Get Efficient With Document Management

Founded by Giles Scott in 1995, Scott Technology Group began operation as a traditional office equipment dealer selling a complete line of Savin copiers. Unlike many of his counterparts, Scott didn’t resist the evolution of technology. Instead, he embraced it, leveraging the scanning capabilities of today’s MFPs to create complete document management solutions. In so doing, his company has grown to more than $4 million in annual revenue.

One recent success story in Scott Technology’s transformation from copier dealer to document management solutions provider came as a result of an ongoing partnership with Mengali Accountancy. Mengali receives over 200 documents each day including invoices, bank statements, loan statements, and more. To keep up with the incoming wave of paper, work was divided among the staff according to client only, with no consideration of whether the task was a basic transaction or something more complex, making it difficult for the firm to fully utilize its senior accountants.

Additionally, documents were filed manually in a central filing room. Filing was a time-consuming but critical task for every employee in the company, limited in effectiveness by the inevitability of human error. As such, misfiles and lost documents had a monumental negative impact. The majority of Mengali’s clients use the firm as an off-site accounting department and, as such, the firm receives numerous requests for source documents (documentation that supports an expenditure — such as a vendor’s itemized invoice). The time spent searching for one missed file could disrupt an entire department and, in a small office like Mengali’s, the entire staff. With audits occurring year-round, the accounting firm needed a better way to manage and retrieve information.

Incorporate MFPs And EDM
Scott Technology knew that to address efficiency challenges at Mengali, it would need a solution that could incorporate document imaging, workflow, and retrieval. The answer was DocuWare, EDM (electronic document management) software that could be integrated with the MFPs that Mengali was already using. The installation immediately transformed Mengali into a paperless office.

Incoming documents are now scanned into DocuWare using the firm’s existing MFPs and electronically stamped as received. The received stamp enables the firm’s DocuWare Coordinator to fill in specific indexing information using drop-down select lists that Scott Technology customized. The lists contain information that distinguishes actual document type and task, as well as client. The entered index information also automatically routes each document to the appropriate employee based on a predetermined workflow, enabling Mengali to better match the task to the skill set of each employee.

Now employees receive documents in an electronic folder on their desktop. As each employee finishes their specific task with a specific document, they can add their own electronic stamp, using another drop-down select list to specify what work has been done, by whom, and when. Completion of a task will send the document on to the next step in the workflow or, when finished, to a central DocuWare electronic file repository. The electronic repository also eliminated Mengali’s file searching headache. Now when a customer or auditor requests documentation, staff can search for the document right from their desktops, often emailing it while still on the phone.

Bolster Margins By Focusing On Document Management Software
Although the Mengali solution was not this dealer’s biggest sale — approximately $10,000, it may very well have been the most important. Scott says his entire business has grown exponentially since completing the initial project with Mengali. “It has turned out to be a very high-profile account for us,” says Scott. “We have closed some deals, including one direct referral, and several others just from what they have heard about Mengali.” Scott Technology is on track to grow $25,000 to $50,000 per year stemming from referrals.

“Our focus has shifted to document management software because it yields greater margins than hardware sales,” says Scott. In 2007, Scott Technology had nine document management installations. Since its success with Mengali, these sales grew to four per month by the end of 2008. Overall, document management sales for Scott Technology grew nearly 150% in 2008.