From Paperless to Performance: How Doka’s DOT team standardizes operations into software under Benjamin Schauer

What we learned from “Benjamin Schauer, Group Leader Digital Operation Tools bei Doka”

In “Benjamin Schauer, Group Leader Digital Operation Tools bei Doka” (Speaker: Benjamin Schauer, Company: Doka GmbH), we at DevJobs.at got a succinct yet revealing look at how a focused engineering team translates operational standards directly into software. The group is called Digital Operation Tools (DOT) and sits within Doka’s operations area. Their mandate: define global operations processes for worldwide branches, fix those as a standard, and roll them out through software.

One program stands out for its clarity and pragmatism: DOT is digitizing the warehouse. The roadmap is deliberate and impact-first. Step one: remove paper. Step two: support warehouse colleagues with software so daily work becomes “faster and better.” In other words, technology is a tool, standardization is the foundation, and the goal is concrete operational improvement.

Mission and impact: create standards, deliver software

As Benjamin Schauer put it, the team’s core is to “create a standard, fix it, and then transfer it into software.” This isn’t about isolated tools. It’s about a consistent operations standard that can be adopted globally and made tangible through applications. For engineers, that means standardization isn’t an external constraint—it’s an integral part of product thinking with immediate feedback from the branches.

Eliminating paper from warehouse workflows does more than speed things up; it improves data quality and transparency. The second stage—digital assistance directly at the job—keeps the focus on usability and productivity. DOT isn’t building software for its own sake. It’s designed to help colleagues do their everyday work “faster and better.”

Team setup: compact, practical, cross-functional

The team is small by design and built for throughput: “Our team consists of five developers, two of whom are still in training, three consultants, one apprentice, and me.” The way they work is equally explicit: developers use a variety of technologies and are organized by functions and projects, each with specific responsibilities.

The upside, as Schauer notes: deep expertise forms quickly. The trade-off: communication. “You have to communicate a lot,” so the team knows what everyone is doing and can help one another. Specialization and communication grow together here—expert depth without silos, supported by active knowledge sharing.

For tech talent, this is an invitation: if you value ownership, want to go deep technically, and prefer transparent collaboration, the context is right. And because development and consulting are paired in projects (more on this next), the solutions stay technically solid and grounded in real operational needs.

Collaboration as a principle: developer + consultant as a tandem

A defining feature of DOT’s operating model is the fixed pairing of development and consulting: a developer and a consultant work together, project by project, so each learns from the other. This puts the people who understand requirements in constant exchange with those who implement them.

The effect is fewer handover gaps, more context in the code, and a culture where questions and feedback are expected, not exceptional. In daily warehouse practice, it means domain details surface early and are translated into software that stands up to reality. In Schauer’s words, it works because the team “communicates a lot.”

Engineering DNA: Clean Code, pull requests, continuous advancement

DOT states quality expectations clearly: heavy emphasis on Clean Code, regular pull requests among the team, and continuous advancement of their technology. Code quality isn’t a slogan; it’s institutionalized through reviews and shared accountability for the codebase.

Just as striking is their proactive stance on upgrades. Version jumps are handled deliberately to improve performance and user experience. This is more than “keeping up”—it’s a commitment to technical excellence that doubles as an investment in the product. As Schauer summed it up, by updating they ensure “top performance” and a continuously improved user experience.

Technology stack: modern, practical, maintainable

DOT’s stack choices are clear and practical, aligned with the realities of warehouse operations and global rollouts:

• Frontend: Angular and Ionic
• Backend: .NET, Azure Function Apps, Azure App Services
• Additionally: Java for native Android plugins, Node.js for local server scripts

On the version side, DOT stays current: updates to Angular 18, Ionic 8, and .NET 8 demonstrate a culture that doesn’t defer modernization. For engineers, that means contemporary frameworks, solid patterns, and a clean platform to build on.

Integration over islands: bringing historically grown systems together

One core technical challenge, based on the team’s experience, is integration. Doka is large and longstanding, with many systems that have grown historically. The systems need to talk to each other. This is a daily engineering reality at DOT—not a side task, but a prerequisite for end-to-end processes that truly work.

What that implies in practice:

• Mastering interfaces and protocols while deciding pragmatically where to integrate, encapsulate, or migrate.
• Designing for robustness and observability, particularly where legacy growth affects latency, data quality, or fault tolerance.
• Keeping a user-first mindset, so the warehouse process flows regardless of backend complexity.

Together with their modernization cadence (Angular 18, Ionic 8, .NET 8), this integration focus creates a learning curve that blends technical depth with practical relevance. If you enjoy solving real, multi-layered problems, this is precisely that kind of challenge—highly relevant and rooted in actual operations.

Hiring with intent: technical and cultural fit together

DOT works closely with HR to ensure new colleagues fit both technically and culturally. This isn’t headcount filling; it’s quality work, with team dynamics and communication at the center—especially important when developer–consultant tandems carry project responsibility.

The emphasis is clear: candidates should fit the team, be approachable, coordinate well, and communicate clearly. Because the model depends on dialogue, communication strength is a prerequisite. That expectation shows up again in how DOT onboards new team members.

Onboarding with mentoring and explicit expectations

The onboarding process shows how DOT works technically and culturally, with a mentor assigned to each new colleague. From coding standards, reviews, and collaboration routines to team culture and communication norms—expectations are explicit.

Soft skills that help from day one include team orientation, strong communication, and an agile mindset. That translates to ownership, feedback—giving and receiving—iterative delivery, and actively contributing to shared standards, all while staying close to the operational needs of the warehouse.

Learning and development: training paths, apprenticeship, everyday mentoring

DOT’s setup reflects real investment in growth: two developers are still in training, and an apprentice is part of the team. Coupled with formal mentoring in onboarding, this creates a space where knowledge is deliberately built and transferred. It’s attractive for both juniors and seniors:

• Juniors gain structured coaching, clear standards, and practical tasks with visible impact.
• Seniors shape architecture and quality, evolve standards, and make outsized impact by mentoring.

Regular pull requests turn daily collaboration into a learning loop—not as control, but as a quality and knowledge mechanism. That’s how “Clean Code” becomes everyday practice, not a poster on the wall.

Why DOT is compelling for engineers

From what we heard, several reasons stand out for tech talent to join DOT:

• Real-world impact: Your software directly supports warehouse colleagues, with measurable improvement in speed and quality.
• Standards that scale: Define first, then implement—standards provide the foundation for solutions used across worldwide branches.
• Modern stack: Angular + Ionic on the frontend, .NET on Azure in the backend, plus Java and Node.js—kept current with updates to Angular 18, Ionic 8, and .NET 8.
• Quality culture: Clean Code, regular pull requests, and strong team exchange.
• Growth mindset: Developers in training, an apprentice program, and mentoring—all part of the operating model.
• Cross-functional work: Fixed developer–consultant tandems bring you close to requirements and deepen domain understanding.
• Integration challenges: Connect historically grown systems—a realistic, technically rich problem set with real business stakes.
• Communication-first culture: Transparency, shared understanding, and helping each other as the default.

The warehouse path: from paper out to digital assistance in

DOT’s two-step approach to warehouse digitization lays out a crisp, credible path:

1) Remove paper—build a digital foundation: capture, standardize, and digitize processes to eliminate handoffs and improve data quality.

2) Deliver digital assistance at the point of work—raise efficiency: applications help colleagues do daily tasks “faster and better,” prioritizing performance, usability, and operational stability.

Their steady upgrade cadence supports that path. By staying current on frameworks and runtimes, the team keeps performance high and user experience improving. It’s a mindset that values continuous improvement while keeping eyes fixed on operational outcomes.

Communication as a capability: coordinate, review, share context

Schauer emphasizes communication repeatedly. That’s natural for a setup with specialization and fixed dev–consultant tandems. In practice, it looks like this:

• Regular project touchpoints between development and consulting.
• Transparent code reviews and shared quality ownership.
• Active knowledge sharing to reduce dependencies and increase delivery speed.

For candidates, that sets expectations clearly: if you enjoy dialogue, surface questions early, and seek feedback proactively, you’ll likely thrive in this environment.

HR as a partner in building the team

Close HR collaboration ensures new hires fit—technically and culturally. In transformation-heavy environments, team chemistry and communication style are success factors, not side issues. That’s especially true when shared standards are turned into software and rolled out widely.

Equally important is how explicit DOT is about expectations. Onboarding covers “how we work” and “how we behave,” with a mentor guiding each new colleague. That clarity gives people confidence and sets a standard for how the team collaborates.

Productive reality: integrate, standardize, support users

At the end of the day, value shows up on the warehouse floor. DOT’s model brings three strands together:

• Standards: define, unify, and embed them in software.
• Integration: connect historically grown systems so data and processes flow end to end.
• User support: help colleagues do their work faster, with stability and clarity.

Actively maintaining the tech stack makes this combination sustainable. Angular/Ionic and .NET on Azure form a performant, maintainable backbone; Java (Android plugins) and Node.js (local server scripts) add pragmatic extensions where needed.

Our DevJobs.at take

“Benjamin Schauer, Group Leader Digital Operation Tools bei Doka” paints a clear picture. DOT is a team that treats standardization seriously, uses technology as a lever, and stays close to day-to-day operations. Its working culture centers on Clean Code, pull requests, frequent communication, and consistent mentoring. Hiring and onboarding aim to find people who take technical ownership and fit the team’s collaborative rhythm.

For engineers who care about impact, DOT is compelling: real processes across worldwide branches, integration over isolation, a modern stack that’s actively upgraded, and collaboration that’s visible every day. Paper out, software in—so colleagues can do their daily work “faster and better.”

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