For over 20 years, the office furniture manufacturer Kinnarps has used CANEA ONE as a platform for its management system. As one of the largest providers of workplace solutions in Europe with operations in over 40 countries, a flexible and user-friendly system is required. With CANEA Document, the company ensures both that quality is maintained and that company working methods are improved to enable further development.
The office furniture manufacturer Kinnarps has come a long way since the start in 1942. Starting out as a small carpentry factory producing custom-made furniture, the company has developed into an international cooperation, employing over 2100 people, and delivering interior design solutions to everywhere from offices to schools and care centers. To create the structure and control necessary for working in a systematic way with document and work method development, Kinnarps has, for many years now, used CANEA’s document management module, CANEA Document.
CANEA Document - a natural part of employees' everyday lives
With many years of experience using CANEA Document, Kinnarps has been able to develop a clear way of working around the production, distribution, and maintenance of documentation in the organization. With the document module in CANEA ONE, which Kinnarps refers to internally as “the Business Book”, the company has managed to gather all documentation in one place.
Standardization of working methods and document creation
Over the years, Kinnarps has worked out a clear and standardized way for developing instructions, policies and working methods for working with everything from certifications in environment, quality and work environment, to routines and checklists in manufacturing and product development.
The company’s way of working with documentation has made it possible to formulate guidelines for working methods, decision-making and policies that over time have made daily work both smoother and more intuitive for everyone in the organization. Corporate Development Manager, Sven-Åke Larsson, states the following regarding the use of the document management module in CANEA ONE: - It is perhaps one of the most important business parameters - that it helps us all to work in the same direction. Now we have a clear structure for how things should be done.”
The global management system
With a large number of international business units, one common documentation platform is key for managing both global and local requirements. Working with global documents in the group language, English, is something the company is used to today, but to ensure that everyone can access the information, a smooth process for translation is required.
Today Kinnarps work with documents centers around the creation of a master document which is then translated into the other languages that the organization requests. The translated documents are then linked to the original document. Kinnarps also uses CANEA Documents' functionality for notifications of document updates. When a new document is registered, or an existing one has been revised, an automatic email notification is sent out to affected parties. This is done to draw attention to the new information and to the fact that it now needs to be translated into local languages.
The benefits for the organization
According to Sven-Åke, the primary benefits of the document management module is that it creates good control over all documents that exist in the organization and provides the opportunity to continuously improve and further standardize working methods. The module creates a general order of the documentation and a uniformity regarding governing documents. Knowing that documentation for both certifications and audits is available, and up to date, creates a sense of security in the organization.
Plans for a more process-driven approach
The work with maintaining and developing the organization's work methods is something that is always ongoing. For Kinnarps, the next step is to take a closer look at how they as an organization can become even more process-driven in their way of working. In the light of this, they plan to strengthen the connection between the two modules CANEA Document and CANEA Process to visualize workflows and make documents even more accessible to all employees in each step of the work process. Sven-Åke concludes by clarifying what he considers to be the next step in the development of the system for Kinnarps:
“That we create the improvements and changed working methods in the form of routines, instructions, and process flows - that is what we see in front of us."
