HOGAST is a purchasing cooperative that, in addition to the entire procurement of goods, also deals with the areas of electricity, fuel, telephony and many other topics and always ensures that its member companies enjoy the best conditions and optimized processes, as well as can expect significant advantages in all relevant purchasing and service areas.
HOGAST was founded more than 45 years ago with the basic idea of creating price advantages through inter-company bundling of quantities and relieving individual companies of routine tasks.
Today, HOGAST is the largest company for the hotel and catering industry in Austria and has more than 3,200 member companies with a turnover of 415 million euros. The subsidiary in Munich is responsible for serving the southern German region. In addition, the HOGAST Group also includes HOTEL GASTRO POOL for smaller hotels and restaurants as well as HANDOVER for facilities in the social sector.
Company Name: HOGAST
Short description of the project:
“… due to short-time work and home office, we inevitably had to rethink, because without a new digital system, we would no longer have been able to sign contracts, invoices and orders.”
Why sproof sign:
“What we particularly like about sproof sign is its ease of use. Not only can you find the uploaded documents quickly, but thanks to the new feature, you can also specify where the document needs to be signed. As a result, we simply notice that something is always happening at sproof sign, i.e. we are working on extensions and updates, which is super important to us.”
How did the decision to introduce the digital signature come about?
Sigmond: “For us as a company, two aspects were decisive in choosing a digital signature solution. One of them was the Corona pandemic, because short-time work and home office forced us to rethink, because without a new digital system, we would no longer have been able to sign contracts, invoices and orders.
The second aspect, which has certainly been a topic of discussion with the management for some time, is that we as a company have focused on digitization and sustainability at the same time.
With the focus on this, the point finally came where we decided to sign everything digitally now and where it is possible to do without all paper invoices and contracts.”
For which use cases is the digital signature used?
Sigmond: “Basically, we are the link between our suppliers and customers or members. However, this also means that all invoices and orders go through HOGAST and we then have to sign and countersign them in some cases. The chain of signatures can be thought of as a triangle between supplier, member and HOGAST.
An example where the digital signature is used and totally helps is when onboarding new suppliers. There are also contracts that have to be signed somehow. Before we decided on an eSignature solution, we first had to send everything in paper form by post and wait.
Due to the fact that the entire company actually consists of four companies, in this application the delivery partner has to sign once and HOGAST four times. It could take two to three weeks until everything arrived back at our place. With the digital solution from sproof sign, everything is a lot faster.
But we also use the eSignature when taking up deliveries. This is because all order confirmations over 7,500 euros must be countersigned by us after the customer and the supplier have already signed. This is a matter of liability! HOGAST is also liable for its customers if they go bankrupt or are insolvent. Then we pay the invoices for our members, but only if the order confirmation or order has been countersigned by us beforehand. This is a really important aspect for our members and suppliers.”
What standards in terms of data security and compliance must a software solution meet in your company?
Sigmond: “Data protection is a present topic right now and is now simply a basic requirement. Everything has to be right. For us, however, the user-friendliness was also important, that the software is easy to use and that you can save time. “
“That’s why we recommend sproof to our 7,000 customers with a clear conscience.”
Peter Sigmond
Senior Merchandise Manager
What do you particularly like about sproof sign?
Sigmond: “What we particularly like about sproof sign is its ease of use. Not only can you find the uploaded documents quickly, but thanks to the new feature, you can also specify where the document needs to be signed. As a result, we simply notice that there is always something happening at sproof sign, i.e. extensions and updates are being worked on, which is super important to us. But even if a question arises from our side about eSignatures or a new function, we always have great and fast support to turn to.”
Are there any special advantages of sproof sign that are particularly advantageous in your industry?
Sigmond: “In the future, we would like to see sproof sign embedded in third-party systems. Of course, a separate app would also be exciting. At the moment, it’s still a web-based platform, where it can take a bit of time to upload large amounts of data.
The nice thing about sproof sign, however, is that, thanks to our close contact, we already know that we are in exactly the right place at sproof. Because even if something doesn’t fit, we work on further development and integrate the new features into the software. That’s why we recommend sproof to our 7,000 customers with a clear conscience.”
