Derome – from raw timber to six-storey buildings with iBinder

Derome is a successful and growing corporate group in the wood industry, with sales of more than SEK 12 billion and 2,600 employees. Derome has grown from being a single sawmill near Varberg in the mid-1940s to now encompassing virtually the entire wood processing chain. Derome has around 50 of its own specialist shops along the west coast of Sweden, as well as in Skåne, Blekinge and Småland, and also owns and manages a number of properties.

Andreas Ölmeby is a Project Manager at Derome Plusshus - Volym, which supplies prefabricated modules for everything from small two-storey apartment projects to six-storey buildings from its manufacturing plant in Värö. iBinder is used there to manage a constant stream of small and large projects.

Complete homes are built in the company’s manufacturing plant

To understand how iBinder is integrated into the organisation, it may be useful to know what the process looks like at Derome Plusshus. The starting point is a planned and designed building with detailed material specifications and construction drawings. The various modules are then built in the manufacturing plant just outside Varberg. These include everything from walls and ceilings to complete kitchens, which are then delivered and assembled on site. Varö is one of the market’s most modern building manufacturing plants. It is the size of three football pitches and has southern Sweden’s largest solar panel installation on the roof. Andreas has overall responsibility for a number of projects running in parallel:

“Derome Plusshus sometimes supplies individual modules to developers, but usually acts as a turnkey contractor, with responsibility for the landscaping and framework construction. There can be numerous parties involved in the process, ranging from subcontractors to architects, our project managers and the client/customer. All with their own specific requirements.”

The entire process generates large amounts of documentation and communication, so traceability is essential. Following delivery and completion, the final consultation takes place, with its final inspections and checks, and this then becomes part of the documentation for the owner and manager of the property. The documentation is thus continuously built up, from building permit documents and BIM models to e-signed survey reports. Everything is collected together in iBinder in a tailored and structured way.

Andreas Ölmeby, Project Manager at Derome Plusshus

Flexible and easy to use for all parties

Derome Plusshus has developed from creating small buildings to large ones. iBinder has the flexibility and scalability to handle large and complex projects. Despite the complexity, iBinder remains easy to understand and use for everyone involved. 

“The fact that the permission controls go right down to the subgroup level in iBinder is great. They allow us to decide who can access the various information and documents. We also use the quote request functionality to send out quote requests to subcontractors and partners, which saves a lot of time. This ensures that everyone receives the same information and documentation.”

One area of the construction industry in which Andreas has seen a big change is the running and maintaining of buildings. Digital documentation and systems are now the norm for this, especially at large property management companies. Using iBinder, property managers can more easily keep track of specifications, instructions and warranties. 

“When we procure the services of subcontractors, a requirement in the procurement process is that they also use iBinder. That saves a lot of time later on. The fact that iBinder works so well on mobile phones is also a big plus,” explains Andreas.

Oppeby Gård, Nyköping

Very easy to use

When asked how much time and money Derome saves by using iBinder, Andreas responds:

“A modern wood industry company like ours could not function without digital support systems. This is not just because smoother handling of documents and records is possible, but also quite simply because the amount of documentation has increased over time. I think the biggest strength of iBinder is its simplicity; very few users that Derome has invited into the system have had any difficulty understanding how it works. People sometimes have questions about the folder structure of course, but the usage is simple and intuitive.” 

As a customer and user of iBinder, Andreas appreciates that the support and product development teams take on board suggested improvements and requests for new functions. The suggestions are often implemented very quickly in the platform. The support is good, including for invited users who are not particularly familiar with iBinder.

“iBinder works really well for our needs and the new functions have made it even easier to use,” summarises Andreas Ölmeby, Project Manager at Derome Plusshus.

Hagastaden, Stockholm

Facts, Derome

• Sweden’s largest family-owned wood industry company, with more than 2,600 employees. It is headquartered in Veddige, Halland, Sweden
• “From forest to finished house"
• Founded in 1946 by carpenter Karl Andersson. Sales now around SEK 12 billion
• The raw material, i.e. timber, is purchased and sourced from local forests
• Derome’s facilities include three building manufacturing plants, four sawmills, a pellet factory, roof truss manufacturing plants in Sweden, Norway and Germany, and sales offices for buildings and roof trusses across large parts of the country
• Pioneer in sustainable construction, including as a turnkey contractor for the Hoppet preschool and as a supplier to the Omställningen apartment block project in Gothenburg, which is being built with recycled materials and a wooden frame from Derome. This halves the environmental impact compared to the average value. Derome is also focusing on building wooden houses and garden districts featuring greenery outside city centres.
• Named Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 by Företagarna, Sweden’s largest organisation for entrepreneurs