Behrens Group: A Comprehensive View of Value Creation

From traditional timber wholesaling to industrial processing and digital services: The Behrens Group brings together a wide range of services under one roof. In collaboration with Big Pictury, we created a “Big Picture” that brings this complex corporate world to life and clearly illustrates the connections between the individual divisions.

topic

Visualization of the Business World and Its Value Creation Processes

industry

Wholesale Timber, Wood Processing, and Wood Construction

format

• Big Picture (Transformation Image) • Large Print

area of application

• Internal Communication • Company Presentations • Sales

target group

• Customers • Employees • Business partners • Other stakeholders

special features

• Presentation of various business units, locations, and services as part of a modernized brand identity

Wolf Wienecke in conversation with Hannes Kettenburg and Björn Borowski

Initial Situation & Challenge: Presenting a Complex Corporate Landscape in an Easy-to-Understand Way

Over the years, the Behrens Group has evolved from a traditional lumber wholesaler into a versatile partner for the trades. With 13 sales locations, three central warehouses, and numerous services in the areas of wood processing, timber construction, logistics, and digital services, a complex corporate structure has emerged.

However, employees are often most familiar with their own location or area of responsibility. Even for customers, it is not always clear what services the Behrens Group offers beyond pure retail. Therefore, the goal was to find a way to present the entire corporate landscape at a glance: What divisions are there? How do the processes interconnect? And what added value does the company offer its customers? At the same time, the Behrens Group continued to develop its brand identity. A new logo and a redesigned website are part of this evolution.

The Solution: A Big Picture That Connects the Entire Value Chain

The Big Picture illustrates the “Progress” transformation approach as a cohesive journey: new technologies, standardized processes, modern Together with Big Pictury, the Behrens Group developed a corporate identity based on the guiding principle “The Strong Partner for the Trades.” The Big Picture illustrates the path products take from the sawmill and industry, through central warehouses and various processing areas, all the way to tradespeople and end customers. The individual value-added areas are depicted in interconnected scenes: from the wholesale timber trade through furniture manufacturing and door production to prefabrication in timber construction. The presentation is complemented by logistics, exhibitions, and digital services such as the online store and the online room planner. This creates an overall picture that not only showcases individual services but, more importantly, highlights how they are interconnected. In conjunction with the modernized brand identity, the “Big Picture” helps present the Behrens Group in a unified manner while clearly communicating the diversity of its services.

Individual scenes

The need for change arises from comprehensive technical system renewal and the end of the life cycle of existing systems. These developments require strategic realignment and the implementation of future-proof solutions.

In addition to the technical challenges involved in managing large amounts of data, it is clear that the way humans handle data is often suboptimal. This is symbolically represented by unstructured balls, which indicate a lack of organization and inefficient use of information.

In the future, the conscious handling of data will create a significantly improved basis for the development and operation of new systems. This data-driven approach will also be favored above all by the mindset of those involved.

This is how the big picture came about

Together with the Behrens Group’s project team, we developed the “Big Picture” through a multi-step process. This involved analyzing the various business units, identifying the connections between them, and translating these into a unified visual language. At the same time, this intensive collaboration helped us take a fresh look at internal processes and interfaces.

1. Workshop &

Analysis

Through collaborative discussions, the various business units, value-added processes, and services were identified. Particular emphasis was placed on how the individual units work together and which connections should be made visible in the big picture.

2. Concept & visualization

Based on the content gathered, a visual structure was developed that illustrates the entire value chain. Step by step, the individual scenes were fleshed out—from the central warehouses through wood processing to logistics and digital services.

3. Feedback &

Finalization

Over the course of several feedback sessions, the big picture was further developed collaboratively and refined down to the finest details. This process also yielded new insights into internal relationships and interfaces. As a result, the development process itself was a valuable part of the project.

Effect & Results

The Big Picture provides an at-a-glance view of the entire Behrens Group’s business landscape. It establishes a common foundation for internal and external communication, makes it easier to explain complex value-added processes, and helps the sales team clearly convey the company’s broad range of services. Furthermore, new insights into internal processes and interfaces emerged even during the development phase.

“The process was just as valuable as the result”

“With the Big Picture, we can visualize our entire Behrens world at a glance and show how our various divisions and services are interconnected. The collaborative development process itself was particularly valuable. We took a close look at our processes and interfaces and gained new insights in the process. The result is not only a visual representation that supports our internal and external communications, but also a shared understanding of our corporate world.”

Hannes Kettenburg, Managing Director of Production, Behrens Group

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