How do you order your meal at work today?

AZ Rivierenland employees can easily order meals via the M365 application

At AZ Rivierenland, a merger of three hospitals in the Antwerp area, they implemented a meal planning application in addition to a brand-new centralized digital workspace. Curious how AXI set this up with them?

Different campuses, one meal planning application

In 2019, the hospitals AZ Heilige Familie and Sint-Jozefkliniek Bornem merged to form a single hospital: AZ Rivierenland, with campuses in Rumst, Bornem, and Willebroek. With the merger came several new needs: a user-friendly and uniform meal planning application was one of them. "Before the merger, employees ordered their meals via their respective hospital intranets," explains Kim De Block, Nutrition Department Manager at AZ Rivierenland. "After the merger, the need arose to streamline and centralize the ordering process for all campuses through a single application."

Quick and easy ordering everywhere

This wasn't easy, as the kitchens on the Bornem and Rumst campuses operate in significantly different ways. For example, Rumst has its own cafeteria with on-site payment, while Bornem operates a staff cafeteria and deductions via payslips. The range of food offered and the times at which meals are provided also vary per campus. "It was crucial that the meal app accommodated these campus differences, while simultaneously allowing for a uniform ordering process with the same look and feel for users," says Isalien Van Laere, Business Development Manager at AXI. "And we succeeded!"

"The meal app is accessible and user-friendly, making it easy for everyone to order their meals," concludes De Block. "The app can be accessed both at home and at work, on both smartphones and PCs." Employees can easily reserve meals in advance. A clear interface in the application's back office allows the kitchen team to easily manage the offered menu.

Correct invoicing and fewer manual actions

AZ Rivierenland wants to make optimal use of its M365 licenses and therefore chose to build this automation using a Power App. The solution was tailored to their needs and no additional licensing costs are required. A nice win-win situation.

The meal application uses SharePoint Online and was integrated with Active Directory. This means that data such as employee numbers are pre-filled with orders, so users are automatically identified correctly and processing is faster. "Today, we have fewer incomplete registrations and corrections," says Jürgen Corstens, Project Manager at AZ Rivierenland. "Power Automate can automatically generate reports for the kitchen or our billing department." The number of manual interventions required to invoice correctly has been significantly reduced.

Finally, the application is designed so flexibly that future functionalities, such as adjusting the product range, different meal times, etc., can be easily implemented, De Block adds.

Multiple campuses, one central digital workspace

"The development of the meal application wasn't a standalone project; it was part of a broader project," explains Corstens. "After the merger, we wanted to create a single, centralized digital workspace, focused on improving internal communication and document management. The meal application was one component of several automations we wanted to integrate." "We were already working with AXI, but not yet for the expansion of our digital workspace in M365," says Stefanie Cootjans, Operations Director at AZ Rivierenland. "However, after consultation, we were quickly convinced that AXI was the right partner for this project as well, thanks to their strong sector and product knowledge."

Efficient digital workspace with M365

AXI rolled out Microsoft 365 in the hospital and developed an integrated intranet and Document Management System. They will soon also set up governance for Microsoft Teams. Thanks to M365, a comprehensive suite of cloud-based productivity tools and services from Microsoft, AZ Rivierenland is ready for the future: "our users can collaborate and communicate, regardless of their location, and can work more efficiently," concludes Cootjans.

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