Mourik is building a digital foundation for the future
How Mourik integrated operations, planning, and financial processes into a single digital platform using Mendix low-code and Ciphix as a partner.
From Fragmented Processes to a Single Digital Foundation
Many organizations digitize individual processes. A form is replaced, a workflow is automated, or a new application is added. The result is often a collection of solutions that deliver value individually but do not sufficiently contribute to a cohesive digital landscape.
Mourik opted for a different approach.
As a family-owned business with approximately 2,000 employees, revenue of approximately 647 million euros, and operations in infrastructure, industry, construction, and environmental engineering, the organization has grown significantly over the past few decades. This growth also gave rise to an increasingly complex landscape of systems, Excel-based solutions, paper-based processes, and workflows that varied by business unit.
What had once been logically structured made it increasingly difficult to standardize processes, obtain reliable management information, and collaborate efficiently across departments and projects.
In addition, some processes had become dependent on the specialized knowledge of individual employees. As the organization continued to grow, this posed an increasingly significant risk to business continuity.
Mourik’s ambition, therefore, went beyond simply digitizing individual processes. The organization wanted to create a future-proof digital foundation on which operations, planning, and financial processes would be better integrated and which would enable further optimization, innovation, and data-driven work.
- Better collaboration between departments
, Operations, Planning, and Finance all use the same information, which ensures that processes are better aligned. - Foundation for Further Digitization
A scalable digital platform that enables new processes, applications, and innovations to be implemented more quickly.
Why the existing approach was no longer scalable
Like many large family-owned businesses, Mourik had, over the years, built up a landscape of applications, Excel files, forms, and local work practices. That approach successfully supported the organization for many years, but began to show increasing limitations.
Information was stored in various locations, processes varied by business unit, and critical data often had to be manually transferred between systems. This not only created additional administrative work but also made it more difficult to gain organization-wide insight into capacity, project progress, and financial performance.
At the same time, reliance on individual employees increased. Specific knowledge of processes and systems was often concentrated in the hands of just a few people, which put continuity and transferability at risk.
For Mourik, the challenge was therefore not in replacing a single application, but in creating a foundation that would allow processes, systems, and data to be better connected.
The Challenge
At Mourik, many processes are directly linked to project execution. Time sheets serve as input for payroll processing. Work planning determines the progress of projects. Project administration and material tracking are essential for invoicing and financial management.
That made the challenge multifaceted:
- Processes needed to be improved without disrupting ongoing projects
- Each business unit operated using its own systems, work processes, and data sources
- There was a complete lack of real-time insight into projects and resources
- The integrations with the Metacom ERP system were business-critical
- Adoption by employees in operational environments is always a risk
The question, therefore, was not only how processes could be digitized, but also how operations, planning, and financial processes could be better integrated.
From the old situation to a new foundation
The overview below illustrates the essence of the transformation.
The Approach: Phased Development of an Organization-Wide Platform
Together with Ciphix, Mourik opted for a phased approach. Instead of a large-scale system replacement, they began with processes that would immediately deliver business value. Each step had to solve a specific problem while also contributing to the bigger picture.
Using Mendix low-code, a digital layer was developed to overlay the existing IT landscape. This made it possible to standardize processes, connect systems, and make data more readily available to the business.
This approach made it possible to achieve results quickly, while at the same time building a scalable platform for the future.
Why Ciphix
For Mourik, it was important to work with a partner who looks beyond technology alone.
“We spoke with several vendors. Ciphix was the only one that gave us the impression they were truly looking beyond just building applications. Ciphix clearly thought more broadly and was also able to support us with questions such as: how do you put together the right team, how do we best set up the application infrastructure, and how do we get the applications to the business?” Stef Koomans, Low-Code Program Manager at Mourik
Ciphix combined business consulting, platform architecture, integration expertise, and low-code development into a single multidisciplinary team. This made it possible to directly translate operational challenges into practical solutions that align with the day-to-day work of planners, field staff, project managers, and administrative staff.
Ciphix also provided support in the areas of platform architecture, integrations with existing systems, and application lifecycle management, and created a foundation on which Mourik can accelerate future digitalization initiatives.
Ciphix’s role in this project went beyond simply developing applications. Together with Mourik, the team examined the platform’s design, the architecture of the application landscape, and integration with existing business-critical systems such as Metacom.
In addition, Ciphix provided support in setting priorities, delivering business value in phases, and establishing a working method in which business and IT collaborate closely. Through this combination of business consulting, platform architecture, integration expertise, and low-code development, every new application was able to contribute to a larger whole: a single, scalable digital foundation for the future.
The solution: one platform, four applications
MURA: Digital Time Tracking for Field Employees
In the past: paper timesheets, entered manually and prone to errors.
Now: Employees record their hours, travel time, and project information directly on their smartphones. Once approved, this data is automatically processed in the Metacom ERP system. The administrative turnaround time has been significantly reduced, and the error rate has dropped sharply.
Traffic & More: Work Planning and Execution Through a Single Workflow
In the past: scattered files, paper instructions, and different sources of information for each department.
Now: work planners, schedulers, and technicians collaborate within a single, centralized digital workflow. Scheduled hours are automatically linked to work orders and recorded via mobile apps. Fewer data entry points, automatic data links, and better insight into project activities and workload.
Order-to-Cash: Keeping Track of Projects and Invoicing
In the past: project information, hours worked, and material usage were either not linked to financial processes at all or were linked manually. Limited insight into work in progress and outstanding amounts.
Now: The application links project data directly to financial processing via Metacom. This ensures transparency throughout the entire cycle from order to invoicing, including automatic synchronization that eliminates manual steps.
Opera: Comprehensive Project Management in a Single Environment
The latest step in the transformation. Opera supports project creation, resource planning, time tracking, and billing preparation within a single integrated environment.
This provides better insight into capacity, project progress, and financial performance, while employees collaborate more efficiently and the risk to business continuity due to knowledge concentration is structurally reduced.
The results
The greatest benefit does not lie in any single application, but in the overall integration. By increasingly improving the integration between time tracking, scheduling, execution, and financial processing, Mourik has created a digital foundation that will accelerate further digitization.
Innovative Strength
The innovation in this case lies in the way Mourik approaches digitization as a step-by-step platform transformation, rather than as a series of separate projects.
- Mobile applications for field staff combined with web applications for office roles
- Low-code platform enables rapid adaptation to changing business processes
- Applications are interconnected: data flows automatically between operations, planning, and finance
- Foundation for data-driven decision-making and further optimization
- Sustainable digital capabilities within the organization, not dependent on a single vendor
A digital foundation for the next phase of growth
While many organizations approach digitization as a series of separate projects, Mourik is building a cohesive digital ecosystem step by step. With Mendix as its platform and Ciphix as its partner, operational processes are not only digitized but also interconnected.
As a result, Mourik now has greater control over its operations and a foundation on which future innovations can be implemented more quickly.
Result: a single scalable digital platform that brings together operations, planning, and financial processes and is ready for the next step.
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