15 min.
Time saved per soil sample
6
Steps to the test result
100%
LAGA PN 98-compliant documentation
Max Wild GmbH was founded in 1955 as a family business in Berkheim, Swabia. Today, the group employs around 1,000 people and is managed by the third generation of the Wild family. Its range of services includes demolition and environmental services, civil engineering and pipeline construction, logistics, geotechnical engineering, and system development, from contaminated site remediation and special transport to its own recycling facilities and a soil science laboratory.
1955
Berkheim
Construction industry
App development
Together with SPRYLAB and a long-standing partner laboratory, Max Wild developed a comprehensive digital platform for automating soil sampling: DECLARO. What began as internal process optimization developed into an independent digital product with market potential. The solution exemplifies how established companies from traditional industries can tap into new business areas through digitalization.
Max Wild faced the classic challenge of many construction companies: soil sampling, a critical and frequently performed process, was still largely organized in an analog manner. An initial the prototype had shown that digitizing this process required significantly more technical depth and experience. The company was therefore looking for a partner with the necessary expertise to provide a comprehensive, tailor-made solution.
Construction managers and employees spent hours every day on paperwork, data transfers, and coordinating with laboratories. The company recognized the potential of a digital solution not only for internal processes, but also as a scalable business model for the entire industry.
The requirements were clear: The new solution should digitize the entire workflow, from recording sample data and sampling protocols to transmission to the laboratory. At the same time, the application had to be so intuitive that even less tech-savvy employees in the field could use it without any problems.
Another goal was to Development of a fair and flexible licensing model, which would later also benefit other companies in the industry. “We are our own customer,” emphasizes Michael Biechele, employee in corporate development at Max Wild and managing director of DECLARO. This perspective shaped the entire development.
SPRYLAB impressed Max Wild with technical expertise and a collaborative approach to development. The decision in favor of SPRYLAB was made after an intensive requirements analysis, in which both sides jointly designed the optimal solution.
The development team relied on modern technologies: Directus as the backend management system with SSO integration, Capacitor for cross-platform app development, and an AWS-based cloud infrastructure. Particularly innovative was the integration of various external services such as mapping providers for map sections and weather APIs, as weather conditions are crucial for sampling.
SPRYLAB pursued an iterative development approach with early user feedback. The project manager even visited Max Wild to study how users work in the field and tailor the app optimally to their needs. This close collaboration made it possible to implement practical optimizations directly.
One technical highlight is the platform’s multi-client capability. While initially all users were supposed to work on a shared instance, the team realized early on that customers might have concerns about data security. SPRYLAB then developed a solution that makes it possible to set up separate on-premises instances for individual companies – an important step for subsequent market penetration.
The implementation of DECLARO has brought measurable success: Max Wild employees now save an average of 15 minutes per soil sample. With thousands of samples per year, this means enormous time savings and a significant increase in efficiency. Error-prone double entry is a thing of the past, and all data is recorded in a standardized manner in accordance with LAGA PN 98.
The app intuitively guides users through the entire process. Photos can be taken directly on site and assigned to the respective data record. The automatically generated sampling report is available digitally at any time and is transmitted to the laboratory at the touch of a button. A clear dashboard allows all parties involved to keep track of the status of their samples at all times. Once the laboratory analysis is complete, they receive their sample results, including the test report, directly on the platform.
“The app guides you very well through the user interfaces and allows you to incorporate photos of the construction site or the pile directly into the data record,” says Biechele, praising the user-friendliness of the solution.
The development of DECLARO impressively demonstrates how internal process optimization can result in a marketable digital product. “The project originated from an internal initiative and has the clear goal of establishing itself as a successful digital product on the market,” says Biechele, summarizing the development to date. The licensing model that has been developed underscores the well-thought-out business strategy: With a concurrent user model, customers only pay for the licenses they actually use at the same time – with monthly cancellation and no minimum term.
The next steps are already planned: After optimizing the synchronization processes, the focus will be on expanded integration with laboratory partners. In the long term, the platform should be able to be used not only for soil samples, but also for other types of sampling.
DECLARO demonstrates how digitalization can be successfully implemented in traditional industries. The close collaboration between Max Wild and SPRYLAB, the iterative development approach, and Max Wild’s dual role as developer and customer have resulted in a practical, marketable solution that has the potential to enrich the entire industry.
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