Germany is considered an industrial nation and a technologically advanced economy. We build highly automated factories, develop complex machines, and rank among the world's leaders in many industries.
And yet there are processes in German companies that feel like they belong to another era.
Employees transfer data from one Excel file to the next. Information is printed, signed, and then scanned again. On construction sites forms are filled out on paper and later manually entered into the system back at the office.
How can that still work in 2026?
The short answer: Because these processes work.
Why old processes persist for so long
A typical process looks like this:
An employee works on a construction site and documents their work. There's a paper form for that.
At the end of the day this form ends up in the office. There someone has to read, check, and transfer the information into a digital system.
Then the data may be needed again in another application and entered once more.
At first glance this seems absurd. But seen historically, it's quite understandable.
At some point this process was introduced because back then paper was the easiest way to get information from A to B.
And when a process works, there's rarely an immediate reason to change it. That way a stopgap solution can quickly become ten or twenty years of company routine.
Digitalization must not simply replace paper
This is exactly where many digitalization projects make a crucial mistake: they take the existing process and digitize it.
The paper form becomes a digital form. The Excel spreadsheet becomes software. The printout becomes a PDF. Technically, the process may then be digital.
But has it actually become any better?
Often not.
If an employee still has to capture the same information, which is then checked by another person and transferred into another system, only the interface has been changed.
So the better approach is to ask a different question:
Why does this step exist at all?
Not "Which software do we need?", but "What can we eliminate?"
With a good process analysis, it’s not about software at first. You should look at the entire workflow:
Where is information created?
Where is it recorded?
Where is it entered again?
Between which systems is data copied?
Where do waiting times occur?
Only after these questions have been answered should you discuss the technical solution.
Maybe existing software will suffice. Maybe part of the process can be automated. Maybe two systems can be connected.
And sometimes custom software really is the most sensible solution.
Digitalization should therefore always begin with the process.
Not with the tool.
Not with the software.
And not with the question of which new AI solution is currently available. Instead, start with the question:
What do we do today – and why?
If it turns out that three steps are actually unnecessary, that is often more valuable than any new tool.
Don't know which process to start with?
Then take the quiz here!
#Digitalization SME#Digitalization Germany#Process optimization companies#Automation companies