Renotec offers customers transparency thanks to simplified work processes
At the stained-glass studio, works of art are carefully renovated and restored. Find out here how workflow automation helps them do just that.
Renotec and the Stained-Glass Studio
Renotec restores and renovates buildings, monuments and works of art. They do so with expert knowledge of crafts and by using innovative techniques. All employees are specialised professionals. Their talent, safety and wellbeing are the building blocks of any project.
730 employees, 110 project managers, 30 years of experience … These numbers are telling. Renotec Group is a large company with an impressive project portfolio. Always and everywhere, Renotec opts for quality and efficiency.
In the stained-glass studio, the restoration of stained-glass windows – true works of art – is carried out with the utmost care. Imagine stained glass batches as multi-coloured puzzles made up of thousands of pieces, degraded and damaged over the years. It quickly becomes clear that secure restoration involves extensive documentation.
Manual documentation and administration of stained-glass restorations
A thorough condition analysis is performed for each stained-glass window. Marks are added to a photograph to represent approximately 30 different types of faults and defects, such as missing lead, contamination, or broken glass. These markings, which include agreed codes, distances, and areas, are accompanied by a legend, and the faults are manually counted. The cost of restoration is then calculated based on the number and nature of the faults (for example, the length of missing lead or the area of contamination).
Julie Vertroost, Lean Coordinator at Renotec, reviewed the documentation and administrative process of the stained-glass workshop and shared her observations: “The entire process of stained-glass restoration requires extensive documentation to ensure nothing is overlooked and that all restorations are carried out correctly. This documentation is also essential for determining accurate pricing for the work. However, I noticed that multiple people were often involved in the same process, identical tasks were being manually initiated repeatedly – such as creating legends – and data was being manually copied from one application to another.”
Stained Glass Studio at Renotec © Renotec website
Julie also noted that the entire stained glass restoration process was somewhat slow. “While proper documentation is crucial, it added significant overhead to the already labour-intensive manual work. Several people were often working on the same process, using different programs, which frequently resulted in duplication of effort and data being copied and pasted between applications.” – Julie Vertroost, Lean Coördinator @ Renotec
Renotec headquarters in Geel © Renotec website
Saving time and avoiding errors through workflow automation
After a consultation with Julie and a thorough analysis of the processes in the studio, Catena Company was able to significantly improve and speed up the workflow.
The photo of the situation before restoration was entered InDesign to make the marks on it. The legend was then created fully automatically, including counting the errors, the length of the marked lines, and the area in cm² of the selected surfaces. An export of this legend was possible to serve as the basis for an offer.
After the restoration, a second photo was taken and placed next to the original photo in InDesign. All indications of the before situation are transferred and completed. A second legend was again automatically generated.
By automating the listing, counting of errors, and integrating it with the documentation, the process became much more efficient. Especially the people who must do the administrative work saved a lot of time, as all the necessary data was immediately available. This is not only more efficient, but also much less error prone.
Transparency as a customer service
Jurgen Albert, Chief Stained-Glass Studio: “The optimisation of the entire workflow in our workshop is an improvement for all employees, the company and, above all, the customer. The process is not only more efficient and with fewer errors, but it has also become much more insightful. It is now easier to see which renovations take how much time and who exactly is doing what. This insight and transparency are a service we offer to our customers, keeping them constantly informed about the progress of the renovation and what they are spending the budget on.”
“The optimisation of the entire workflow in our workshop is an improvement for all employees, the company and, above all, the customer. The process is not only more efficient and with fewer errors, but it has also become much more insightful. It is now easier to see which renovations take how much time and who exactly is doing what. This insight and transparency are a service we offer to our customers, keeping them constantly informed about the progress of the Renovations and what they are spending the budget on.” – Jurgen Albert, Chief Stained-Glass Studio @ Renotec
Employees highly satisfied with automation
Jurgen: “The cooperation with Catena Company was a smooth and pleasant experience. Even during the initial meetings to outline the situation, Catena Company already suggested some areas for improvement, and it quickly became clear which adjustments we would make. The biggest added value for us is that Catena Company has considerably simplified our workflow while still allowing everyone to continue using the familiar programmes and documentation principles. All employees are enthusiastic about the modified way of working and the result is simply better.”
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