How does a global dairy giant like FrieslandCampina streamline its signing processes? With locations in 30 countries, FrieslandCampina produces a wide range of dairy products. Consumer products such as dairy drinks, cheese, and desserts are produced in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Their purpose, 'Nourishing by nature,' is central to everything they do.
"Now and in the future" is one of the pillars of their purpose. FrieslandCampina takes care of preserving the natural environment, among other things. Reducing paper use helps save nature. Joost van Schoot, Service Management Analyst at FrieslandCampina, elaborates: "Why offer documents manually when the process can be made more sustainable and faster with a digital signature solution? ValidSign is such a solution that allows us to sign digitally safely and easily. Documents can be offered to signatories faster and can be signed within hours instead of days or weeks."
Looking for a solution
As a party that exports to more than a hundred countries worldwide and collaborates with various partners, streamlined processes and agility are important for FrieslandCampina. Signatures are necessary for various processes to record matters properly. Digital signing is a great solution, but it must be user-friendly and embraced by the organization.
Joost van Schoot explains that they searched for and worked with various digital signing tools for several years to improve their processes. They have been using ValidSign since 2016. Why? "ValidSign is simple, not too expensive, easy to use, and there is a real need for it," says Joost. "We tried an alternative international digital signature solution, but it didn't work well. Now we work with ValidSign. It meets all requirements, including ease of use. From the feedback, I can tell that it is really well-liked within the organization."
Signing independent of place and time
ValidSign was first applied in the Procurement department. After the necessary tests, ValidSign proved to be a good partner. Previously, signing remotely was not possible; one had to sign on location or wait for the mail. With ValidSign, it is possible to sign independently of place and time. Joost explains: "If someone is at an external location and you need to have a document signed, they can now easily do so from their mobile device. You are no longer bound to place and time. That's a good example of time-saving; it significantly reduces the turnaround time."
Another desire within FrieslandCampina in the signing process is to set up a signing order. Joost says that the workflow is well put together. "There is an option to create a kind of hierarchical workflow, where you can sign one by one. This means you don't have to change your existing processes to use ValidSign; it supports them. This makes the threshold for adoption low. Moreover, the user interface is just easy, and good service is provided. The personal service we get from the ValidSign consultants is very pleasant. They are really involved with us."
Secure signing
Strong cybersecurity and preventing fraud vulnerability are crucial matters for FrieslandCampina. "We don't choose such a solution if it doesn't meet the security requirements," says Joost. The traditional wet signature is being replaced by a digital one, which is increasingly accepted worldwide. And it is also increasingly seen that there are gains to be made, not only in terms of time but also in terms of security. Forgery is no longer possible. There are several aspects that meet the needs of the business with this service.
After the necessary beta tests and applying it to the first department in procurement, ValidSign was also introduced in the company's HR department. In the procurement department they notice that it is user-friendly and is used frequently in a short time. For the HR department, ValidSign means that employment contracts can be offered directly from the HR system for signing. Sending employment contracts back and forth on paper is really a thing of the past.
More digital signing
We can say that digital signing is a good alternative. An organization-wide implementation not only takes time but also willingness. Joost: "My hope is that FrieslandCampina will use ValidSign as a whole. There is enough enthusiasm. Now I see that from the HR process and from the Legal discipline. These are really people who actively send out documents, but we can streamline even more processes. A nice saving for nature on many documents that would otherwise be printed first for a signature."
