Fortune 500 Manufacturer Benefits from Document Management Solution
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2006 was a landmark year for this manufacturer: it marked the 200th anniversary of the founding of the company, which started as a small business in New York City early in the 19th century. Today, the company is a household name. During the past two hundred years, it has grown to serve hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide. With sales surpassing $10 billion, the company focuses on four core businesses that serve the needs of people and their pets, selling its products in more than two hundred countries and territories across the globe.
2006 was a milestone for the company for another reason as well: it marked the beginning of the company’s second decade using document management technology. Electronic document management (EDM) software provides the company with valuable insights about their clientele, and facilitates quicker and better decision-making. For more than ten years, the DocFinity® suite by Optical Image Technology, Inc. (OIT) has provided this global business with fast, efficient access to all of its consumer research records. Currently, DocFinity houses tens of thousands of records distributed throughout scores of the company’s subsidiaries worldwide, and that number is expected to increase dramatically within the next three years. All demographic, financial, advertising, and other critical business information, which was previously stockpiled in a room full of binders and filing cabinets, is now stored electronically within the DocFinity reservoir.
DocFinity software controls an electronic storage repository that houses all of the company’s consumer research from 1995 through the present. The company uses Oracle to store the metadata about the documents, and DocFinity IntraVIEWER® is used for input and retrieval of its marketing documents. The marketing department, which is the secondlargest department following sales, includes domestic and global marketing, the sales force, and insights groups; each department needs access to the materials. The users also access consumer research for North America and its subsidiaries. All of the research done in North America for more than a decade, which includes studies from more than 100 countries, is housed within the system. Times have changed and the software has been transformed over the course of a decade, but OIT’s service and commitment to its customers has remained constant.
Accessing consumer research: building the case for document management
As early as 1995, the company’s Consumer Insights and Research Information Services manager recognized that his department would realize significant benefits from an EDM system. Since the department supplies information to all of the company’s consumer research divisions worldwide, as well as ad agencies, quick and easy access to pertinent information was important. The manager had researched several vendors, but he was particularly impressed with OIT’s customer service relationships. As a result, he spearheaded an implementation effort: he devised a strategic plan as well as a presentation that demonstrated both the company’s need and its projected return on investment using OIT’s DocFinity document management software.
The company conducted its first beta test of the product in the mid-1990’s and purchased the DocFinity enterprise solution in 1996. This included the DocFinity Core (including imaging, retrieval and viewing with DocFinity IntraVIEWER) and DocFinity Print/Fax Server. DocFinity is used to store nearly all critical information, including the tracking of the company’s competition. Initially, the consumer insights department funded the bulk of the implementation, which was augmented by contributions from the global and the IT departments for network resources. After implementation, staff was able to instantly retrieve and view any information that they needed. Their records were more organized, and they had information at their fingertips for product launches. Instant electronic access to their records also gave the company the ability to address legal issues quickly, as they were able to prove critical cases with supportive historical data.
The initial implementation: capturing reports electronically
The Consumer Insights and Research Information Services department creates voluminous reports of their research information. Rather than scanning entire reports into the system, the department creates notes that function as abstracts, which summarize the individual reports. The notes are fashioned in freeform text and are attached to each scanned report. In the case of reports that are too large to scan practically, the notes are attached to a “dummy” page, referencing and describing the content of the report. Based on that description, users can then request delivery of a paper copy or electronic copy of the actual report.
At the time of their initial DocFinity implementation, the company had had no need for indexing capabilities and chose not to take advantage of these tools. The staff simply scanned in all of their information and stored it electronically. As their needs changed, however, they realized that the ability to search would make the department much more efficient.
At the company’s request, OIT developed a custom interface that enabled users to drill through a cascade or enter keywords in order to locate specific research information. Custom code was also written so that staff could perform full-text searches of their notes. More recently, OIT collaborated with the company to upgrade their searching and indexing capabilities, take advantage of the software’s significantly expanded capabilities, and to eliminate the custom coding of the early years. Over the past decade, DocFinity has evolved in response to its users’ needs—in accordance with its stated mission—to help its customers achieve a higher level of business performance. The functionality that businesses such as this manufacturer requested in the early years has long been a standard within the software, and all users have benefited by response to these specific needs.
Although the company has grown significantly since the initial installation more than a decade ago, customer service remains a high priority at OIT. This strong relationship between the vendor and customer feels more like a partnership, with each party contributing to the other in meaningful ways.
A look to the future: embracing technology with online forms and SAP integration
This manufacturer has big plans for the future of the company’s DocFinity implementation. Currently, the staff prints all of their notes and distributes them to personnel at the executive level for review, as well as to initiate requests for associated documents. Plans are currently in the works to provide all of the notes in XML forms, nicely formatted, for efficient online review and to eliminate printing. Ultimately, there are plans to integrate with SAP.
By leveraging DocFinity software as it has evolved since the initial implementation, the company is able to take advantage of OIT’s advancing technology, helping their staff to work more efficiently and providing their managers with critical information. The Consumer Insights manager has no qualms about DocFinity’s abilities to grow with the company as it expands. As he says, “Customer service and attention to client needs have always been a priority with OIT. Over the years, I’ve seen a positive effort to maintain that.”
To view additional case studies, or to learn more about Optical Image Technology’s Professional Services Department, please contact Optical Image Technology (http://www.docfinity.com) at 814.238.0038 or email info@docfinity.com.
