Where Eurosign previously spent several weeks on a single application, it now runs in days - and in some cases just hours. CEO of Eurosign, Marius Barhaugen, did not have to hire a separate bid manager after he adopted Cobrief.
"We are everywhere, without anyone really knowing. It is the customer who should shine, not us,” says Marius Barhaugen, CEO of Eurosign.
He proudly shows off the showroom at the head office outside Oslo. Signs in all sizes, colors and shapes for Telenor, Synsam, Apotek 1 and Narvesen, and many others.
The iconic Freia sign on Karl Johan. Signs in parks and the like, by and for Oslo Municipality. All manufactured, distributed and assembled by Eurosign.
Eurosign is ahead in its shoes and adopts new technological solutions to work better and smarter, but when it comes to the signs, much remains the same.
“We use technology to streamline and free up time — but not at the expense of the signs themselves. They are and remain a manual craft. This is not where we should save, on the contrary.
Eurosign is the largest player in Scandinavia in signage. The Group, which has annual sales of around NOK 200 million in Norway and Sweden, has more than 50 employees.
When Barhaugen took over as General Manager in January 2025, he brought with him broad management experience from industry, private equity and family-owned companies.
Tender is he well acquainted with -- it has been a common thread throughout his career.
“Although much else has happened, the public tender is still as it always has been. Same requirements, same documents and often a fair amount of subjectivity in the award criteria. The public sector simply has a great potential for improvement,” says Barhaugen.
In particular, he points to how requirements for “unit pricing” on complex products force suppliers to price in risk - which in practice makes the final bill higher for municipalities.
“If specific, targeted tenders had been used to a greater extent, we could have obtained both better quality and lower prices. Many in the public sector should have had greater insight into how it actually works out with the providers,” he says.
But one thing has changed: the time it takes to deliver a tender. Where Eurosign previously spent weeks on a single application, today it can take days — or just hours. The reason? Cobrief.
Barhaugen has been using the tool since the start of 2025.
“Public tenders are and remain very similar, but now you can actually get it away quickly and efficiently,” says Barhaugen.
Instead of hiring a separate bid manager, he and the team solve the job themselves. He thinks it's entirely possible.
“I'm in Cobrief several times a week, and I do a lot of the work myself with others. It is so effective that we save both time and a full-time position. That alone means a saving of well over one million kronor a year, all costs included,” he says.
— The tendering process must not be a waste of time
In particular, Barhaugen highlights the brief function, which extracts the most important from extensive competition grounds, so that one does not have to read hundreds of pages.
You quickly see what counts and how you should respond. It makes the process more targeted and far less time consuming. It provides both better flow and better quality in our deliveries. When the quality becomes high, we increase the chance of winning.
Today, Cobrief is used to handle both public and private tenders — and is an integral part of Eurosign's strategy to work smarter.
“The tool makes it easier to understand the requirements and assess whether we should actually participate. It also gives us flexibility -- and the freedom to prioritize our resources smarter,” says Barhaugen.
He is clear on one thing: Technology should not be embellishment—it should be solution-oriented and provide benefits. Eurosign aims to be among the industry leaders in efficiency and technology.
Tender work is no longer a waste of time. It's supposed to be a competitive advantage. And it will be, if you have the right tools,” says Marius Barhaugen.
For businesses that want to save time creating new revenue.
Tellef Tveit
Tellef Tveit, commercial manager at Cobrief, highlights Eurosign as a good example of a business that uses its time correctly — creating new value for customers, rather than wasting it on repetitive tasks.
“It was precisely this way of thinking that was why we developed Cobrief,” says Tveit.
He stresses that it is particularly gratifying to see how the efficiency with Cobrief has allowed Eurosign to free up so much time that it has escaped to employ its own resources for tender work.
“The fact that they save so much time and resources that they can avoid hiring a separate bid manager clearly shows the value good technology can create. This is exactly the kind of result we want to contribute to with our customers,” says Tveit.