Connecting 33 Sites With One Document Imaging System

"Thanks, I'll get back to you." This phrase was too often heard by customer service representatives taking orders for Earl M. Jorgenson Company (EMJ), headquartered in Brea, CA. As one of the largest independent metal distributors in the U.S., EMJ was losing customers because its employees could not locate documents in the existing paper file cabinet system. Despite 1996 revenues of over $1 billion, EMJ estimated that it was losing over $300,000 per month because its current document management system was obsolete.

The Problem With Paper
EMJ sells over 40,000 different sizes, shapes, and grades of metal ranging from aluminum tubing to steel bars. Most EMJ customers are using the metal in an important application. For example, a metal parts manufacturer will purchase metal from EMJ and then make parts for an aircraft engine. Because of the heat and stress placed on an aircraft engine, the manufacturer must know that the metal it is using meets certain specifications. For this reason, the parts manufacturer will require that a test report accompany the metal shipment. This report details the characteristics of the metal, such as strength and heat tolerance, which are determined through extensive testing. "Companies which order metal do not want to hear that the report is misplaced or it will be sent in a week. Without a report, they will not place an order," states Mark Wilkinson, a vice president at IMAGE-X.

Keeping track of all the test reports was nearly impossible for EMJ. The company has 33 locations nationwide and each had copies of test reports for the particular metals at each facility. The test reports are small, typically one-to-three page documents. However, for liability issues the reports need to be stored for at least 30 years. EMJ found itself with over 600,000 paper documents stored in file cabinets across the U.S. To fill an order, an EMJ employee would pull a test report, make a photocopy of it, and refile the report.

Integrating With Existing Software
As part of a $20 million computer improvement project to upgrade the company's entire system, EMJ is now running Worldwide Information Network (WIN) software. WIN gives customers online access to inventory, pricing, and product information. The WIN software also links all of EMJ's operations, procedures, and information, from accounts payable to warehouse transportation. The company also established a technology data center in Pittsburgh, PA, where all requests for database information are processed.

Because the WIN software was so tightly integrated throughout EMJ, the company wanted a document imaging system that would work within the WIN application. According to Wilkinson, WIN has its own elaborate database, located in Pittsburgh, PA, which contains all EMJ operations information and customer data. "EMJ did not want a secondary imaging database, because it did not have the manpower to maintain it," states Wilkinson. "The company wanted to search in its own database, access customer information, and retrieve a test report in the same screen," adds Wilkinson.

Divide And Conquer
To install the document management system, EMJ chose IMAGE-X. The software VAR selected 10 EMJ sites to serve as regional storage repositories for documents. Each of these sites has three to four EMJ facilities which store documents at the regional repository. For example, the Los Angeles site stores all of the test reports for EMJ facilities on the West Coast. A test report scanned in San Francisco or Phoenix is also stored in Los Angeles.

IMAGE-X installed one Fujitsu scanner at all of the facilities with the 10 regional sites each receiving a high-volume scanner. The 10 regional sites each have a Hewlett-Packard 40FX jukebox to store all of the electronically imaged information. The HP40FX jukeboxes are managed by Tracer Technologies storage management software. "Choosing Tracer software was a matter of price and performance," states Wilkinson. "We did not have to pay for features we didn't need and it also moved the disks quickly.."

Internet-Based Approach To Document Management
The core software integration for scanning and retrieving documents was accomplished with two products developed by IMAGE-X. The company's MINDS (managed information data network services) software allows documents to be retrieved and viewed from anywhere in the country. This is accomplished through integration with EMJ's WIN software which connects every site. "The concept behind retrieving documents with MINDS software is similar to retrieving documents over the Internet," states Wilkinson. He explains that if people are looking for information about Canadian hotels on the Internet, they might think the information is stored in a database in Canada. In fact, the information may be stored in New York. However, this is not apparent to the user with the Internet as an interface.

IMAGE-X used its ImageMate software for capturing and indexing scanned documents. For indexing and retrieval purposes, three fields are used to create a unique document identification. The first field is three digits which represent the city in which the document is stored. The second field is three letters which identify the document as a test report. The third field is eight characters with an extension. This is the unique identification number for the test report and the extension is for specific page numbers.

Providing Better Customer Service
Because the document management software was integrated into the WIN application that EMJ employees were already using, training went very quickly. EMJ made a 10-point checklist for retrieving documents and this checklist was distributed to the 1,500 EMJ users.

The file cabinets containing the test reports are gone. Employees no longer have to search manually for test reports and all 33 EMJ sites are linked together with one document management system. Test reports can be retrieved in seconds, which gives EMJ's customers reason to say, "Thanks," instead of, "Thanks, I'll get back to you."