CaseStudy

From Document Manager Magazine Vol 17 No 05 - September/October 2009

Railway industry specialist Volker Rail has seen significant improvements in its invoice processing since implementing a SharePoint based automation solution

Railway industry specialist Volker Rail has seen significant improvements in its invoice processing since implementing a SharePoint based automation solution

 "The business now has greater visibility of invoices in query which should lead to an improved payment cycle, ensuring our suppliers are paid in a timelier manner.
The obvious benefits of the implementation of KnowledgeLake has led to other areas of the business showing an interest in improved document management and VolkerRail are currently scanning all Cash Book payments and are planning to scan staff timesheets, sub contract invoices, employee records and transmittal forms."

VolkerRail Ltd is a UK-based group of companies providing a range of multi-disciplinary infrastructure contracting services to the railway industry - from major projects to track renewals and specialised operations including signalling, OHLE, power distribution, plant, welding and specialist rail coatings. VolkerRail had experienced challenges in the areas of invoice storage, retrieval and approval. Unnecessary time was spent on travelling as well as manually locating and filing invoices. At the same time the manual process led to lost invoices.
Since invoices were not immediately and easily available and visits to the invoice storage facility was done on an ad hoc basis, invoices could age and project cost reconciliations could become out of date, compromising financial control on accruals as well as project budgeting processes.     

A SharePoint Solution
After evaluating various document imaging solutions, including a native adapter for the incumbent financial system, VolkerRail selected a combination of Fujitsu workgroup scanners, KnowledgeLake Imaging and Microsoft SharePoint, implemented with the help of Microsoft Gold Partners, Dynamyx. The priority was to deliver a solution to scan and host purchase ledger invoices online for a geographically dispersed audience. On successful roll-out of a group wide purchase ledger imaging solution, other processes within the accounting and human resources departments are also scheduled for automation.
Matthew Booth, Volker Rail business analyst, explains, "We selected Microsoft SharePoint as the base platform for our solution because of its ease of use and compatibility with other applications within the Microsoft Office suite. VolkerRail’s internal Intranet uses Microsoft SharePoint and we wanted a consistent look and feel for our scanning solution."
The solution allows the purchase ledger team to code invoices in the accounting system and then scan and index them into SharePoint. Users work in teams of two sharing a small footprint Fujitsu fi-6140 workgroup scanner per team. The speed and ease-of-use of the scanner (that supports automatic duplex scanning at up to 80 sides per minute) allow users to process up to 300 invoices per day using KnowledgeLake Capture.
Scanning rules in KnowledgeLake include bar code recognition, page separation, blank page detection and various imaging enhancements. During indexing, KnowledgeLake allow users to see the image and relevant properties side by side and require that only the coded reference number of the invoice be entered. Other properties are loaded and validated automatically from the backend accounting system. On average it takes users 25 seconds to process an invoice from paper to SharePoint.
‘The implementation of the scanning system in our department has been quick and easy: we found staff required minimal amounts of training before being confident on using the software," enthused purchase ledger supervisor Michelle Walters. "Scanning has reduced the amount of time staff had previously spent copying filed invoices for commercial staff, and the system means any member of staff can have access to electronic copies of documents anywhere in the country. More recently the AP team has stopped filing invoices away, we are now solely storing our invoices electronically, and this again has saved the department valuable time. The scanning system has proved a valuable tool which has saved our busy department valuable man hours; I would recommend this software to any AP department without a scanning solution’.
By selecting Fujitsu scanners and using KnowledgeLake Document Imaging for SharePoint, VolkerRail ensured that a generic and scalable platform for document imaging is available to the whole group while at the same time leveraging their investment in Microsoft technologies.

Present and future benefits
•           Enhanced document visibility - it was not previously possible for stakeholders to access invoices from remote locations. Users of the solution can now simply log into SharePoint to confirm that an invoice has arrived, check the invoice status and update the invoice properties without leaving their desk.
•           Reduced paper storage requirement - because invoices are scanned into SharePoint the paper copies can now be moved to more cost effective storage as they are no longer required as part of the invoice approval lifecycle.
•           Instant document retrieval - invoices can be found instantly by running a search on invoice properties or sorted using the SharePoint views functionality. Time is saved in comparison to manual searching. 
•           Filing time reduced - automated filling can be done faster than manual filing with the use of drop down selection boxes, automatically populating fields from the accounting system and indexing invoices directly into the system.
•           Improved security - only staff with the appropriate access levels in SharePoint are able to view and change the properties of invoices. 
•           Better document governance - by scanning invoices straight into SharePoint on arrival the risk of misplacing invoices are reduced. It is also possible to immediately check invoice status rather than invoking a manual search process. 
•           Opportunities for re-use and extension - the solution is not limited to a specific functional area in VolkerRail and can be used as a basis for future solutions across the group.

The Dynamyx Approach
The project commenced with a problem identification workshop to facilitate the development of a joint understanding of the challenges and issues experienced within the purchase ledger area as well as investigation of possible approaches and potential solutions. This workshop was attended by business representatives, information technology stakeholders and the Dynamyx solution architect.
Once the necessary levels of stakeholder buy-in has been achieved, a detailed implementation workshop was scheduled to elaborate the content taxonomy for SharePoint and to establish auto-indexing by linking SP content types to the accounting system using KnowledgeLake Imaging server.
The next step was a process workshop to understand role players, sequence of activities and ownership. The deliverables from this workshop provided the context for the project plan and high level milestones as well as the baseline requirements for a proof of concept to illustrate how the solution would work.
Armed with the business requirements and aware of the technical integration and development timeframes the architect developed a prototype application which formed the basis for the solution. Training was held in small groups of up to three staff members at a time and focused on the use of KnowledgeLake, SharePoint and Fujitsu Workgroup Scanners.
In total the solution took three months to roll out including the implementation of SharePoint. The companies in the group with the lowest invoice volumes were migrated to the solution first, after which a schedule kicked off where another company in the group is added to the system each week.
The cost effective solution from Dynamyx allows VolkerRail to leverage investments already made as well as staff familiarity with existing Microsoft productivity applications. Furthermore the system was considered to be easy to use and maintain - underpinned by the Fujitsu Workgroup Scanners that required very little training.
"Dynamyx were the shining light during the review stage of the project," concluded Matthew Booth, "VolkerRail held meetings with various suppliers and it was not only the benefits of KnowledgeLake and its cost effectiveness, but also the willingness and determination of Dynamyx to deliver a product that was suitable for VolkerRail that made the partnership of KnowledgeLake, Dynamyx and Fujitsu the obvious choice."

More info: www.dynamyx.com

CaseStudy