DYWIDAG Adopts Navan for Streamlined Global Travel Management and Expense Control

Region

EMEA: Europe, Middle East, and Africa

Headquarters

Unterschleißheim, Germany

Company Size

Mid-Market (800-2,500 employees)

Industry

Real Estate and Construction

Products Used

• Navan Business Travel
• Navan Expense
• Navan Travel Payments

Since its foundation in 1865 as a German cement factory, DYWIDAG has grown into a global construction and service company operating in more than 50 countries. Headquartered just outside Munich, Germany, in Unterschleißheim, the company is dedicated to making global infrastructure safer, stronger, and smarter through its blend of technical expertise and innovative technology.

As a travel-intensive business, DYWIDAG needed a business travel solution to replace inconsistent manual processes across its global entities. The company turned to Navan to build a more efficient, tech-forward approach to travel and expense management.

Before Navan

Fragmented Systems and Reactive Management

Before Navan, DYWIDAG managed travel and expenses regionally across its 25 entities, creating a patchwork of inconsistent systems and regulations. This fragmented approach hampered efficiency and negatively impacted employee satisfaction.

“From booking with the travel provider to scanning receipts, filling out Excel spreadsheets, checking taxes, calculating per diems and travel expenses — the whole process took employees up to an hour per booking,” recalled Andreas Poloczek, regional CFO at DYWIDAG.

The company’s manual workflows were draining valuable time from everyone involved. Employees waited up to two months to be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses, significantly diminishing their experience.

This manual process, combined with multiple cost centers and general ledgers, delayed expense recording and required manual accounting reviews and corrections after month-end closing.

“We lacked a consolidated solution, with effective data and tools, that would help us keep costs in check,” explained Poloczek.

Limited Visibility and Control

For DYWIDAG’s finance team, the lack of oversight and inadequate reporting created significant challenges. With employees booking through various platforms, costs were only visible after they were incurred — sometimes weeks or months later.

Why DYWIDAG Chose Navan

DYWIDAG wanted a unified platform that could address several critical requirements:

Increased Efficiency

Managing multiple separate solutions was proving costly and inefficient. DYWIDAG sought a platform that could streamline both travel and expense management to reduce overheads.

“Connecting travel and expense on Navan’s digital platform gives us seamless data transfer and contextualized information,” said Poloczek. “This has allowed us to automate and simplify processes, which significantly reduces the workload for everyone involved.”

Scalability and Cost Optimization

As Regional CFO, Poloczek identified potential bottlenecks in key departments like accounting that could hinder growth. “With Navan, we can streamline and speed up processes, ensuring we can handle more volume without the need for additional staff,” he explained.

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“We lacked a consolidated solution, with effective data and tools, that would help us keep costs in check.” 

Andreas Poloczek

Regional CFO

Rather than focusing solely on direct costs such as user licenses, DYWIDAG wanted a solution that would optimize processes and scale efficiently. Poloczek sees Navan’s proactive policy implementation as an effective tool for better cost control.

Employee Adoption

To help achieve high adoption rates, DYWIDAG sought a platform with travel options that could meet employee needs across all regions, including flights, hotels, trains, and rental cars. “In line with the overarching goal of making our company more efficient overall,” said Poloczek, “we were looking to optimize processes such as expense reports and reimbursements so that employees could focus on their actual tasks. Navan has allowed us to achieve this.”

The Navan Effect

In just over six months with Navan, DYWIDAG has experienced transformative results across the business.

Enhanced Traveler Experience

With Navan, travelers can make, change, or cancel hotel bookings themselves with just a few clicks. The platform includes low-cost carriers and allows train journeys with railcards to be booked seamlessly — options that weren’t available with the company’s previous solution.

“The feedback on Navan has been consistently positive,” said Poloczek. “One of our employees said it was like night and day compared to the previous tool.”

For employees using their own cars, Navan has simplified mileage recording. They simply enter start and destination addresses, and the system automatically calculates the correct rate.

Real-time Financial Visibility

The management accounting team now enjoys direct access to clear, real-time dashboards and reports on Navan. 

Unlike with the previous solution, the team no longer needs to request reports from account managers and wait days for delivery. Plus, employees can analyze data at a granular level — by trip or hotel stay — if needed. They can also track booking patterns, identify trends by department or region, and benchmark against similar companies.

“Such a depth of data was unthinkable with our previous provider,” said Poloczek.

Streamlined Accounting Processes

Navan has also transformed the company’s once tedious manual reimbursement process. Requests now flow automatically through necessary approvals without manual intervention.

“The accounting department doesn’t have to review reimbursement amounts individually; team members only have to post one statement per week, and the funds are automatically transferred to the employee’s bank account,” explained Poloczek. “This saves us from making 10–20 manual payments.”

With Navan Travel Payments, travel costs are instantly visible in the system. The team reviews them weekly instead of responding to ad-hoc requests. “Thanks to the setup with Navan, the accounting department finally has less pressure at the end of the month,” Poloczek added.

Strong Cost Savings

By integrating travel policies directly into the booking process, employees can immediately see their spending limits. Noncompliant bookings are flagged instantly, and line managers can intervene within a specified window.

The platform further encourages cost-conscious decisions through the Navan Rewards program. Travelers receive rewards when booking cost-effective hotels, which they can use for personal stays — benefitting both employees and the company.

Looking Ahead: A Foundation for Sustainable Growth

With Navan, DYWIDAG has simplified its travel and expense management processes — a critical factor in making the company scalable and future-proof.

“For me as regional CFO, it is essential to set up all our workflows in such a way that higher volumes don’t automatically result in additional costs on the personnel side,” said Poloczek.

The comprehensive reporting capabilities and first-class data quality deliver tangible value. “The comprehensive insights provide the basis for setting up data-driven KPIs to regularly track and optimize our travel activity,” said Poloczek.

This foundation allows DYWIDAG to continuously improve the efficiency of its travel program, giving Poloczek confidence that Navan is the right long-term partner: “Even if circumstances change,” he said, “we can flexibly adapt the platform and the setup to the needs of the different departments and regions.”

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“The comprehensive insights provide the basis for setting up data-driven KPIs to regularly track and optimize our travel activity.”

Andreas Poloczek

Regional CFO