BEUMER Group
BEUMER Group is an international leader in the design and manufacture of intralogistics systems for conveying, loading, palletising, packaging, sortation, and distribution. With more than 6,000 employees and over 50 group companies across the world, sharing relevant information with the employees is no small task for the global company.
The intranet is meant to be the central place for employees to find information and stay connected across locations. But BEUMER Group’s old intranet no longer fully met the needs of a modern, global organisation. It contained outdated information, navigation had become difficult, and not every group company had the same access on the platform.
To address these and support its ongoing digital transformation, BEUMER Group decided to modernize its intranet as a key component of its digital workplace.
We did not see this as simply replacing an existing system. It was an opportunity to create a future-ready platform that improves access to information and collaboration, supports greater operational efficiency and provides the foundation for the growing use of AI-powered capabilities.
The goal was to deliver a more secure, accessible and engaging experience that helps employees find information, connect with colleagues and work together across the organisation.
A new intranet – not a copy of the old one
BEUMER Group chose Fellowmind after a structured pitch involving several possible suppliers. The intranet suppliers were evaluated on criteria such as expertise, methodology, solution fit, international setup, team, timeline and price, with Fellowmind achieving the highest overall score.
Experience from similar intranet projects and strong Microsoft 365 expertise played an important role, as did an approach that covered more than just the technology.
Fellowmind’s proposal was specifically tailored to our global requirements and their approach covered technology, governance, content migration, user testing, training and change management. That was exactly what we needed.
One decision made early on became particularly important: the old intranet would not simply be copied into the new one.
Instead, BEUMER Group used the project to ask some fundamental questions. What information did employees actually need? What should be kept? And what could be left behind? It meant taking a closer look at years of accumulated content and existing structures rather than automatically migrating everything.
As Anna Bolland puts it:
“It was important that we did not simply copy and paste the old platform. We used the project as an opportunity to rethink, clean up and establish clear structures.”
Building the intranet together
A six-person core team from Corporate Communications, Marketing and IT as well as colleagues from different group companies led the project from BEUMER Group’s side. But with more than 6,000 colleagues around the world, the team knew that six people could not decide what everyone else needed. So they found ways of including colleagues from across the organization along the way. Surveys helped identify expectations and desired features, while interviews provided deeper insights into how employees use the intranet in their daily work. In addition, more than 100 colleagues took part in navigation testing, helping to validate and refine the structure before rollout. This broad involvement ensured that perspectives from different countries, functions and group companies were reflected in the final solution.
At the same time, BEUMER Group introduced clearer ownership of its content. Each group company and department appointed a person responsible for the overall structure, content governance and coordination of their content area. Content Editors were then trained to add and maintain the information.
This governance model was an important part of making the intranet sustainable beyond launch day. Instead of content simply accumulating over time, responsibility for keeping it useful and up to date now sits closer to the people who know it best.
One central place, with room for local needs
The result is BEUMER Connect: a new global intranet based on SharePoint Online.
Employees now have one central point of entry for information across BEUMER Group, while content can still be adapted to specific locations. Access is available from anywhere, making the intranet easier to reach across countries and workplaces.
Viva Engage is integrated into the experience, giving employees more opportunities to interact through posts, likes and comments. While the Global News provide company-wide updates, each group company now has its own Local News area, where all employees can publish and share content relevant to their local organization.
And accessibility does not stop with office-based colleagues. BEUMER Group has multiple production sites and many employees who do not work at a computer every day. The company is therefore also working to bring global and local news from BEUMER Connect directly to information screens. In addition, selected intranet content will be available as a mobile app, allowing employees to access company information from their personal devices and stay connected wherever they are.
A smooth launch – and a platform that keeps evolving
When employees opened their browsers the day BEUMER Connect went live, the new intranet appeared as their fixed starting page. But the introduction had begun well before launch.
BEUMER Group used global and local news, Viva Engage, drop-in sessions and its internal CEO Talk to prepare employees for the change. An information hub on BEUMER Connect gives colleagues one place to learn about the new platform, navigation, search, migration and support through written content and an explanatory video.
The launch went ahead without major issues or delays, but for BEUMER Group, going live was not the finish line. Employees can provide feedback directly through a survey on the intranet, and several improvements have already been made based on their input.
The result is not a static platform, but a foundation that can continue to develop as employees’ needs change.
Structure, flexibility and close collaboration
With a short timeline and many decisions to make, having a clear process was important throughout the project. Fellowmind supported BEUMER Group with regular meetings, workshops and follow-ups, helping the team navigate decisions about everything from design and content to governance and responsibilities.
Anna particularly highlights Fellowmind’s availability, flexibility and commitment throughout the project. Previous collaboration also meant that the Fellowmind team already understood BEUMER Group’s international organization and working environment.
Fellowmind’s experience really helped us bring the intranet to life. Their high flexibility and commitment throughout the project was outstanding.
Today, BEUMER Connect is a shared digital place to find information and communicate across borders. And behind the technology is perhaps the most important result: a more structured and sustainable way of communicating with each other across a global organisation.
