Customer Story: Welbions and Flawless Workflow

Introduction

About Welbions housing association

To turn their ambitions into concrete steps, they sought Welbions a strategic partner in the field of processes, software and data. Flawless Workflow helped them develop a multi-year plan that focuses on innovation, digitization and efficiency.

This customer story shows how Welbions is preparing for a future where they operate flexibly and data-driven, while continuing to fulfill their social role.

Welbions is the housing association for and of the municipalities of Borne and Hengelo. With a strong focus on affordable and pleasant living, Welbions is committed to offering thousands of households a pleasant living environment. But their role goes beyond just renting and managing homes: Welbions actively works with tenants, municipalities and social partners to keep neighborhoods livable and to adapt to the region's changing housing needs.

Thinking ahead and responding to change

The world of housing associations is changing rapidly. Digitization, stricter laws and regulations, changing housing needs and a growing demand for sustainable homes.

With the course plan “Doing what is necessary together”, Welbions has a clear vision for the coming years: not only managing homes, but actively contributing to the happiness of their tenants. This requires a smart, efficient and future-proof organization, where processes, software and data are optimally used to make an impact.

To translate this vision into a concrete strategic plan, Welbions brought in the expertise of Flawless Workflow. Together, we worked on a clear roadmap for the digital and organizational development of Welbions in the period 2024-2027.

The ambition

Creating space for growth and innovation

Welbions is an organization that thinks ahead and is constantly looking for ways to improve itself. With a strong vision of the future, the housing association wants to further strengthen its services and optimally respond to social developments.

To achieve this, Welbion saw opportunities to further streamline processes, make smarter use of technology and make even better use of data. By taking a fresh look at the internal organization, it became clear that there were growth opportunities on three pillars:

1. Processes → Welbions wanted to further refine processes and ensure them more unambiguously to strengthen efficiency and cooperation.
2. Software → Welbions uses various systems, such as Dynamics Empire (ERP), KCC and Cartotheek. In addition, more than 100 applications were in use for various purposes. This offered opportunities for better integration and smarter use of technology.
3. Dates → Insight into data is essential for decision making and innovation. Welbions saw opportunities to improve the quality of data and use it for strategic choices.

The solution

From ambition to action

To make the most of these opportunities, a concrete roadmap was needed that set the right priorities and guided Welbions' digital and organizational development. The goal? A multi-annual strategic plan (2024-2027) that lays a solid basis for further growth and innovation.

Welbions saw the importance of an external and independent view to supervise this process. Flawless Workflow was brought in to jointly provide structure and direction and to include technological trends and best practices from the sector.

Together, we set to work to develop a clear, structured and forward-looking plan that helps Welbions achieve its ambitions.

A multi-year strategic plan for the future

With a clear ambition to use processes, software and data in a smarter way, Welbion needed a concrete roadmap. How do you proceed? What steps do you take first? Where are the biggest opportunities?

To answer these questions and draw up a clear multi-annual strategic plan, we went through our Digital Roadmap together. A structured approach that ensures that Welbions can make informed choices for the coming years.

Digital Roadmap

Our digital roadmap or also known as us Strategic Partnership enables us to work with our customers on sustainable improvements.

We went through the first four steps.

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1. Workflow Analysis

The first step was an in-depth analysis of the current processes within Welbions. We identified how the work is done, where there were opportunities for improvement and how processes could be set up even more efficiently. This provided valuable insights into workflows, collaborations and how systems were used.

2. Application Mapping

Next, we focused on the Welbions software landscape. With more than 100 applications in use, there was a need for insight and overview. We identified which systems were used, where there was overlap and which applications could be better coordinated.

3. GAP Analysis

Using the insights from the first two phases, we drew up a GAP analysis. This helped to clarify the differences between the current situation and the desired vision of the future. We determined where improvements were needed and which steps should be given priority to achieve Welbions' ambitions.

4. Solution research

Based on insights from workflow analysis, application mapping and GAP analysis, we identified the most promising solutions. This research not only provides Welbions with concrete recommendations for the short term, but also offers a clear long-term vision of how processes, software and data can be better aligned in the coming years.

With this research, welbions gets:

• A clear overview of the most important areas for improvement and how to solve them.
• Insight into technological opportunities and how they contribute to strategic goals.
• A well-founded basis for making the right choices in the coming years when it comes to digitization and process optimization.

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Potential opportunities in the field of data & AI

In addition to process and software optimization, the role of data and AI investigated in Welbions' future. Smart use of data can help with strategic decision-making, work more efficiently and respond proactively to trends in the housing market.

Some of the potential applications that emerged from the study:

• Data-driven decision making → Improving data quality and structure, so that insights become more reliable and useful.
• Predictive analytics → Using AI to plan maintenance and renovation smarter and optimize the lifespan of real estate.
• Process automation → Exploring opportunities to automate manual tasks, such as document processing and customer interactions.

These insights form a valuable basis for further innovation and development within Welbions. Although AI and data-driven work currently do not have a primary focus, there are great opportunities to organize processes smarter and more efficiently in the future.

This forms the input for the multi-annual strategic plan, which allows Welbions to work in a focused way on continuous improvement and a future-proof organization.

A step-by-step course

The multi-annual strategic plan offers Welbions a clear direction for the next three years. Where processes, software and data were previously viewed separately, there is now a clear and substantiated plan that brings these three elements together. This ensures a structured approach, in which informed choices are made and the right steps are taken at the right time.

With focus and direction, Welbions can gradually continue to work on the digital and organizational innovations within the organization. This plan helps to align systems, processes and data over the next three years and to use AI in the future.

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Looking ahead

Keep developing and innovating

Welbions has plenty to do to further develop in the coming years. In addition to optimizing processes and systems, the organization wants to keep innovating and taking advantage of technological opportunities. This multi-annual strategic plan provides a solid basis for this.

In the coming years, Welbions will:

• Further invest in process optimization to work more efficiently and effectively.
• Explore new software solutions and better coordinate existing systems.
• Strengthen data-driven work so that decisions can be even better substantiated.
• Exploring the possibilities of AI as part of future innovations.

With this clear course and the insights from the multi-year strategic plan, Welbions has the tools to further build a future-proof organization in a focused and confident manner.

“Flawless has mapped out our processes and, based on their expertise and knowledge, set up a roadmap that we can follow in the coming years. They worked systematically and provided clear feedback on what they found. Thanks to the approach that Flawless used, we got immediate results that we could work with internally.”

Stefan Loman | Information Manager, Welbions