Since Berchtold Küchen was founded, the company philosophy has always remained the same. It consists of two principles: the customer is king - personal, individual advice for the customer is at the centre of everything, from the first consultation to handing over the finished kitchen. And: there is no such thing as can't be done - individual customer wishes or challenges are realised by the competent and reliable staff with great professional expertise, creativity and passion.
This philosophy is put into practice in all their services: in building a complete kitchen, where individual solutions, the best possible use of space with sufficient storage as well as functionality and an optimal mix of materials are paramount, but also when replacing kitchen appliances, or in producing any kind of joinery work.
Customers of Berchtold Küchen appreciate that everything comes from a single source - from the first consultation in the showroom or at the customer's premises, from the sketches and detailed plans through to production in their own workshop and the fully installed kitchen - and is always created with great passion.
Roger Gisler is a qualified technician HF in wood technology and a federally certified works manager. Mr Gisler has overall responsibility for Vanillaplan. Berchtold Küchen has been using Vanillaplan since October 2020.
Mr Gisler: what was the highlight of the past year?
There were two: firstly, we handled coronavirus and the associated challenges - in our case increased utilisation - well. Secondly, the successful introduction of Vanillaplan deserves a mention.
Where did you learn resource planning?
During my further training as a technician HF and federally certified works manager at the Bürgenstock technical college, which is supported by our trade association for joiners, VSSM.
How did you learn deployment and capacity planning?
Various software firms presented their solutions for resource planning. Alongside that, the basics were taught during the further training. I learned the practice in our own business. I completed the joinery apprenticeship and worked in the trade for several years. That forms the basis for estimating effort and for calculation, which is carried over into resource planning.
Is there also further training in this field?
There is a further training offering from the joiners' association and, as already mentioned, in the training to become a technician and works manager. In addition to theoretical education, personal interest in calculation and resource planning also counts.
How did you hear about Vanillaplan?
While looking for a suitable digital solution for resource planning, a colleague on our team came across Vanillaplan on the internet and sent me a link. After a quick look at the Vanillaplan website we soon tried the demo version.
How did you do resource planning before Vanillaplan?
We planned the installation workload on paper (similar to magnetic boards) and additionally listed the jobs in Excel. Because the installations were planned on paper, we had difficulty scheduling the dependencies of production and work preparation correctly, and this repeatedly led to bottlenecks in production. That is why we wanted to move away from paper and take a new path.
How did getting started with Vanillaplan go?
Getting started with Vanillaplan was a little sluggish. After we had looked at the demo version, the tool was set aside for the time being. Vanillaplan then got in touch by telephone and asked in more depth. Following that conversation we tried again. Installation planning continued to be done on paper and, in parallel, we tested the planning of installation and two further departments with Vanillaplan.
What were the challenges?
Some employees had difficulty letting go of paper and trusting the program. Because of that lack of trust, changes to jobs were not entered and updated well enough. That logically led to bottlenecks and problems. At the beginning this was somewhat difficult; by now it is going better and better for everyone and we have the planning under control.
Who is responsible for resource planning?
Long-term capacity planning is the responsibility of the management and calculation team. In a weekly meeting, capacity and long-term deployment planning are discussed - whether there are gaps for additional jobs or where there may be an overload. In the capacity plan the upstream departments of production and work preparation are then calculated from the start date of the installation. Our work preparation team is responsible for short-term weekly to daily planning, above all for small jobs and detailed planning.
How are capacity and deployment planning organised in your business?
At first, resource planning with Vanillaplan being visible to everyone put some employees under pressure. But by now everyone has been able to experience that when there are bottlenecks, consideration is shown and resources are adjusted accordingly. We created an organisation chart specifically for this, showing who is responsible for what and with which deputies. By now not only the installation is planned but three departments in total: work preparation, production and installation. We can imagine adding the departments for surfaces and bench work in future too.
Besides the person with overall responsibility, three further people are responsible for resource planning.
For a better overview of deadlines we record the installation date in the projects under remarks and can thus sort the jobs by installation start. This allows us to export the data to Excel as usual and put it up as a list in the departments, visible to everyone.
What do you like about Vanillaplan?
The dependencies between the individual work steps and departments - work preparation, production, installation - become much more visible.
The mobile app, which our fitters use, is also very useful. They see not only their own assignments but also those of their colleagues up to 14 days in advance. The fitters can now put forward suggestions for improving their assignments, for example helping each other out when assignments are close together.
In the break room we have set up a computer that makes the deployment planning visible to everyone. The employees look at their assignments in the daily and weekly planning, and as a result everyone thinks along and offers additional support and help, so that the business gets on better in these challenging times.
What is your benefit?
The joined-up thinking of all employees has improved and the dependencies are made more visible. As a result there are fewer bottlenecks in production and in the business.
Many thanks for the interview, Mr Gisler.
More information on the homepage of Berchtold Küchen.
The successful company from Stans, canton of Nidwalden, specialising in kitchen construction, was founded in 1977 by Josef Berchtold and has been owned by André Berner since 1999. The company employs over 20 people.
