Streamlining signature processes through digitization: the example of GSE

Nearly 10,000 electronically signed contracts and documents managed per year

Thanks to the support and training provided by the Oodrive teams, the Sign solution was quickly adopted by GSE employees. However, its implementation required a phase of adaptation to the specific needs of the company, as Patrice Roger reports. ” Initially, the tool was geared more towards signing membership contracts, which are fairly standardized and don’t require a lot of changes. But at our company, most of the signing process is handled by the engineers who are responsible for the projects, and the contracts go back and forth multiple times. So we had to adjust the Sign solution to accommodate our type of contract. “

In a short time, all documents requiring signatures are processed by the tool, amounting to nearly 10,000 per year (including contracts, amendments, minutes, and site reports). This saves paper, but also time.

In fact, the main benefit of the electronic signature solution is practical: it streamlines processes, which in turn relieves staff of repetitive tasks and tedious paperwork. “At GSE, a contract comes with a large volume of additional documents and appendices,” explains Patrice Roger. “This represents hundreds, even thousands of pages, all in duplicate—the equivalent of a small suitcase! But with electronic signatures, this constraint disappears. No more suitcases! And our employees no longer have to scan all these documents one by one, as we used to do with EDM.”

Beyond this practical aspect, the benefits of Oodrive Sign can be felt on several levels:

• The virtual elimination of paper since 2016, in line with the company’s CSR objectives (GSE was awarded Platinum status by EcoVadis in 2021).
• Reduced storage requirements thanks to digitization, with immediate availability of archived documents (compared to two to seven days in paper format).
• The elimination of the risk of losing contracts retrieved after signing (the loss rate prior to Sign was minimal—0.05%—but had a major impact given the large sums involved).
• Simplification of the process, which means that stakeholders do not have to travel to sign contracts.

In addition, Oodrive Sign includes additional features that are relevant to GSE. Patrice Roger’s favorite? Automatic validation of transactions when a document has been signed. This feature saves valuable time, as the system itself affixes the GSE signature once the document has been passed on to the external contractor. This “bonus,” added to the many benefits offered by the solution, leads Patrice Roger to say that it would be “unimaginable to go back now—including for our customers and subcontractors, who are fully satisfied.”