BMI Group empowers global employees collaborating on Google Workspace to be agents of innovation by using AppSheet to automate processes and boost productivity.
BMI Group (a Standard Industries company) traces its roots and deep industry expertise back to 1740, and is Europe’s largest manufacturer in the combined pitched and flat roofing market, with a significant presence in parts of Asia and Africa.
-
Global
BMI Group empowers global employees collaborating on Google Workspace to be agents of innovation by using AppSheet to automate processes and boost productivity.
Google Workspace Results
17 business-improvement apps enabled by AppSheet
• Eliminates multiple document versions and streamlines email back-and-forths with real-time collaboration on Google Docs
• Makes coordinating operations across 40+ countries easy with a single, unified productivity suite
• 350 volunteers acting as digital champions to help drive Google Workspace adoption across the company
• 40 non-technical workers developed apps and automated processes with AppSheet, empowering their teams
“Being able to collaborate and coordinate multiple operations across 40+ countries can be challenging without a single and unified productivity suite. Google Workspace makes it easy to work with others in a secure and efficient way.” - Max Mackie, Digital Innovation Developer, BMI Group
Many might take the roof over their heads for granted, but sees beyond shelter and protection. "Today a roof can also be a power station, a living space, a vertical garden, and a work of art. We evolve by continuously exploring new ways of thinking and investing heavily in research and development," says Max Mackie, Digital Innovation Developer and a member of BMI’s digital innovation team.
A Standard Industries company and leading manufacturer of roofing and waterproofing solutions throughout Europe with significant presence in parts of Asia and Africa, BMI Group is headquartered in the UK and its approximately 9,500 employees deliver innovative roofing and waterproofing systems designed to transform the way people live and work. Providing protection, added value and peace of mind for architects, roofers, building- and homeowners alike.
A similar focus on innovation had led Standard Industries, operating in more than 80 countries, with 20,000+ employees, to implement in 2017 in order to connect its global workforce. The decision turned out to be a key enabler of the work-from-home pivot brought about by Covid-19. Now, the digital innovation team at BMI Group is using the collaboration and productivity tools to push the envelope of what’s possible for the company.
"Collaborating and coordinating multiple operations across 40+ countries can be challenging without a single and unified productivity suite. Google Workspace makes it easy to work with others in a secure and efficient way. And because technology is a key enabler for our team, we do our best to integrate our leading-edge collaboration tools with our landscape of best-of-breed, back-end systems to solve business challenges," explains Mackie.
Bringing about positive change, from the ground up
In the transition journey from the previous provider, BMI Group cultivated a team of digital champions. 350 people volunteered from different departments to provide Workspace training sessions for colleagues who weren’t yet proficient using the tools.
"Having a local Google Workspace expert within every department helps to scale up the adoption rate across the company because it becomes easy for people to get help quickly," says Mackie. "We found that people who initially pushed back against the change just needed a little more training to come around and convert to Workspace, because the efficiency gains were immediately obvious and the user experience couldn’t be simpler. For example, the intuitive UI and integration between and is making scheduling meetings very easy."
Another noticeable improvement is the ability to have multiple users collaborate in real time on the same files. "It just couldn’t be more seamless with another solution," says Mackie. "Previously, we emailed multiple versions of the same documents back and forth whenever changes were made, and saved backups of those versions. Now, changes made to are immediately visible to other users. It’s fast and takes so much hassle out of the work of keeping track of the most up-to-date file and sharing it multiple times."
Automating paper-based, manual processes with AppSheet
“We discovered AppSheet when looking for ways to automate a product catalog that was manually populated using . The positive outcome of this first use case got us excited to further explore the tool to solve more business problems, and we never looked back.” - Max Mackie, Digital Innovation Developer, BMI Group
In 2020, the ease of integration between Workspace tools and led the Digital Innovation Team to start experimenting with the solution. "We discovered AppSheet when looking for ways to automate a product catalog that was manually populated using . The positive outcome of this first user case got us excited to further explore the tool to solve more business problems, and we never looked back," says Mackie.
The team decided to share its AppSheet capabilities with more colleagues across BMI Group by training the digital champions across different departments. Since AppSheet is a no-code development platform, the vision was to empower colleagues beyond technical teams to innovate their everyday functions using the tool, so the digital innovation team organized a company-wide hackathon.
Empowering non-technical teams to solve business problems with AppSheet
“Connecting and empowering colleagues are our core values, and Google Workspace plays a vital role in that. Whether it’s solving paper-based challenges with AppSheet, saving us time from email back-and-forths, or connecting and empowering frontline workers, Google Workspace is a foundational component of our collaboration strategy.” - Max Mackie, Digital Innovation Developer, BMI Group
People from BMI Group offices and manufacturing sites submitted projects to solve problems associated with their day-to-day work. Manufacturing workers focused on increasing efficiencies by automating paper-based processes, whereas office implementations centered on improving the quality of life for team members, such as making it easier to find parking near the office.
The hackathon lasted three weeks, during which 17 projects were trialed, with benefits still rippling out across the company. For example, many people have built smaller-scale applications that help their team become more productive.
"Non-technical, front-line users are very excited to have the tools to build solutions, because it’s the business users who know exactly what areas need to be improved and what kinds of solutions they would benefit from day in, day out," says Mackie. "That’s a testament to how intuitive AppSheet is to use."
True to its focus on innovation and to its mission to transform people’s lives for the better, the global workforce at BMI Group now moves forward as a closely-knit team brought together online. "Connecting and empowering colleagues are our core values, and Workspace plays a vital role in that," adds Mackie. "Whether it’s solving paper-based challenges with AppSheet, saving us time from email back-and-forths, or connecting and empowering frontline workers, Google Workspace is a foundational component of our collaboration strategy."