Customer Story
Izomax achieved higher productivity without compromising on quality
About
Izomax Izomax delivers mechanical isolation technology for pressurized systems, known as AOGV. Their solutions help companies reduce or eliminate downtime during maintenance, modifications, and shutdowns of processing facilities—allowing process flow, and thus cash flow, to continue uninterrupted.
Challenge
Izomax was experiencing rapid growth and needed a management system that would ensure efficient project execution, high delivery quality, continuous process improvement, and compliance with laws and standards.
Solution
The project management system Business Online, which makes it easy for Izomax to maintain visibility and control over information, information flow, and projects.
Implementation
A training process that provided the vendor with valuable learning points—insights that were used to improve the overall implementation approach.
Result
With Business Online, Izomax has gained smoother workflows and better control over projects and collaboration. This allows the company to maintain high productivity without compromising on quality.
The challenge
Folder structures, disconnected systems, and dependency on individuals
Like many subsidiaries, Izomax originated from a parent organization where much of the project-critical information was stored in the minds of individual employees. In addition, staff worked within a folder structure—and how it was used varied from person to person.
This made it difficult to keep track of where documents and information were stored at any given time. Different files were scattered across systems and Excel sheets.
Such a setup becomes a vulnerability when a key person is absent or on vacation, and it's a clear sign that the company has outgrown managing projects through basic folder structures.
“We had five or six different systems to deal with. And then you had to remember passwords for all of them,” says Anne Bergsagel, Senior Director – Head of Operations.
“In my experience, that leads to people not using the systems, because there are just too many. So they end up saving things wherever it feels easiest in the moment.”
This way of working was no longer scalable when Izomax was spun off from IK Group to become a standalone company embarking on an ambitious growth journey. The need for shared processes and a central management system became clear. Bergsagel joined the company to help facilitate growth and lay the groundwork for scaling the organization.
“One of my tasks was to put even better processes and procedures in place. Being dependent on individuals and working out of folder structures simply wasn’t compatible with growth or a future-oriented mindset.”
Rapid growth and a global office footprint
In recent years, Izomax has seen a surge in demand for its AOGV technology, both domestically and internationally. This growth phase has challenged the company to balance expansion with an increased need for visibility, control, and seamless collaboration across locations and borders.
“We wanted to be able to sit anywhere in the world and access data and information—to have everything streamlined and know that everyone is doing things the same way.”
Izomax needed a system where all information could be gathered in one place—creating the structure and consistency necessary to enable smooth collaboration across the globe.
For Izomax, it was important to invest in a cloud-based system that is easy to use and doesn’t require constant maintenance or frequent upgrades.
Anne Bergsagel had previously worked with the founders of Business Online in a former role.
“I knew they were people who understood our challenges.”
That made the decision an easy one.
“Business Online is simple to understand and easy for everyone to use. You don’t need five employees just to keep the system running and up to date.”
According to Bergsagel, another advantage was that Business Online is located in the same business district as Izomax—Forus:
“They’re just around the corner, a short walk away. So it’s easy to get answers if anything comes up—you can practically just knock on their door.”
Implementation
Feedback from Izomax helped Business Online improve its implementation and training program
Izomax kicked off 2023 with training and rollout of the system, working closely with the Business Online team.
During this period, a representative from either sales or marketing at Business Online joined the full implementation journey alongside the system consultant.
The goal—part of Business Online’s continuous improvement efforts—was to proactively ensure better alignment between what is communicated during sales and marketing, and the service actually delivered to customers.
“We were eager to get started,” says Bergsagel. “Five or six superusers from our company were trained in the system, and then we were expected to train the rest internally.”
According to Bergsagel, the training could have moved at a slightly faster pace and more actively involved real, hands-on tasks in the system.
“For me, it was hard to learn without any clear action points. As soon as we have access to the system, we should be working in it—starting to create projects.”
She elaborates:
“There’s nothing wrong with saying, ‘Now we’re entering all personnel, all cases, shutting down all other systems…’ Then we can start logging deviations. Just get it done. Start entering the data. You learn a lot more while you’re actually doing it.”
Izomax gave this feedback to Business Online, which in turn applied several improvements to future implementation and training programs. Two key takeaways were that even more of the system should be used directly in training, and that the implementation homework and quality checklist needed to be made more visible.
“By giving the superuser team homework each week during the training period, they have specific tasks to complete before the next session,” says Aleksander Fosshagen Hald, system consultant at Business Online. “It’s usually when people start clicking around and making mistakes that the good questions come up—and that’s pure gold during a training phase.”
A system to grow into
When companies begin training in a project management system, they come in with different starting points. Some have all their processes and documentation ready to upload, while others need time to map out internal workflows and gather the materials that will go into the system.
“Very few of our customers have as much documentation and information ready as Izomax did. That was impressive on their part—but it’s not something we expect,” says Fosshagen Hald.
Business Online is designed to be a system companies can grow into. That means it’s not critical to have every document and process ready on day one—what matters is getting started and beginning to use the system from day one.
Business Online “always have our backs”
Anne Bergsagel appreciates that Business Online was open to constructive feedback and adjusted their training approach accordingly.
“They took our feedback very seriously, and I really value that.”
All superusers at Izomax were sent an evaluation form after the implementation process—and the Business Online training team received top marks for availability.
“We have a great relationship with them,” says Bergsagel. “They’re a great team to work with. They always have our backs, always respond, are easy to reach, and professional.”
The Results
Better visibility and control over projects and collaboration
Business Online is purpose-built to give companies improved visibility, structure, and collaboration across all phases of their projects. When the entire organization works within the same system, it becomes much easier to know where information is stored—and to share it internally.
“We can be offshore and still log into the project and see what’s been done and when. We have full visibility, and no need to send files around in OneDrive here and there. It’s not just the project manager who has access—everyone who needs access gets it.”
When asked what Izomax sees as the greatest benefit of using Business Online, Bergsagel is clear:
“Without a doubt: control, visibility, and efficiency. The system makes it easy to have complete control over information and how it flows. Everyone finds the information they need. Everyone is in control.”
Business Online is purpose-built to give companies improved visibility, structure, and collaboration across all phases of their projects. When the entire organization works within the same system, it becomes much easier to know where information is stored—and to share it internally.
Efficient information flow across continents and time zones
With employees in offices around the world, it was essential for Izomax to implement a system that provides seamless data access and information flow across locations.
Business Online has given Izomax access to their data anytime, anywhere—enabling teams to collaborate more effectively in real time and make informed decisions quickly.
“All our employees have access to the same information, whether they’re working in Australia, Asia, or the Americas. They travel everywhere and have all the latest information readily available on their phones.”
Learning and continuous improvement
A centralized platform for storing and sharing knowledge ensures that lessons learned from previous, similar projects are documented and applied going forward.
“It’s important to learn from different projects,” says Bergsagel. “It makes it easier to work according to best practices and to consistently raise the quality of our customer deliveries.”
Fast-track ISO 9001 certification
Less than a year after becoming an independent company—and in the same year they implemented Business Online—Izomax achieved ISO 9001 certification without a single finding.
Securing this certification during a period of rapid growth highlights Izomax’s ability to maintain high quality standards, ensure safe operations, and drive continuous improvement under pressure.
The certification was the result of focused efforts and strong engagement from both leadership and employees. But how did Business Online help Izomax reach this goal?
“It’s all about having control over what we’re doing,” says Bergsagel, and explains:
“We’ve gathered everything in one place, in one system, one click away—instead of spending time digging around for information. It’s very simple and intuitive for everyone to use, and it gives us better control over projects and deliveries.”
With Business Online, Izomax is well-positioned to continue growing and to meet new, increasingly complex customer demands.