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Gerolsteiner Brunnen GmbH & Co KG is the supplier of the best-selling mineral water brand on the German market. Currently, 881 employees work at Gerolsteiner, 53 of whom are trainees. The brand with the star is known for the carbonated mineral waters Gerolsteiner Sprudel and Gerolsteiner Medium as well as the still mineral water Gerolsteiner Naturell. The product portfolio also includes the new product Gerolsteiner Feinperlig, Gerolsteiner Heilwasser, the healing water St. Gero as well as mineral water-based soft drinks.
The Challenge
Intelligent intranet for knowledge management of all employees
As Germany's largest mineral water exporter, Gerolsteiner Brunnen employs more than 880 people. For internal communication, a Typo3 intranet already existed as a central communication platform. This was used to reach employees in administration or field service - but less so in production, loading or maintenance. The solution was therefore primarily designed with security in mind for colleagues without a PC workstation and must also be accessible via private mobile devices. At the same time, the new solution should actively promote interaction and knowledge exchange. The goal: An intranet as an information and dialogue platform for all employees. In addition to providing holistic strategic and conceptual consulting for the information architecture, we also took care of various non-standard functionalities within the SharePoint intranet.
Our Approach & Solution
Smart in-house development for individual requirements
Individual wishes and requirements for the new solution could not be fulfilled in the SharePoint Online Modern Standard. Because this is low-code software, it was extended by a slim in-house development in SPFx Webparts from SUNZINET. In this way, we were able to implement the customer's individual requirements exactly - for example, with an individual sales figure teaser as well as the menu as a teaser and weekly preview.
Within 3 months we created a new intranet in the standard of SharePoint Online - with the exception of two specifically developed web parts. I am very excited about what is possible in the standard and what new possibilities the intranet offers with the embedding in the Microsoft 365 world! On this first stage of the exciting learning journey, we were able to implement many things ourselves - in doing so, Sunzinet was there to help us with open questions during implementation and supported us in particular with the "Menu" and "Sales Figures" web parts they developed. Many thanks for the helpful support!
Melanie Giebel Collaboration Manager
The Result
Allround-Intranet: SharePoint Online in combination with custom elements
Informing, sharing knowledge, finding answers, active interaction - and all this in every application on every day across different end devices. The new intranet now offers all this for the entire Gerolsteiner staff. In only 3 months of project time, we succeeded in implementing the already defined requirements of the client in the project. The relaunch is particularly characterised by the iterative procedure. Parallel to the development of the SharePoint intranet, SUNZINET realised customising elements to supplement the individual requirements.
The new intranet closes communication gap
Our close cooperation with the interdisciplinary project team is paying off:
After only a few weeks since going live, the new intranet is firmly established in the daily work routine at Gerolsteiner. As a central communication platform, it also reaches the employees in production, loading or maintenance. In the coming months, we will continue to develop the Gerolsteiner intranet sustainably.
