MAINGAU Energie GmbH is a nationwide energy company based in the Rhine-Main region. With more than 115 years of experience, around 350 competent employees give their best every day. And they do so successfully: more and more private consumers and entrepreneurs are relying on the world of benefits relating to gas, electricity, online store, internet, mobile communications and e-mobility. The company now has 1,000,000 customer relationships across Europe.
With a focus on innovation, curiosity and the will to drive things forward in a pragmatic and smart way, MAINGAU opposes black-and-white thinking. Corporate venturing, artificial intelligence, robotics, automation trends and new, technology-based products are just a few examples that illustrate this clear course. Consequently, a cora vending machine supports the output of IT hardware.
Initial situation
The IT & Digital Transformation department at MAINGAU recognized that the issuing of hardware assets to employees could be improved and automated. Manual allocation regularly led to higher costs, especially due to time-consuming coordination of appointments and regular queries from the workforce.
As an innovative company that is fundamentally open to new technologies and uses them consistently, MAINGAU therefore decided to use an IT machine. During market research, the smart IT machine cora quickly emerged as a promising option: The accelerated and simplified output paired with an extensive range of functions and cloud properties were convincing.
Implementation
The introduction of cora went smoothly thanks to clear responsibilities and rapid processes. Thanks to flexible processes and low specifications, the implementation was completed quickly. The close cooperation between the customer success managers and the technical support team played a central role. In the process, cora was adapted to the specific requirements of MAINGAU.
The vending machine made its first appearance in December 2023 as part of a Santa Claus campaign: all MAINGAU employees were able to obtain a chocolate Santa Claus from cora. The campaign offered an uncomplicated way to gain a positive first impression.
Today, MAINGAU employees obtain their IT peripherals from cora. Everyone benefits from the constant availability of the devices and the significantly reduced waiting times.
During commissioning, MAINGAU simultaneously integrated ServiceNow as an ITSM solution. Thanks to the existing ServiceNow plugins, cora could be directly connected to ServiceNow and the ordering process could be made more efficient.
Successes
The entire company benefits from the removal of assets as a self-service. Fewer interruptions due to increased automation demonstrably relieves the burden on employees. Thanks to the seamless integration into ServiceNow, every issue is documented transparently and hardware can be replenished immediately.
The positive feedback from the workforce has been particularly pleasing. The advantages of self-service were quickly recognized. The 24/7 availability also ensures the greatest possible flexibility. Last but not least, the use of the IT vending machine is a sign of MAINGAU's innovative spirit and thus fits in with the company's future-oriented strategy of questioning and optimizing processes.
Outlook
In the future, MAINGAU plans to expand the use cases implemented with cora. It should not only be possible to remove devices, but ideally also to return them.
There are also plans to install another cora when MAINGAU moves into a new building currently under construction.