In order for your ECM solution to work correctly, your organization needs to keep some things in mind.  First off the new solution needs to have the ability to grow.  It should operate with new industry hardware / software, and adapt easily to constant changing IT and government standards.  In addition to this, your scanning devices need to work with specific computer systems and software without requiring extra purchases. 

Having a flexible ECM system allows your company to optimize its capture process.  This is due to easy integration with systems and platforms, simple drag-and-drop design, and tight integration with other devices.  The result is an easy to use, fast system that can adapt quickly to an ever-changing environment.

Published By Shane Hardy
All Star Software Systems LLC

Capture systems are designed to work with scanners in the process of creating indexes for documents so companies are able to store and retrieve documents more efficiently.  In order to do this correctly organizations go through 5 different possible scenarios of capture.  These involve the scanning and storing of documents, automated indexing, intelligent data extraction, distributed capture, and lastly enterprise capture.  All these different phases listed are necessary in order for an organization to fully automate their business processes and operate at maximum efficiency.  I will explain each step and how your company will benefit from implementing each or all of them.

One of the first items needed to begin a document capture system is having the ability to scan and store documents.  In order to do this you will need a scanner and software, such as Kofax Capture, Oracle Document Capture, Readsoft Documents, etc.  in order to get documents into your system.  This software gives the user an ability to manually enter information about the document in order to enable simple search and retrieval.  Implementing this beginning phase eliminates costly paper and frees up space within your office.

The next phase in this process is having Automated Indexing technology which can read data from documents scanned in.  Optical Character Recognition or (OCR) extracts data and automatically fills out index fields which you have created.  Data such as PO numbers, date or claim numbers can all be extracted and filled out automatically to improve search and retrieve times.  If your company implements this stage you will reap benefits such as significant improvements in cycle times, error rates, and staffing requirements.

The third step in this process is Intelligent Data Extraction.  This step dives deeper into data extraction and allows systems to pull more detailed information from documents including extraction of multiple fields.  This includes validation of data against backend systems, matching information, and database lookups to enrich what has already been extracted to further automate downstream processes.  Continuing on to this stage allows you to feed vital information into multiple Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems which results in the start of significant business advantages.

The fourth step, which is optional and depends on how your company is organized, is distributed capture which involves scanning documents from multiple locations instead of shipping all paper to a central location.  This is especially great for larger companies who have a number of locations and would like to expedite this process.  Distributed Capture saves a great deal of money on mail and shipping expenses, speeds up data input, and expedites the processing of critical business documents.  Using distributed capture throughout your organization allows room for increased productivity elsewhere.  As companies grow and continue to offer more remote opportunities, distributed capture becomes an important tool in order to continue processing information fast and efficiently.

The final step you can take in setting up your document capture system is enterprise capture.  This phase allows for documents to arrive in an organization and get digitized quickly, accurately, and with the least amount of human interference.  Organizations implementing this final stage are extremely complex and capable of reading any kind of barcode and in multiple formats.  During this stage documents are distinguished between what type they are and intelligent OCR is able to automatically determine what to do with the document.  All data from these documents is captured, validated, and sent to backend systems which results in the perfect document capture solution for your organization.

Combining these 5 phases will not only accelerate your business processes like never before, but will also save a great deal of time and money.  The solution will provide you a system where you can capture inbound information, extract pertinent data, allow users to retrieve the data instantly, and have these documents approved and exception processed almost instantly. 

Published By: Shane Hardy

All Star Software Systems LLC

Xenos, an Actuate company, is the market-leading provider of high-performance software solutions designed to Streamline Enterprise Information Supply Chains. Xenos Enterprise Server has been awarded for the second year in a row for their enterprise class application that is able to capture, identify, route, and store structured and unstructured data. Xenos does this by delivering unparalleled scalability, flexible deployment, maximizing system resources, capturing documents through a wide variety of resources, routing documents through the systems using process flows, and allowing for the print and delivery of documents across multiple channels! Using Xenos Enterprise Server within your organization will undoubtedly improve operational efficiency, enhance business processes, reduce risk for compliance management, and increase productivity while reducing cost for its customers.

In a statement released by Xenos Vice President Jeff Mills he explains “We are delighted to have been lined up against such well known industry names and to have emerged victorious as Software Product of the Year. To do this two years in a row is even more rewarding and is a true endorsement of our relentless focus on delivering quality, enterprise-class, and information solutions that simplify structured and unstructured documents and data.”

How All Star has used Xenos…..

All Star has implemented their D2E (data to electronic) product to capture information output from ERP systems such as J.D Edwards, and Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS). These system can generate outbound invoices or other reports that are in PDF format (texted based). The Xenos D2E product is setup to monitor these output folders for matching file strings, extract the text data based on rules that we define and then output the PDF and extracted information to a backend system such as Oracle I/PM (now Webcenter Content) or Hyland’s OnBase product.

Once setup and configured, this is a “lights out” operation. Data is automatically exported from the ERP systems via scheduled jobs and processed on a schedule set in Xenos. Unless something goes wrong, there is no user interaction required.

Paul Pitts
All Star Software Systems, LLC.

Automating your company’s business requirements has evolved way beyond basic scanning and indexing of documents.  Organizations must now maximize their automation, routing, indexing, and sending of documents into workflows.  Intelligent ECM solutions that maximize automation during the first steps are now able to identify, extract, classify, route and index with basically no manual intervention.  In addition, all document types and forms are able to be passed through the system so all your content can be managed electronically without the need for other programs.  Combining these steps can accelerate your business processes and dramatically reduce operational costs like never before.

Another example of maximizing the Automation Process is reducing the difficulty of routing non-PO invoices in a large company.  Finding the correct person or department may be challenging based on the information that is provided on the invoice.  Even more challenging is the fact that many large companies are moving to a Shared Services model, and the number of invoices any given Accounts Payable (AP) person will see may increase dramatically.  Some tricks we have implemented to help solve this problem include simple tasks like having the vendors include a routing code on the invoice (2^nd or 3^rd line of the address box can be used).  This helps to narrow down the location its being routed to for the AP person.  Another technique is to have the system doing the indexing remember the routing code or preference from the last time.  This will speed up routing of future invoices once the initial value has been set.  Of course, the challenge comes when a single vendor sends invoices to multiple Organizational Units within a given company.   Then similar techniques can be used as above.  Lookups based on clues provided on the invoice, such as looking up the “Buyer” and referencing their name to the correct OU and Department for approval.

In a perfect world, Vendors would submit invoices with a barcode on them, which contained the OU, Buyer and Department information.  While dreaming about it, how about we add the invoice number, vendor number, invoice date, and instead of printing how about just send it via E-invoice?  But that’s a whole different story will tackle at a later time..

Published By: Paul Pitts

All Star Software Systems LLC

When Enterprise Content Management Systems first developed, everyone wanted all components implemented and installed right from the start.  The idea was to have all files from each department in the entire company digitized, managed, and stored for archival from the beginning.  The problem with this is the same as it would be for any massive project companies undergo.  If it goes bad, the time and money already invested will result in massive losses and heads rolling.  Implementation of ECM solutions is now changing and organizations are attacking the process one step at a time.

Many companies have been successful attacking the whole project at once, while on the other hand many others have experienced nightmares.  CEO’s are promised quick returns from vendors, and when this doesn’t happen that quick return becomes a dream instead of reality.  The fact companies are now seeing is the entire ECM solution doesn’t need to be installed at once.  Employees don’t have the time, need, or will power to take on the gargantuan project all together.  The future of Enterprise Content Management is attacking the solution in steps.  Instead of taking in more than you can handle, the idea is to improve your business one step at a time.  Choose one department, provide the perfect solution, get it working, and move on to the next.  This way problems are solved on an as needed basis, and employees understand the functionality of the software.

When choosing an ECM solution for your organization, keep in mind deployment tactics and vendor consideration.  Choose a partner who understands the importance of developing the perfect comprehensive solution for your company.  Not only an ECM solution that you receive a quick ROI, but also one that can be dispersed throughout each department within your company at your disposal.  

Published By Shane Hardy

All Star Software Systems LLC

Choosing the correct partner for your ECM Solution is a very important task. Companies need to understand this is a long term relationship between two companies and their employees. How long a company has been around isn’t always an effective way to guarantee they have the expertise required or will be around for the long term. Many ECM vendors are “diluted”, that is, they try selling and supporting too many products and end up stretching themselves too thin. The effect on the customer is that the vendor is no longer an expert - they carry little clout with the manufacturer and may drop the product line or be dropped by the manufacturer in the future.

We have seen many solutions that were implemented with the “drop and go” technique. That is, the partner will implement a solution, get it working and get out. There is little to no on-going relationship and this leaves you (the customer) alone with the solution and no experience to expand or improve upon it. Choosing a partner that provides comprehensive maintenance can help avoid this. That is, a support contact that goes beyond the ability to call for support. Instead, it should include regular visits (face to face) from the partner, follow up training, system upgrades, health checks and explanations of new features.

Having a smart experienced partner allows you to have the greatest flexibility at a time when it’s needed most. Today’s compliance regulations, risks regarding paper loss, and time needed to process documents or help customers can be greatly affected by the partner you choose. Having an experienced partner, with great references, and appropriate product depth in related solutions, will help your organization roll out the initial solution and ensure it continues to grow with success as time goes on.

by Paul Pitts
Vice President
All Star Software Systems, LLC

Everyone is under the same impression that paper is being replaced by electronic files in today’s working environment.  The issue needing to be resolved is eliminating paper files and starting to terminate the costs associated with searching, storing, and losing these critical documents.  Every year thousands of hours, and even worse, large amounts of money are being wasted on this.

The solution to all these problems would be implementing an Intelligent Enterprise Document Capture Solution.  These systems allow the scanners to release documents into a system, identify the information, and lastly send all documents directly into a back-end system for further processing.  Another issue today is companies are now deploying systems on a need-by-need basis or department-by-department basis, and they are failing to address company-wide issues.    Enterprise wide Capture Systems create business environments in which your organization is able to manage paper from various departments and locations from anywhere in the world, using one platform.

By using a single enterprise capture system you can work with multiple document types and devices.  Data is now captured from many sources including; high-volume scanners, desktop scanners, mobile scanners, and even phones.  As technology evolves, so does the need for your organization to grow with the changing environments.

An ECM solution offers the total end-to-end package your organization is looking for.  These solutions capture documents from multiple locations, extract data, and automatically classify the document type using optical character recognition (OCR).  Your organization will drive down costs and create an environment having the ability to work with multiple business systems.  This is the perfect solution for all organizations to benefit greatly from!

By Shane Hardy

All Star Software Systems LLC

Most companies today are not completely paperless because they lack crucial components needed in order to do so.  The four most important aspects of going completely electronic are: scanners, a document management system, large monitors, and lastly a unanimous decision by the entire staff to do tasks electronically.  Since going paperless is a large investment you are probably wondering what the major benefits would be for implementing a solution like this?  In this article I will explain how going paperless increases productivity, improves customer service, reduces operational costs, tightens security, and creates an environmentally sound company.

It seems as though every time you’re looking for a specific document it’s always in the last place you look, and to make it worse, at the bottom of the stack.  With that said, companies can easily spend multiple hours every week looking for paper files.  This results in time, money, and productivity being wasted.  With a Document Management System in place this allows your organization to search for and retrieve documents instantly.  You simply scan a document turning into an image file, and then convert the document into a searchable text image through the use of OCR Software.  Once the document enters the system you can simply search a phrase, number, name, or date, and have access to the information instantly, thus increasing overall employee productivity.

In addition to increasing worker productivity, your organization will also improve its customer service department.  How many times throughout the day do you need to tell a customer to wait so you can check on the document and get back to them?  Sometimes you don’t end up finding the document right away and this can take a full day or two before you have the information available.  Not a good situation for you or your company to be in.  Now let’s re-phrase this to “Not a problem, Let me pull up the document now and check it for you.”  This results in better service meaning an increase in sales and more satisfied customers who are spreading the word about your business.

Another huge benefit of going paperless is reducing operating costs.  Paper files, folders, and cabinets all take up space or office rooms which end up being large expenses.  In fact, most organizations state office space is second in costs right behind employee salaries.  Scanning documents and importing them into a document management system would eliminate the issue and save companies money.  No longer would you have to search for documents in storage rooms or pay for wasted space that paper is taking up.  You can now fill the space with more employees and turn an expense into a profit.  Alleviating storage space also coincides with increasing productivity and improving client service.  No longer will time be spent on searching for documents, therefore the chance of having customers wait or missing calls decreases dramatically.

One of the most important aspects to a business is having the ability to protect important documents.  Paper is vulnerable to many outside factors with the main two being physical theft and destruction from water, fire, and other natural disasters that can happen.  Important documents can also be subjected to unwanted employees viewing them.  When you scan confidential documents you can limit and restrict access to certain employees.  This ensures sensitive information is not being seen by all.  With document management systems in place your organization can also adhere to compliance regulations easily.  When information is needed you have access to it instantly, thus avoiding any penalties against federal or state regulations.

Lastly, going paperless creates an environmentally sound organization.  Digitizing documents results in fewer copies, less paper consumption, and it saves money on consumable expenses.  Also, all the documents that you can now throw away including new copies can be recycled.  Giving back to the environment helps the world and reduces your carbon footprint.

In conclusion, going paperless creates an environmentally sound and productive organization.  You can increase employee productivity, save a great deal of money by decreasing wasted space, eliminate unnecessary time searching for documents, ease compliance requirements, and improve client service. 

By Shane Hardy

All Star Software Systems, LLC

One of the issues I consistently see in the field is the lack of good organization surrounding the AP Process. Specifically, many companies are taking steps to improve their process by adding scanning of documents, single step data entry, invoice header extraction, and line item extraction using technology such as Kofax Transformation Modules, Oracle Forms Recognition (OFR) and ReadSoft Invoices. These platforms can greatly improve the speed and efficiency which invoices are processed, but they are not a cureall for a bad process. They are a cog in the process and to truly get the full benefit of AP Invoice processing the entire process must be reviewed, documented, and analyzed so logical phases can be applied to improve the process. Unfortunately, many customers expect “straight through” processing just weeks after implementing an AP Capture solution – without consideration for the processing that happens prior to scanning the invoice, or consideration for what happens after the data is extracted. Unlike the RonCo “Set it and forget it Rotisserie”, the entire process must be scrutinized.

The first step in the process is to review the current paper process. Automating an existing process that is not good will simply result in a faster bad process. This is a great time to consider starting over and moving away from the “we have always done it this way” mentality. Below are some key steps to consider when reviewing your current AP Processing System.

Document Preparation – Moving this function to a mail room will free up AP staff to do other things. Mail room staff can easily be trained on how to determine regular mail from invoices. A separate PO Box or routing can also be added to the address to help this process. Have them open the invoices and separate them into single and multi-page invoices. Multi-page including two or more should be separated by a separator sheet that the scanning automation platform supports. For example, Kofax separator sheet, blank page, bar code separation, etc. During the process, all documents should have the staples removed, sticky notes detached, and all documents should be aligned correctly at the top and sides of the papers. Keeping staples away from the scanning area or other machinery is a simple way to prevent damage to the scanner and avoid costly down time issues. Invoices should be batched into groups of 50 to 100 pages. This is to allow the next step in the process to include batches that are manageable. For example, a 1000 page batch, in some systems, cannot move onto the next step unless all pages have been indexed. In the past, many process required documents to be counted so they could be matched to the system to ensure the correct number of pages have been scanned. In most cases, this is no longer needed as the double-feed detection on new scanners, especially the Fujitsu scanners that we recommend, work perfectly.

Scanning – In some cases, we see the mail room doing the scanning once documents have been prepped. I would estimate about 20% of our customers are doing this. The remainder still has the Accounts Payable department scan batches. After the scanning process, the batches can be boxed with a date, and retained by day or week for redundancy and compliance if needed. If you must keep the paper for 7 years, clearly label the full box with the date range and the year the documents were scanned. Lastly, develop an organized method of storing these boxes in a warehouse until destruction is required. Keep in mind how documents may need to be accessed if required for auditing. In most cases, the last year should be easily available. Other boxes should also be stored in such a way that allows for them to be destroyed without upsetting the prior boxes in the chain. First in First Out (FIFO) is great, but just be careful that the documents to be destroyed are not 3 pallets deep on the bottom of a stack. The process of storing these documents off-site by companies such as Iron Mountain is a good idea if it works for your solution. They handle the destruction based on rules you setup. All you need to do is fill the boxes with scanned invoices and they will pick them up on a weekly basis.

The above tips can be implemented even if you don’t use a mailroom for scanning or have a company to handle document warehousing. The key to a good up front process is organizing the tasks, and keeping workers who sort and prep the documents functioning efficiently while using the least amount of steps in the process.

By Paul Pitts
VP of Professional Services
All Star Software Systems, LLC