, FSC, and PEFC. Comm’ant offers the possibility to integrate these standards into business operations,” says Frans. “All standards and requirements are linked to business processes and the outputs to which these standards apply. In this way, we can excellently show external parties where we stand. We also use Comm’ant during internal and external audits. Identifying deviations is fast and effective. Furthermore, tables of specific data can be generated.”

Good service

Frans and Sandra have both experienced Comm’ant’s service as very positive: “There’s a reason we’ve been Comm’ant customers for so long. From the beginning of implementation to this day, the collaboration has been very smooth. If we have questions or comments, we get answers the same day. We are very satisfied so far and we trust in a lasting collaboration!”

Heijmans about Heijmans

At the Comm’ant eXperience, Heijmans shared how they use Comm’ant to preserve knowledge and share the Heijmans way of working (in Dutch).