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SINN transforms student living operations with instant answers

Industry
Student services and housing

Findable solution
Findable Document Platform

Company website
https://www.sinn.no/

Challenge

  • SINN’s O&M manuals (FDV documentation) is spread across systems and formats, including paper archives, making information hard to find, time-consuming, and inefficient.
  • Simple tasks, like replacing a window, become complex due to missing or hard-to-find documentation.
  • Managing and keeping track of O&M manuals is a major challenge, making it difficult to maintain order and efficiency across student housing facilities.
Results

  • Building operators can now access O&M manuals (FDV documentation) on their mobile phones, allowing them to solve issues on-site without returning to the office

  • Findable's AI search function, Ask Your Building, provides instant answers, helping saving time on maintenance searches.
  • After a successful pilot, SINN scaled the system to six more buildings, laying the foundation for streamlined workflows across their entire property portfolio
50 %

Faster document retrieval time

20

Buildings in the onboarding process

52 %

increase in documentation completeness

We had so many ‘aha’ moments during the pilot project that we realized this would pay off
Figma Image 3876
Arne Mo Chief Technology Officer, SINN

About SINN
Studentsamskipnaden i Innlandet

The Student Welfare Organization in Innlandet (SINN) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving student life in Norway’s Innlandet region. SINN provides essential welfare services to students at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, including student housing, dining, health services, counseling, and childcare.

Managing nearly 2,000 student housing units, SINN oversees a diverse property portfolio, ranging from historical buildings from the late 1800s to modern facilities. In addition to housing, SINN operates cafeterias, mental health support services, and kindergartens, ensuring that students have access to affordable and high-quality resources throughout their studies.

The Challenge

For SINN, managing nearly 2,000 student housing units across Norway’s Innlandet region comes with its share of challenges—particularly when it comes to keeping track of O&M manuals.

“Maintaining order and control over the O&M records has been a major challenge for us,” says Arne Mo, CTO at SINN.

With documentation scattered across various systems, formats, and even paper archives, accessing the right information can be a time-consuming and frustrating task. Mo describes how something as simple as replacing a window can quickly turn into a resource-heavy operation.

"If we need to replace a window in one of the buildings but can’t easily find documentation on the original type, we end up spending a huge amount of time and resources just to figure it out and get the job done"

–Arne Mo, Chief Technology Officer at SINN

A significant portion of SINN’s student housing was built for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, and much of the original documentation still exists only in paper form. The lack of a centralized, digital system makes it difficult to retrieve necessary information quickly, leading to delays, inefficiencies, and unnecessary costs.

With O&M records spread across multiple systems, the effort required to locate critical information is enormous—impacting both daily operations and long-term maintenance planning.

Students Using Laptops

The Solution

Faced with scattered and incomplete O&M records, SINN knew they needed a more structured and efficient approach. The first step was to digitize their vast archives of paper records.

“We contacted Canon to scan all our paper documentation, and that’s where Findable came into the picture,” explains Arne Mo, CTO at SINN

Through a strategic partnership, Canon handled the collection and scanning of all documentation, while Findable’s software automatically sorted the files according to the Norwegian building standards (bygningsdelstabellen), and flagged any missing documents. This process provided SINN with instant clarity on gaps in their records.

To ensure the system worked in practice, SINN decided to set a new standard by launching a pilot project on their latest student housing development.

“We started a pilot project on a brand-new building, challenging both Findable and the contractor to work towards complete documentation,” says Mo.

By using Findable’s Red Flag Report, SINN could systematically identify and address missing documentation through weekly meetings and structured follow-ups.

“When we started, a lot was missing. But that’s what’s great about Findable—the Red Flag Report shows exactly where the gaps are and makes it easy to track down missing O&M documentation” 

–Arne Mo, Chief Technology Officer at SINN

With a clear process in place and a scalable solution, SINN was able to move from uncertainty to total control over their documentation—paving the way for more efficient operations and long-term management of their student housing portfolio.

661ea1055ca531eba502fc06_findable-phone-min (1)

The Results

With the new system in place, SINN is already seeing significant improvements in their day-to-day operations.

Building operators can now search for O&M documentation directly on their mobile phones, allowing them to solve maintenance tasks on-site without needing to return to the office. This increased mobility has streamlined workflows and resulted in significant time savings for the team.

“The more operational they can be in the field, the more efficient we are,” explains Arne Mo, CTO at SINN.

Beyond easier access to documentation, SINN was able to take advantage of Findable's AI-powered search function, Ask Your Building, to retrieve critical maintenance information in seconds.

"The AI search function [Ask Your Building] is brilliant. We asked Findable what type of filter was in a specific ventilation system, and it found the answer in no time"

–Arne Mo, Chief Technology Officer at SINN

Encouraged by the success of the pilot project, SINN has now expanded the system to six more buildings—a major step toward their goal of achieving full oversight over their property portfolio.

“We had so many ‘aha’ moments during the pilot project that we realized this would pay off,” Mo concludes.

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