Berry Superfos cut task management time by 90% with factory process digitalization

The problem with paper-based factory management

In 2016, all registrations at Berry Superfos’ Randers factory were completed on paper. Shift managers delegated tasks manually at the start of each shift. The quality management software in use handled document maintenance — nothing beyond that. There was no digital layer for task execution or on-the-floor registrations.

With three shifts running continuously and 110 workers operating 67 automated machines, the volume of paperwork was significant. Every quality check, every maintenance task, every required registration landed on a paper form. Completing and collecting those forms cost time. Following up on incomplete ones cost more.

The factory leadership team identified what needed to change. Without a standardised digital system, it was difficult to ensure the same task was done the same way across all three shifts. Process improvement was hard to drive because the baseline was inconsistent.

The vision was clear: initiate more employee-driven improvement and digitalize the handling of manual tasks. Faster improvement cycles. Fewer errors. Less time spent on administration.

How Berry Superfos uses Gluu

Berry Superfos employees describe the impact of the platform in their own words — including how it changed day-to-day work for people who don’t use IT in their daily routines.

After evaluating the options, Berry Superfos chose Gluu because it connected three capabilities in one platform: workflow mapping, work instructions, and task management. Managers could draw their process flows, attach instructions to each step, and define recurring tasks — all without IT involvement. Workers see those tasks and instructions on Android tablets during actual execution.

The implementation followed seven steps, run alongside daily operations with no downtime: prepare a process hierarchy; map all critical processes and roles; add standard work instructions for each activity; recreate all forms digitally in Gluu; define and add tasks with the new forms; test and adjust; then deploy to operations — process by process.

First, the team created an overview of the primary processes in the factory value chain — everything from order intake to customer delivery. Each main step became its own process group in Gluu, with the process map showing who is responsible for what. Each activity then contained instructions explaining how the work should be done.

A key design decision was instruction format. Many workers on the factory floor are not strong readers and prefer visual guidance over text. Gluu made it possible to replace paper text with images and video directly in the app — the same work instruction platform, in a format that worked for everyone on the floor.

Paper forms were then recreated digitally — but smarter. The new forms are shorter, more focused on the specific task, and cannot be submitted incomplete. That last point alone eliminated the follow-up work that came with partial paper forms.

The final step was recurring task automation. A typical example: clean machine S-129 every day at 7am, with a deadline of the following day at 7am. Once configured in Gluu, the system generates the task automatically on schedule. Workers confirm completion with a single touch — optionally adding a photo. The data flows directly into the system, consistent and ready for analysis by process owners.

Having one platform to map processes, deliver visual instructions, automate recurring tasks, and capture registrations digitally makes the shift from paper to digital both practical and measurable. Gluu’s free trial is the most direct way to see how this applies to a production environment.

Results: 25,000 tasks, zero paper

Berry Superfos management reports three concrete outcomes from the factory process digitalization.

Task management time dropped by 90%. Automated task generation, digital form submission, and instant data capture eliminated the administrative overhead that came with paper-based management across all three shifts.

Employee involvement in process improvement grew from 10% to 90%. When processes are visible, instructions are accessible, and task completion is a single touch, more workers participate in identifying and acting on improvement opportunities. As Jakob Lund, former factory manager at Superfos Randers, put it: “With the Gluu platform, we are able to find new improvement opportunities, as it is easier to understand and optimise our cross-functional processes from initial order taking all the way through to production.”

Fewer errors and less waste from faulty products. Consistent task execution — following the same digital instructions every shift — and digital forms that cannot be submitted incomplete removed two common sources of variation.

The factory now has one common standard for all recurring work. Every process, instruction, role, and task is managed in a shared format. That single source of truth changed how workers find information: instead of asking a colleague or searching for a paper copy, they go to Gluu.

With the production line digitalized, Berry Superfos continued into the rest of the factory — order intake, production setup, and delivery. Their next step was to allow employees to start on-demand processes directly from Gluu: moving data from employees into the system, rather than only the system pushing tasks to employees. The goal, as they saw it, was a true end-to-end perspective on the factory’s work.

In brief