• Eliminates multiple document versions and streamlines email back-and-forths with real-time collaboration on Google Docs

• Makes coordinating operations across 40+ countries easy with a single, unified productivity suite

• 350 volunteers acting as digital champions to help drive Google Workspace adoption across the company

• 40 non-technical workers developed apps and automated processes with AppSheet, empowering their teams

Many might take the roof over their heads for granted, but BMI Group sees beyond shelter and protection. “Today a roof can also be a power station, a living space, a vertical garden, and a work of art. We evolve by continuously exploring new ways of thinking and investing heavily in research and development,” says Max Mackie, Digital Innovation Developer and a member of BMI’s digital innovation team.

A Standard Industries company and leading manufacturer of roofing and waterproofing solutions throughout Europe with significant presence in parts of Asia and Africa, BMI Group is headquartered in the UK and its approximately 9,500 employees deliver innovative roofing and waterproofing systems designed to transform the way people live and work. Providing protection, added value and peace of mind for architects, roofers, building- and homeowners alike.

A similar focus on innovation had led Standard Industries, operating in more than 80 countries, with 20,000+ employees, to implement Google Workspace in 2017 in order to connect its global workforce. The decision turned out to be a key enabler of the work-from-home pivot brought about by Covid-19. Now, the digital innovation team at BMI Group is using the collaboration and productivity tools to push the envelope of what’s possible for the company.

“Collaborating and coordinating multiple operations across 40+ countries can be challenging without a single and unified productivity suite. Google Workspace makes it easy to work with others in a secure and efficient way. And because technology is a key enabler for our team, we do our best to integrate our leading-edge collaboration tools with our landscape of best-of-breed, back-end systems to solve business challenges,” explains Mackie.

In 2020, the ease of integration between Workspace tools and AppSheet led the Digital Innovation Team to start experimenting with the solution. “We discovered AppSheet when looking for ways to automate a product catalog that was manually populated using Google Sheets. The positive outcome of this first user case got us excited to further explore the tool to solve more business problems, and we never looked back,” says Mackie.

The team decided to share its AppSheet capabilities with more colleagues across BMI Group by training the digital champions across different departments. Since AppSheet is a no-code development platform, the vision was to empower colleagues beyond technical teams to innovate their everyday functions using the tool, so the digital innovation team organized a company-wide hackathon.

People from BMI Group offices and manufacturing sites submitted projects to solve problems associated with their day-to-day work. Manufacturing workers focused on increasing efficiencies by automating paper-based processes, whereas office implementations centered on improving the quality of life for team members, such as making it easier to find parking near the office.

The hackathon lasted three weeks, during which 17 projects were trialed, with benefits still rippling out across the company. For example, many people have built smaller-scale applications that help their team become more productive.

“Non-technical, front-line users are very excited to have the tools to build solutions, because it’s the business users who know exactly what areas need to be improved and what kinds of solutions they would benefit from day in, day out,” says Mackie. “That’s a testament to how intuitive AppSheet is to use.”

True to its focus on innovation and to its mission to transform people’s lives for the better, the global workforce at BMI Group now moves forward as a closely-knit team brought together online. “Connecting and empowering colleagues are our core values, and Workspace plays a vital role in that,” adds Mackie. “Whether it’s solving paper-based challenges with AppSheet, saving us time from email back-and-forths, or connecting and empowering frontline workers, Google Workspace is a foundational component of our collaboration strategy.”