How to automate 120+ tasks to help a hardware company expand internationally?
Growth in 10 years
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Head count in 5 years
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sharingbox
sharingbox started as an innovative photo booth company allowing users to take pictures at events , and receive them by email. Their unique value proposition lies in collecting user data through an engaging photo experience.
Their product quickly became popular not just for weddings, but also for corporate events and museums, where they provided valuable marketing data collection opportunities.
sharingbox experienced remarkable growth, expanding to 19 countries in just 3 years.
The Challenge
A strategic, yet bold bet
A pivotal moment came when a major retail chain requested 120 photo booths for a simultaneous activation across all their stores. This bold investment in equipment, though initially costly, became a significant competitive advantage, allowing sharingbox to handle large-scale, multi-location events for major brands such as L’Oréal.
However, as the company scaled, managing their growing operations became increasingly complex, and the well-made Excel sheet they created when they were just starting out was falling short as the business got bigger. This is when CEO Sidney Valenta contacted us.
Process mapping
An external eye to have a clear overview of the company
When Sidney approached us, the initial discussion centered around understanding his motivation (we always start by the why before starting anything).
Sidney explained that he was facing significant challenges with his current hardware-based business, particularly in terms of project management and operational issues that were becoming way too overwhelming.
We discussed his needs while we elaborated on our ongoing work at Umedia. This led to an important realization: we identified that their business operations could be significantly streamlined through the automation of project management processes, which was their primary pain point.
This insight led us to initiate our first mission which was conducting a comprehensive Process Mapping exercise to map every single business process at the time Sidney approached us..
B Team
Supporting the company with a dedicated team, just for them
After understanding their situation, we proposed implementing our “Team B” solution. This was particularly relevant because sharingbox already had a strong technical team focused on their hardware and software development. What they needed was an external eye, focused on automating and streamlining their processes.
Their existing project management system relied heavily on Excel, which, despite being well-developed by their team, had reached its limitations. It became clear that to scale effectively, they needed to move beyond spreadsheet-based solutions to a more robust project management system.
ERP Implementation
Automating every task in a remote business
After clearly knowing what processes could be improved or automated, we developed a custom Enterprise Resource Planning tool tailored specifically for sharingbox, comprised of three pillars.
The first module is a custom project management tool. Since sharingbox manages close 120 distinct tasks across 10 different company roles, they definitely needed a tool to streamline everything. These tasks span the entire operational workflow, from booth installation and configuration through to monitoring and support.
The second pillar focuses on logistics management. For that, we developed an algorithm that manages dispatch timing, booth reservations, and maintenance schedules. This system greatly enhanced the sales team’s ability to quickly respond to multinational activation requests from any client, by automatically calculating transport times and managing equipment availability, all in one place, thus limiting back-and-forth communication (mostly done by email in their cases).
The third pillar was about client interface. This component handles data collection from clients through streamlined forms and questionnaires. Additionally, it includes a mobile version specifically designed for stock managers working in the workshop, allowing them to efficiently prepare equipment and install the correct software for each project, eliminating any errors in the process.
The entire system was designed to orchestrate all business operations and provide robust support for their core business processes. And it resulted in significant improvements in operational efficiency and reduced the manual overhead that had previously burdened their team.
Results
A transformation that proved efficiency and transferability
The implementation of the custom ERP system delivered several key business benefits:
- It reduced email overload and communication inefficiencies
- It minimized misunderstandings between team members and departments
- It increased customer satisfation through better service delivery
However, the most significant impact was making the business more valuable and transferable. Before the implementation, critical operational knowledge was concentrated in the founders’ minds, making the company difficult to sell. The new system externalized this knowledge into structured processes and automated workflows.
This transformation proved its efficiency when NCP, their Japanese printer supplier, acquired the company. The comprehensive project management system and embedded business intelligence meant the business could operate independently of the founders, making it a sellable company.
Testimonial
"Une équipe incroyable qui nous a permis d'affiner nos process au maximum".
Arthur Brami, CEO at E-MAPROD, nous a accordé une interview pour reprendre les points principaux de notre
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