We helped Messer to structure their bottom-up automation initiative and streamlined one of their most important operational processes.
The Belgian chapter of Messer, a global supplier of industrial gasses, wanted to leverage the power of automation to improve some of their processes. They started exploring the possibilities of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) but needed help to scale their efforts and discover other automation opportunities.
Messer deliberately chose a bottom-up approach, where employees throughout the organization were asked which tasks and processes could benefit from automation. Since the human element was so important in this project, it was clear that the experts at Humain were the perfect fit.
To kick off our coaching services for Messer, we started by organizing value discovery workshops where we inspired their employees. We asked them which tasks and processes had become outdated, and where they saw opportunities for automation.
Getting a detailed overview helped us to map their various processes, divide them into several groups, and prioritize them. Each of these workshops resulted in a comprehensive report where we listed the most promising ideas and which technologies would be the most suitable. Once we had a grasp of Messer's ambitions, we moved on to the implementation phase.
In this phase, Humain cooperated with the low-code experts at Roboest. While Humain took care of project management and functional analysis, Roboest leveraged their expertise in development. Using the Microsoft Power Platform, we built an application for one of Messer's most important operational processes: filling cylinders with one of their many kinds of industrial gases.
This labor-intensive process used to be executed completely manually, with team leaders assigning task priorities to individual employees on a whiteboard, without follow-up or archival possibilities.
Our intelligent solution streamlined this process by leveraging ERP data about incoming orders and automatically prioritizing them based on content and delivery date, giving Messer's team leads a convenient overview of what needs to be done. Using Microsoft Power Apps, they can then assign these tasks to employees, shifts, and filling halls through a simple drag-and-drop user interface.
We also developed a companion application for the employees that runs on their tablets and shows a customized view with their tasks for that shift. Using the app, they can easily communicate to team leaders whether the task has been completed successfully or a follow-up is required. This saves both parties a lot of time by no longer requiring frequent trips to the whiteboard.
Thanks to the combined efforts of Humain and Roboest, Messer now has a solid foundation to promote innovation and bottom-up initiatives, as well as a set of applications that illustrate the potential of intelligent automation solutions. Of course, we remain at their disposal to help guide further ideas.
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