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DAF Trucks, a part of the American company PACCAR, was facing a significant challenge in managing its accounting department. The department was overwhelmed with paperwork, with an average of 50,000 outgoing invoices printed twice a month and forwarded to internal processing points and around 1,000 worldwide trading partners and service offices. The situation was even more complex when processing the 450,000 incoming A/P invoices received per year in both paper and EDI format. The audit chain involved three checkpoints: receipt of goods in the warehouse, checking that everything in the order was as expected, and that the invoice had the correct price. However, in about 20 percent of cases, at least one of these checkpoints was not fulfilled, leading to about 90,000 cases per year where employees had to consult with the relevant specialist department and send copies of invoices by post to branches worldwide tracking down the information.

Maryland Management, a leading property management firm in the greater Baltimore area, was struggling with an inefficient method for storing and transferring tenant applications and leases for processing by the corporate office. The company, which manages around 9,000 units, was facing difficulties in finding a copy of a lease due to the industry's average apartment turnover rate of 41%. Prior to implementing DocuWare, each apartment community was responsible for submitting their credit and leasing applications to the corporate office for review. Once applications were received via courier, it took over a week to process, file and notify the apartment community of the decision. This resulted in new and existing tenants having to wait a long time for notification of their application status.

PEER Bearing Company, a global manufacturer of bearing and bearing-related products, was facing challenges with its sales order workflow. The company was using a combination of manual processes and fax transmissions to receive orders from customers. Once an order was placed, an acknowledgement confirming the terms of the order was printed and faxed back to the customer. This process was time-consuming and prone to the loss or misplacement of paper documents. These important sales records were stored in file drawers and eventually moved to boxed storage in a warehouse. Nearly 140 man hours a week were needed to organize and file the orders paperwork. With so much paper in the office, employees were always leaving their desks to find the information they needed. The company was spending $18,000 annually in printing and faxing costs and an additional $42,000 in labor costs associated with faxing, filing and retrieving paper documents.

Metalen Galler, a Belgian iron and steel products wholesaler, was facing increasing pressure from competition and increasing demands from customers for attractive prices, flexible delivery options, and short processing times. The company's sales structure was divided into areas of steel products and iron products, resulting in a decentralized storage and separate processing methods. This led to time-consuming searches as more copies were made and documents were filed more than once. The annual volume of 200,000 documents created huge amounts of paper, leading to bad morale among employees. The company needed to find a way to increase the efficiency of its business processes without neglecting customer service.

The King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC) in Amman, Jordan, is a specialized cancer hospital treating both adult and pediatric patients. The operations at KHCC, like all hospital operations, are very paper-intensive. These paper-based documents are generated from multiple departments within KHCC such as clinics, wards, pharmacy, etc. The paper documents contain comprehensive information about cancer patients who receive treatment in the hospital and represent authenticated reference history for all patients. The Medical Records Department at KHCC is responsible for keeping all paper-based documents of all patient files and ensures that they are available upon request. However, its paper-based patient records can only be accessed from 8:30 am to 5:00, Saturday through Wednesday. These records needed to be requested in advance of appointments and were physically delivered to the various clinics. Records that were missing, misfiled or with another clinic were a hindrance to providing day-to-day quality care to the patients.

Prophete, a leading two-wheel manufacturer and wholesaler, needed to maintain a balance between customer demands for reasonable price, fast availability, and high quality of service. They realized the need for modern IT programs that could increase both the efficiency of business processes and the ability to communicate information to customers and sales partners. This led to the decision in 2006 to expand their IT department’s document repository by introducing a centralized document management system. The company required a central document repository with company-wide access, work-flow functionality, and integration with Navision and ABBYY FlexiCapture 8.0 Professional.

Butterfield Private Bank, a part of the Butterfield Bank Group, was facing a significant challenge with the huge amount of paperwork created every day. The bank was looking for a solution to reduce this paperwork and save on paper and storage costs. Additionally, the bank needed to meet government regulations and requirements of the Data Protection Act. The bank's activities were divided into three main areas: personal banking for High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI), banking and corporate accounts, and investment portfolios. As a result, a main file for each customer was kept, with many other files necessary on one single person as documents came in for filing in various departments. The information collected on these individuals was cross-departmental, leading to a complex and paper-heavy filing system. The UK government regulations required that transactional records be kept for 7 years, adding to the volume of paperwork.

UNIMED, the largest health insurance company in the south of Brazil, was facing challenges with managing a large volume of documents including medical records, hospital charts, doctor statements and more. The company has 30 offices spread out over 800 kilometers, each operating as a separate entity but sharing documentation among all offices. The original document cannot leave the office of origin, so copies of patient records and bills are sent back and forth between offices for processing every 15 days. This resulted in multiple copies of the same information at several different locations. When a patient visits an in-network UNIMED physician, the medical records and billing documents are processed and stored at the local UNIMED office. If a patient seeks a second opinion or chooses to see a UNIMED doctor in another city, the two offices must bill each other for the visit. This complex process often led to tests being repeated two to three times since the original test results are not easily available to the second physician. This was a drain on the organization’s bottom line and efficiency, and contributed to the huge amount of records UNIMED needed to maintain.

The administration department of the CHMLC is required to process several thousand documents every month; the majority of which are incoming invoices and large volumes of correspondence concerning grant applications. The center also receives personnel certificates and request forms from the branch offices. Ten employees are responsible for dealing with this huge volume of paperwork, the majority of which is received at the different offices and then transferred to central administration. Before DocuWare was implemented, incoming invoices and internal application forms used to be sent by courier to central administration. Once there, the hard copies were transferred from one table to another according to an established workflow. Each employee kept a copy of the most important document, leading to unnecessary duplications. This traditional way of handling documentation made it difficult to keep a check on processes and a large of amount of time used to be wasted searching for a specific document.

Advance Cabinet Designs Inc. (ACD) is a family-owned business that manufactures custom commercial cabinets for clients in the Northwest United States. The company had a paper-based accounts payable process that involved different employees adding documents to an information packet that moved from desk to desk. This process was inefficient and time-consuming. Additionally, ACD’s job files, which contained everything relating to a project, were in paper form and could be up to 10 inches thick. These files were often unorganized and not readily accessible to all employees. The company needed a system that would allow them to easily share information between employees and verify that the information being shared was the current version.

Jaya Apparel Group, a designer and manufacturer of clothing for high-end boutiques and large department stores, was facing several challenges. The company was able to process orders electronically but had no way to store and manage the information other than printing it out and filing it in banker’s boxes. This paper intense process meant that important information contained on documents such as customer PO’s, pick tickets, bills of lading, invoices, shipping tallies was difficult to retrieve. Researching receivable payment discrepancies was a complex process that was often so cumbersome that the company was unable to refute customer claims. The company needed an electronic document management system to improve their workflow by routing documents through a multi-step process, without using email. The solution needed to integrate with their AS/400 based ERP system and be able to automatically index and archive EDI transmissions, as well as serve as an archive for hand-written documents which would be scanned and imported.

Before the implementation of DocuWare in 2008, all documents related to the entire workflow process of projects at KONSING GROUP Ltd had to go through a long and tedious process. Documents were sent in by mail, scanned, and distributed via email to five different departments. An equal amount of documents were physically transported from one office to another. With more than 5000 documents a month, it was necessary to have several administration officers handle the distribution and filing of all incoming mail. The documents ranged from inquiries on possible installations, to plans on installations or construction, contracts, financial correspondence, and invoices. The management at KONSING GROUP Ltd wanted a solution to their paper filing and workflow process. They wanted faster delivery and remittance of documents especially before and after a contract was signed.

Invest Bank S.A., a retail bank based in Poznan, Poland, was struggling with the management of their document workflow due to the large volume of bank mandates, transaction records, loans, credit checks, invoices, emails, and signature patterns. They were processing a minimum of 100 credit applications a day. The bank needed a solution to improve the speed of the work processes involving loan applications and the filing of the applications themselves and all the documents pertaining. It was absolutely necessary to limit the time required to process the credit documentation verifications. It was also important to obtain a higher degree of integration flexibility with other units, such as the Ultimus BPM Suite Software, which controls the entire process of form completion and activity automation that, previously, had been managed manually.

SAMSON AG, a German company specializing in instrumentation and control systems, was facing challenges with its paper-based document management system. The company was generating around 15,000 documents daily in the sales department alone, all of which had to be printed and filed. The central paper filing system was kept in several basement storerooms, and outdated documents were regularly boxed up and stored elsewhere. This led to a lot of work, especially when looking for documents. If one of the sales offices needed information about a transaction, documentation was even sent back and forth through the mail. There was no way to guarantee that the files they received were up-to-date and complete.

Before implementing a Document Management System, Lyonnaise des Eaux stored all its business documents, technical documentation, and landed property deeds in physical files. Locating a specific document was a tedious process, often leading to frustration and wasted time. Not all documents were catalogued, and those stored in the basement were never indexed, making retrieval even more difficult. The company needed a solution that would provide direct access to all archived documents and integrate with the existing APIC geographic information system. The goal was to save space and provide a large number of employees with easy access to all documents.

Christian Health Care Center (CHCC) was struggling with redundant data entry, slow insurance invoicing time, and poor internal information sharing. The Center manages a variety of documents from different departments, with a focus on digitally managing the documents in the Admissions and Education Departments. Each of the Center's programs has its own admission process and set of documents, all of which require an application, signed consent forms, billing information, a copy of the insurance card, and insurance verification documentation. This information was manually entered into the Center's system, and other necessary documents were added to the patient's record. The Education Department needed to store staff certifications and sign-in sheets for clinical and non-clinical programs, as well as other documents such as tests and course outlines. The Center was looking for a powerful, modular, document imaging system that could provide not only a departmental solution, but one that could grow into a workflow system throughout the organization.

Bromwall Ltd., a rapidly growing insurance broker, was facing the challenge of managing a flood of paperwork on a daily basis. The documents, ranging from policies and claims to client presentations and new business, were coming in from various sources. The paper-based system was inefficient and time-consuming, often requiring employees to return phone calls after first identifying the case and matching the pertaining records. The company needed an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system to manage the influx of documents and free up time for personnel to handle other tasks. The solution also needed to integrate with 'Act! by Sage' and 'Paperport' by Nuance, two other standard software systems used by Bromwall.

The healthcare system has reached an impasse with vanishing government support, escalating costs, aging demographics, and the expense of keeping up with medical progress. This has forced everyone working in the field to find innovative new ways to improve workflow processes. Feldkirch Regional Hospital in Vorarlberg, Austria, recognized early on the need for modern IT systems. By 1995 they had already implemented the Patidok electronic Healthcare Information Management System (HIMS). However, maximum efficiency is only reached with a HIS when paper-based documents are fully integrated into the electronic information flow. Therefore, they decided in 2002 to completely convert to electronic patient files. A basic requirement of this was the addition of an electronic archive.

HARIBO, a leading manufacturer of fruit gummies, licorice, and foam sugar products, needed to work effectively in all areas to maintain its global market position. This required the use of a modern document management system. The main factors for choosing DocuWare were the easy integration into their IBM System i (AS/400) and the expertise of the nearby partner/ system house. Their DocuWare Partner was faced with a particular challenge: replacing an older DMS and migrating several million documents as smoothly as possible. The requirement profile for the new solution was clearly defined. All documents required for day-to-day business – such as customer correspondence, delivery slips and invoices, purchasing and logistics documents as well as payroll accounting records – were to be captured centrally and made available to authorized employees at the push of a button. The aim was to extend and standardize established workflows in a meaningful way. Further goals included expanding worldwide use with simultaneous connection of all company subsidiaries to the digital archive; a simple data and document migration process; as well as the automatic indexing of all documents. Direct availability of archived documents from the ERP application also needed to be ensured.

The Providence Center, a mental health and substance use treatment center, was struggling with the limitations of paper-based medical records. These records were only accessible from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and needed to be requested in advance of appointments. This was a hindrance to providing quality care to clients, especially in emergency situations. The Center had already eliminated most of its handwritten forms and had an electronic forms creation system in place, but once the forms were completed, they were printed and stored in a paper medical record. The Center needed a solution that would allow for 24/7 access to clinical records, improve the quality of records by reducing human error, and meet the privacy requirements of HIPAA.

BUTEC, a leading consulting firm in the areas of environmental protection, quality management, and workplace safety, was facing challenges in managing its growing volume of documents. The company's increasing client base and a trend towards providing long-term consulting services led to a surge in information. Searching through their paper archive became increasingly tedious, leading to duplicate efforts and long retrieval times. Even the creation of a central filing process was not enough to alleviate these issues. The company needed a solution that could efficiently manage their documents and provide a flexible knowledge pool.

Serviceline, a company that provides maintenance and repair services for kitchen/catering equipment, was facing several challenges. The company was dealing with a high volume of paper-based Field Service Reports (FSRs) that were sent in by mail, taking at least two to three days to arrive. These reports then had to be manually indexed by a Job Manager. This process was time-consuming and inefficient. Additionally, the company was required to retain information for its customers and suppliers, which led to a need for a large amount of physical storage space. The company was also looking to improve its customer service and invoice control processes.

Fletcher Jones Mercedes-Benz (FJMB), the largest Mercedes-Benz dealer in the USA, was struggling with the volume of paper records generated from car sales and repair orders. The company could only store six months of documentation onsite, and the rest had to be moved to a third-party offsite storage facility. This resulted in slow retrieval times, inefficient document management, and high costs, estimated at $40,000 annually. The paper-based system was not keeping up with the volume of records FJMB needed to manage. The company wanted a system that could index automatically without the need for manual intervention, and that had the ability to scan a stack of documents and automatically recognize and separate the pages into individual records. They also wanted a system that stored the images in a non-proprietary format and gave them the ability to backup information on CDs or DVDs that would work as a stand-alone system.

Jack Tighe Ltd, a UK-based industrial painting company, was struggling with the multitude of invoices that needed to be processed every day. The process they were using was cumbersome. Purchase and sales invoices, remittance advices, supplier statements, all had to be individually photocopied and distributed. Numbers had to be manually assigned, stamps needed to be applied and then returned or transferred to other departments. The accounts department received over 100 invoices by post every day, which had to be sorted based on which Jack Tighe company they referred to. In addition, about 150 sales invoices needed to be produced in any one day. The invoices were typed into Microsoft Excel by entering relevant information into templates set up for the different customers. After creating the sales invoices, an invoice number was assigned from and was then copied as it was printed. One of the copies was sent to the customer, one copy went to credit control for the ledger where it was filed numerically. The third copy went to a job file. Whenever remittance advices and statements from suppliers were received, they were filed in alphabetical order under different files such as credit control or customers names. Whenever a customer called to check on the status of his payment or order, files had to be physically carried to the desk. Only after searching for the relevant statements could the customers be called back and their queries be answered.

Georg Fischer DEKA GmbH, a pipe system specialist, was facing a challenge due to the extensive production data they had to archive. The laws surrounding product liability required that all manufacturing documentation is securely retained for more than 50 years. The company was looking for an alternative to archiving with paper due to the increasing storage space requirements. Additionally, the company saw this as an opportunity to re-think and reorganize the way their company communicates. In the past, each work group as well as each individual staffer had their own filing system. Records were manually organized, copied and filed in binders. Then after each year, the documents would be placed in a central storage space, which only an authorized employee could access. The search for any older records was rather difficult and took a lot of time. Any exchange of documents between departments was often problematic and even more time-consuming. Customer inquiries could not be handled quickly, since documents had to be moved within the building via “tube mail.“

The City of Niles, Michigan, provides its residents with water, sewer, and electricity services. The Utilities department was struggling to fulfill customer inquiries and perform internal audits due to the complexity of their billing software and electrical rates. They were unable to view or recreate old bills, and only had access to the dollar amount of the bill. Detailed information such as the rate, meter number, service location, and address was essentially lost. When electrical rates changed, the software was reprogrammed with a new rate structure, making adjusting the rate or recreating an old bill impossible. The department wanted to implement a flexible document management system that could grow and change with the department’s changing needs.

Douglas County, Oregon, with a population of 100,000, was facing challenges in managing a large volume of records across multiple departments. The Sheriff’s Department had years of old case reports stored on paper and microfilm, making the vast reservoir of information essentially useless because it wasn’t searchable. The Health Department had original documents stored in several locations, causing inefficiencies and making compliance with HIPAA privacy requirements difficult. The Assessor’s Department was dealing with a large volume of forms, resulting in long document retrieval times. The County needed a system that could handle a large volume of documents, operate in a multi-site environment, automate indexing, and possess advanced search features.

Tompkins Cortland Community College, part of the State University of New York (SUNY), was facing challenges with their paper-based student file system. The college's two most important student documents, the student folder and permanent record card, were physically stored and could only be accessed by one person or department at a time. This led to inefficiencies as staff members from various departments had to physically retrieve the folder from the last department who had referenced it. The college had previously digitized all 40,000 of their permanent record cards, but the system used was outdated and no longer met their needs. They needed a non-proprietary, flexible system to store all documents digitally and provide seamless access to all staff members involved in a process.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Justice had a challenge of managing documents across its 150 courts located across the country. Each court maintained its own paper archive, making it time and cost-intensive to obtain documents from other locations. The Ministry of Justice had a clear vision of what they wanted from their Document Management System (DMS). They wanted to streamline processes, integrate their Oracle database, and provide access to the document pool from all locations. The decision to install a DMS came as part of the „Phare Programme“, an international project launched by the European Union. The goal of the project is to successively automate the organization and processes of the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice.

sudhoff technik, a wholesaler of custom rubber, plastic, and aluminum products, was facing challenges with its warehouse workflows. The company was dealing with a large volume of paper documents, including incoming documents and approximately 130,000 outgoing proof-of-shipping slips and invoices. The process of sorting and filing these documents was tedious and prone to errors. If a customer called to track a shipment, an employee in the warehouse would have to go through all of this documentation to find the answer. The company was also building a new logistics center and needed to eliminate the space-wasting paper archive and make their business processes flow more efficiently.