MacGregor

The maritime industry moves nearly 90% of global goods, but it faces mounting challenges. Shipping emissions have risen 90% since 1990, driving the need for decarbonization. At the same time, ensuring safety and meeting strict compliance standards make it one of the most regulated and documented sectors.

MacGregor, a leader in cargo and load-handling solutions, plays a crucial role in global trade by providing premium equipment and thorough documentation to meet rigorous regulations, protect ecosystems and promote sustainability.

Navigating international differences

Since its beginnings in the 1920s, MacGregor has expanded through acquisitions, but this growth led to challenges in maintaining a unified identity and streamlined operations. Each location used unique systems and workflows, creating a fragmented approach to documentation.

An internal audit revealed MacGregor was operating 22 cloud-based solutions alongside unsupported local file servers, many at risk of failure. To mitigate these risks and improve efficiency, MacGregor sought a unified enterprise content management (ECM) solution.

MacGregor partnered with Hyland to implement a scalable, flexible ECM solution. After an initial trial, Hyland Alfresco was chosen to manage project documentation for MacGregor's offshore business. Its scalability, open standards and seamless integration with legacy systems made it the ideal choice.

“MacGregor believed Alfresco could fulfill the brief,” said Karin Helene Jensen, Alfresco Platform Owner at MacGregor. “It was scalable, adaptable to offshore needs and user-friendly — something that’s not easy to find.”

MacGregor piloted Alfresco in its most complex area: the offshore oil and gas sector in Arendal, Norway. This industry requires up to 2,000 mandatory files per project, with installations facing extreme conditions like North Sea storms and Gulf of Mexico heat. Testing Alfresco’s ability to manage vast documentation and ensure smooth client interactions was critical.

The successful trial in Norway validated Alfresco’s effectiveness. MacGregor expanded its use to key locations worldwide, including Finland, Germany, Sweden and Singapore.

Since adopting Alfresco, MacGregor has grown from 100 to 1,000 global users, consolidating the number of systems. This has significantly reduced licensing, server and support costs while aligning with sustainability goals by cutting file server usage and migrating more than 5 million legacy documents.

Alfresco has also transformed global collaboration.

“A single content management solution has harmonized our workflows," Jensen said. "Teams across Gothenburg, Kaarina, Singapore and Tianjin can now collaborate seamlessly with access to accurate, up-to-date documents.”

Looking ahead, MacGregor plans to expand Alfresco’s use across the company, including governance materials, finance and legal. This will elevate Alfresco from a project-specific tool to the backbone of MacGregor’s enterprise document management.

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