A man in a wheelchair romps with his son in front of a vehicle that has been modified to accommodate the disabled.

FeLiTEC relies on luckycloud: Why the automotive industry fares best with smart cloud solutions

Digitization has permeated the most diverse areas of life. In the mobility industry, too, the transformation has come into sharper focus in recent years. If automotive manufacturers fail to jump on this bandwagon, the competition will pass them by faster than they would like. That's why FeLiTEC - Fahrzeugtechnik die Menschen bewegt decided to rely on a smart cloud concept - and brought sophisticated data management, the basis for successful collaboration, as well as flexibility and agility into its own company.

Say goodbye to mountains of paper and manual processes

For a good 30 years, FeLiTEC Fahrzeugtechnik has been specializing in technical solutions for vehicle conversions to give people with disabilities mobility - and thus a better quality of life. In order to continue the company's success story, however, one thing was clear: internal processes must be further digitized. The focus here was on documentation. For the highly individualized custom products, the previous procedure using paper forms and a digital camera shared within the team was very time-consuming. Archiving also required responsible persons to scan in all files, name them and store them in the right place. This in turn cost time and resources.

"Manual processes, limited access to files during job execution and mountains of paper - this should not be the future of FeLiTEC. That's why we decided to take advantage of new opportunities. Paper was to give way to tablets and access to order documents was to be possible at any time and from anywhere," says Felix Liehr, Managing Director of FeLiTEC Fahrzeugtechnik. "In addition, we provide an external inspection agency with a large amount of data in documents and photos for each customer order in order to create expert reports. Here, our wish was to significantly speed up the data transfer - with less effort on both sides."


Efficiency gain with cloud solution

The requirements for synchronous, location-independent access to documents, efficient data management and rapid and, above all, secure data transfer with external parties led FeLiTEC into the arms of the right solution: a cloud. Because flexible internal and external access rights as well as efficient structuring of the data system are advantages with which cloud servers shine. With luckycloud, the decision was made in favor of cloud storage from Germany. "The added values are quickly listed: Security, simplicity and transparency. The question of DSGVO compliance was immediately answered in the affirmative. And the customization to our own needs was convincing," recalls Felix Liehr about the decision for luckycloud as a cloud provider.

The pro list closed the individual scalability and the maximum flexibility - with numerous possibilities. For example, users with different permissions can be created easily, documents can be shared with external people in a straightforward manner, and a backup for the company server was set up in no time. Contrary to popular belief, the switch does not involve a lot of time. "Conversions for using the cloud were not necessary at all. On the contrary: the luckycloud fits very well into our existing systems," knows the managing director of FeLiTEC. "If there are still doubts, companies should definitely take advantage of the free test phase. Here we were able to ask all our questions and received helpful answers."


Implementation in practice: quick and easy

After a quick implementation with the help of support, the server synchronization was set up and the individual users created. To ensure that the previously purchased tablets were also connected to the cloud, the app still had to be installed and set up here. The system was ready for use. Today, every workshop employee has a tablet with access to the current job folder. This means that all relevant circuit diagrams, drawings and other documents can be viewed - and, above all, edited. Employees can upload photo job documentation from the tablet directly to the cloud. "All documents are now available digitally, can be edited and archived once the order has been completed. This saves an enormous amount of time," summarizes Felix Liehr.

Today, the move to the cloud benefits all employees, the company itself and its partners:

  • The cloud fades into the background in everyday life: synchronization allows desktop users to use the server's Explorer folder structure as normal.
  • Large files or entire folders can be shared easily and quickly with external people via link - including password protection and time limitation.
  • Time savings in archiving and processing documents, as the company almost completely eliminates the need for paper documents through the cloud.
  • Access to the relevant data from any desired end device at any time.
  • Backup of the server with a detailed change history, via which accidentally deleted files can be specifically retrieved.


Location-independent data access for external appointments

FeLiTEC's work also includes regular appointments with suppliers and partner companies. Until now, there was no way to access the server's files while on the road. This has changed with the switch to the cloud. With a laptop or tablet in their luggage, access to all relevant documents is ensured. Situationally, employees call up information and show it to their counterparts. For example, CAD drawings or product software can be modified directly at the partner company and the files are immediately synchronized on the server via the cloud. This creates a good standing of the employees in front of the partners and ensures a seamless continuation of work in the office.


Cloud migration: Goals achieved!

Benefiting from the gift of digitization - that was the starting point for FeLiTEC. Here, the cloud solution has laid the first foundation for optimized internal processes, secure data management and more flexibility in daily work. "However, our expectations have been far exceeded. As cloud newcomers, we didn't initially deal with topics such as external server access or server backup, for example. Through discussions with the luckycloud employees, we became aware of the relevance. Today, we rely on both functions and no longer want to do without them," says Felix Liehr. "The bottom line is that the optimization of operational processes gives us time for the essentials again."

Would you also like to benefit from more efficiency in your everyday work? We're happy to help you find a cloud solution that fits!

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