Customer Duravit

Corporate identity not only determines the external image of a company, it also offers customers orientation in a market landscape in which more and more companies offer the supposedly same product. A uniform appearance to the outside world stands for professionalism and is therefore a criterion for the success of a company. Once a CI has been found, it must be worked with consistently - not only with advertising materials and the Internet presence, but also the correspondence requires uniformity, as it represents a direct link to the customer. An internationally active bathroom furnishings company that manages its databases with Lotus Notes reached its limits here: Even though the software has long been a standard system, the output options are still limited. However, printing screen-based views was not enough for the Black Forest company, and they did not want to resort to external programs in order not to disturb the workflow. Today, the problem is solved with an application that allows users to create high-quality prints for customer communication directly from Lotus Notes. These correspond not only to the CI, but also to the desire for clear structures, not only in the design of the products, but also in the company.

Whether sanitary ceramics, baths, bathroom furniture, shower toilets or accessories - Duravit AG offers everything you need to turn a bathroom into a wellness and relaxation zone. The history of the company begins as early as 1817, when Georg Friedrich Horn set up an earthenware factory in Hornberg in the Black Forest, which initially concentrated entirely on the production of tableware. The expansion of the range to include sanitary products is the reason for the company's later success: from 1950, production is switched from earthenware to porcelain, and in 1960 the company finally receives its current name. Duravit AG is now an internationally operating group with 12 production sites worldwide and over 5700 employees. In addition to serving private customers, Duravit works primarily with business customers and equips hotels and public facilities with its sanitary products, for example. Such orders are managed in a project database from the first quotation to invoicing, and at some point Lotus Notes reached its limits. "Lotus Notes printing options are very limited," explains Thorsten Bucher, IT business economist and application developer at Duravit. "With company-specific printouts of offers, for example, which then also correspond to the CI, this already causes problems."

Manage projects professionally

Duravit solves this problem today with NotesToPaper from SoftVision: As a printing tool, the software enables the controlled and formatted output of data on paper as well as the creation of electronic documents and reports. Users and developers can create printouts of, for example, offers, forms and invoices and generate electronic reports in various formats such as PDF, XML or DOC. Thus, the limited printing possibilities of Notes are overcome by the tool directly in the Domino application. "Printing directly from the database greatly improves the workflow," says Thorsten Bucher. Users have access to the various printing and analysis options directly in the Notes frontend without the need to use an external program. For printing, simply use a button. "Colleagues can position elements with millimetre precision or insert tables and various fonts. In this way, reports can be created centrally that correspond to our CI."

NotesToPaper is used at the headquarters in Hornberg for the sales in Germany, but also the international locations and the 26 affiliated companies, which belong to the company, work with the tool. The simple operation and functionality can be easily explained, so that the introduction at international locations is uncomplicated. "The installation into the database is practically done with a click", says Thorsten Bucher. "A training of SoftVision was not even necessary, we did it all ourselves. The sample database that came with the software already contained everything we needed. The employees also get along well with the application, they can create offers directly from the database and customize them individually. Also the choice of a printer requires only one mouse click. This centralization benefits not only project management, but also customer communication, which now conforms to the CI without interrupting the workflow.

A reliable partner, to whom one likes to remain loyal

Recently Duravit has updated to the current version of NotesToPaper. "Everything went smoothly", Thorsten Bucher reports and praises the cooperation with SoftVision. "Support is always available and answers questions quickly and competently." When SoftVision introduced the software it was one of the few providers on the market of Notes printing applications and the only one in Germany. Today, the tool still meets all Duravit's requirements. "Printing quotations or invoices directly from the project database is and remains an enormous relief of work," summarizes Thorsten Bucher. "And all our customers, whether hotel or home owners, experience communication with us as consistent and competent." So Duravit continues to rely on NotesToPaper and the professional printing options that the tool offers. In this way, not only the company-wide demand for functionality and quality is taken into account, but also the demand for design gains additional expression in the communication of the CI.