Digmesa AG

Patrick Riesen is responsible for the quality management system at Digmesa AG, for internal quality assurance and for complaints. “I’ve always been a fan of MediaWikis,” is his experience from previous workstations. Concentrated knowledge in one place, traceability of entries and corrections, intuitive handling. These are just a few of the points that inspire Mr. Riesen.

When he joined Digmesa AG almost three years ago, his suggestion to introduce a central platform here too, where everything could be bundled in one place, was immediately welcomed. A brief evaluation very quickly revealed the BlueSpice MediaWiki solution from Hallo Welt! GmbH as the ideal solution for Digmesa AG.

Picture: Start page of the Digmesa wiki based on BlueSpice.

The introduction of the BlueSpice MediaWiki at Digmesa started quite low-threshold. First of all, all employees were introduced there with their photo, availability and work area, says Mr. Riesen. This was well received. “We took everyone with us and everyone had a look inside to find out what it said about them or their colleagues.”

He then carried out one or two training courses. “But you can manage very quickly without support.” And then the wiki started to grow.

Experience reports were gradually added, for example from the experience of technical customer service. For what reasons can a sensor fail? How can this be fixed? Which materials are suitable for which media? Since then, these and many other questions have been answered centrally in one place, clearly arranged and networked.

“This is a knowledge database that continues to grow and from which further in-depth research can be carried out as required – including with external sources.” New things are regularly added or existing ones are supplemented. “You no longer have to email or phone about every little thing. You just look it up,” says Mr. Riesen.

Picture: Page in the Digmesa Wiki, which refers to company-wide principles for avoiding waste.

Organizational charts, company mission statements and company regulations can now also be called up in MediaWiki, as can all emergency plans and the disaster plan. “It was important to us that all information is accessible from everywhere and for everyone.”

Both from PCs and smartphones, for employees in administration or quality management as well as for employees on the store floor. Even in the event of a disaster at the plant, all information is retained – the hosting is provided by Hallo Welt! GmbH.

“Everyone should be able to get to the same level without any problems,” says Patrick Riesen. “That makes the whole thing something common.” In line with this, MediaWiki also publishes the latest sales figures, for example.

Of course, you shouldn’t have too high expectations, says Riesen. “Not every employee looks at the wiki every day.” Sometimes you need a little extra motivation. “For example, we have set up our own team pages, which the participants can use to exchange information directly.” Although not used by everyone, the wiki is now used regularly. Just when you need it. And more and more information is being added.

In the medium term, quality management is to be integrated into MediaWiki. There are also remote ideas, such as transferring customers’ order data there or granting external parties access to certain areas. Patrick Riesen is convinced that this can be implemented relatively easily with a MediaWiki, depending on requirements. “This is something that is never finished. It’s dynamic, not static, and offers some opportunities for development.” (sa – 04/2024)