Electronic signage in the supermarket and at the office

Dagrofa in Denmark expanded concept to include room signage at the office in Ringsted

René Severinsen from Dagrofa is responsible for the office signage in the administration.

Source: Delfi

As a result of the electronic shelf labels that have been implemented in the majority of Dagrofa's supermarkets in Denmark, the concept has now expanded to include room signage at the office in Ringsted. The concept with 'room signage' works exact as in the supermarket - the name, department or room number can be changed in seconds, just like the prices in the supermarket.

For a long time, Dagrofa has been using electronic shelf labels - also called Breece System - in the majority of their supermarkets. René Severinsen, who is IT Product Owner at Dagrofa, therefore proposed, in the early summer of 2017, that Dagrofa also should use the concept of electronic signage for their many offices and meeting rooms in the administration.

- In the past, we have been using foil on all office doors where the names of the employees in that office where printed. It was a relatively expensive solution and it required an external company to do the graphic work. In a big house like ours, we frequently have people changing departments and someone sitting in project groups elsewhere in the house periodically. In addition, there is also a natural rotation, where some employees leave the house and new ones start. To keep track of employees and the geographical location, it requires a very flexible solution and Breece System offers that, says René Severinsen, who is responsible for the office signage in the administration.

Simple solution with big benefits

Over the years, the task of changing the film every time an employee changing room or a new started was not maintained. This meant they couldn’t really trust that names on the foil were correct. Lack of trust and the relative cost-heavy task, got René and the IT department to look at other solutions.

"We looked at iPads and similar screens, as we wanted an electronic solution, but the economic costs and complexity did not match the relatively simple solution with great benefits that we were looking for. I contacted our partner within electronic displays, Delfi Technologies, and together we worked on a viable solution. We chose from experience and the possibility of only having to develop a bit and reuse the 'electronic price labels’ concept we already knew from our stores, says René Severinsen.

To the right of all offices and meeting rooms in the Dagrofa building is an large electronic sign mounted with local number, department and name. There is room for four names on each sign. At group offices where there are more employees than four, there are two signs.

Up in the right corner on all the signs, is the red recognizable Dagrofa logo, which ensures internal branding and consistency.

The maintenance is minimal

At Dagrofa everything runs through the Google platform and a simple Google spreadsheet is used to make changes to the office signs. The sheet looks like all other spreadsheets and has columns with name, department and room number. For example, if you have changed the room number or name in the spreadsheet, the server updates the sheet and changes are automatically updated on the signs.

The next project is to make the signs at the meeting rooms useful and simultaneously ensure the visual expression. René has already made a prototype with the right information. On the prototype has been made room for the meeting room number, name of the moderator and time of meeting interval.

Electronic signage is spreading

It is not only Dagrofa, which uses the 'electronic signage' solution in other areas than retail. A large number of industrial companies, housing companies and hospitals have installed electronic signage. All solutions are tailored to the needs of each company or institution.

"In principle, our very simple Breece System solution, originally developed for retail, can be used in many different contexts and in a wide range of industries. The solution is easy to install, maintain and is reliable. It is also very competitive in terms of price, says Benjamin Bjerregaard, Sales Area Manager, who has served as the primary contact for Dagrofa for nearly two decades.