Expert Views

Published on Nov 3, 2023

Go paperless manufacturing for real

Go paperless manufacturing for real

90% less paper thanks to a good strategy

hubergroup Deutschland GmbH

Paperless production is a sustainable concept that more and more companies are considering. What has already found its way into the office can also be used in production.

Together with us, the hubergroup Deutschland GmbH has made the steps into paperless production. We talked with Mr. Hasselmann about the project, changes and obvious results.

Mr. Hasselmann, which was the projects' main goal for the hubergroup?

Our production processes were characterised by paper-heavy documentation and different processes spread across various work areas. The first goal was to simplify the processes and the bureaucracy hidden within them. The revision is intended to create the basis for introducing suitable digital technologies, supporting our employees, minimising errors, reducing costs and establishing sustainable production processes.

How was the start and which steps did you take?

After the first ideas in the end of 2020, we got in touch with Cloudflight (formerly macio) in February 2021. After that, initial worshops with Mrs. Genschmer and Mr. Gerlach took place in April where we have checked the proof of concepts. As a result the formal order to Cloudflight was made in Autumn 2021. From that time on, we analyzed and optimized the manfuturing processes for the pilot area in regular meetings. Thanks to the structure, we had a fluently transition to the full system development. By now we have implemented the system in one of our main manufacturing areas and working on the next ones. Initially we’ve used both the main documents in paperform and the digital solution. But we will cut this of after the testing time and so we will reduce paper up to 90%.

During the developing phase you have already made big achievements. What was it?

As a team, we very quickly gained an understanding of how the system helps to avoid errors and significantly reduce the error rate. We also gained a much better understanding of the process, which helps us to optimise it further.

How did your employees accept the changes? Which feedback did you get?

In the beginning, many employees were sceptical, but some were also very enthusiastic and interested in the new technology. In the meantime, all employees are convinced of the benefits, as their work has been significantly simplified. At each workstation, they only have the information they need to process the order at that particular moment. In addition, the documentation of production data has been virtually automated thanks to the scanner technology. The significantly improved process understanding also helps all employees and motivates them to continuously improve.

And which overall results did you get so far?

We wanted to become a paperless manufacturer and our expection is, that we will safe at least 800 kg paper in the next twelve months. So we are on the way.

Besides that, we clearly have optimized the manufacturing processes. We quickly reduced the rejected quote permanently up to 75% after the implementation. Mistakes are human but with the digital support, we are able to avoid these easily. On the other side, we see an explicit facilitation for our employees in their daily business. There is a better access to information, activities can be done faster or were redundat.

Last but not least for the process managers, analytics were simplified, because of data generation and mining.

Related content

Expert Views

Smarter, not bigger: unlocking autonomous commerce with Emporix

Paweł Paszkiewicz & Michał Frydrych

Paweł Paszkiewicz & Michał Frydrych

November 27, 2025

Expert Views

Why most B2B eCommerce strategies fail before they start: 2026 study excerpt

Michał Pękala

Michał Pękala

October 20, 2025

Expert Views

Extending Medusa.js with integrated CMS to create compelling content experiences 

Bartłomiej Kotarski

Bartłomiej Kotarski

September 3, 2025

Expert Views

Why custom software is often the more economical choice in the long term

Jonas Lucka

Jonas Lucka

August 27, 2025