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From Document Manager Magazine Vol 18 No 02 - April 2010

Leading Nigerian integrated energy company, Oando, has deployed Kodak's Scan Station network scanners to improve information access, enhance efficiency and reduce costs

Oando Plc, Nigeria's leading indigenous integrated energy provider, has installed 20 standalone Kodak Scan Station network scanners, along with NSi AutoStore document capture software and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, to automate the whole process of handling and storing documents across the group. The electronic document management system (EDMS) is intended to enhance knowledge management and information sharing, enable quick retrieval of documents, improve organisational efficiency and ultimately reduce the costs associated with document handling and storage. The group had earlier successfully implemented an ERP system in 2007 and plans to integrate it with the EDMS.

The solution was supplied by Kodak partner, IQ Systems Solutions, based in Lagos, in a deal worth around US$1 million which also includes the purchase of additional servers, the installation of a 35 terabyte EMC storage area network (SAN) and the management of a physical archive in Lagos and Kaduna. The largest integrated energy group in sub-Saharan Africa, Oando is growing fast with revenues increasing over 57% per annum since 2004. With over 1,000 people employed, the company has six key business units within the group encompassing upstream, midstream and downstream operations. This includes exploration and production, energy services, gas and power, refining, supply and trading and marketing/retailing. Indeed, one in every five litres of petrol sold in Nigeria is through Oando's 500 retail outlets. Oando has purchased 12 Kodak Scan Station 500 multifunction network scanners along with three A3 flat bed accessories. The scanners have 8-inch LCD touch screens and capture duplex documents at up to 30 pages per minute or 3,000 pages per day. These are in addition to its eight existing Kodak Scan Station 100 units.

Emeka Uchendi, Oando Plc's head of IT, says, "Prior to installing an EDMS, sharing information across the group was challenging, with storing and handling of physical documents a herculean task."

One of the driving forces behind implementing an EDMS solution was to enable Oando to track and manage the creation of records throughout their lifecycle. Uchendi says, "Our records management policy has been extended from physical to electronic documents and guides how we produce, retain, archive and ultimately destroy every single paper document." Running an energy business involves the creation and management of a huge amount of paperwork from financial documents such as contracts and invoices, to generic office documents and engineering drawings and technical documents. Oando went through a thorough procurement process to select the right scanning solution, with two companies shortlisted. After reviewing technical specifications, talking to other end-users in Nigeria and assessing the suppliers' pedigree and expertise, Kodak was chosen over its main rival because Oando considered it to have a superior technical advantage.

Kodak Scan Station networked scanners have been installed within every division. Victor Ajufoh-Obi, executive director, sales and business development, IQ Systems Solutions, says, "Oando wanted standalone equipment so staff in each division could simply walk up and scan documents straight into SharePoint via bespoke portals as quickly and efficiently as possible. NSi AutoStore is loaded on each machine and the screen tailored per division. So, someone working in the marketing business for example only has access rights for the marketing portal and can just upload documents there. And the situation is the same across all divisions."

NSi AutoStore captures documents locally with images transmitted to Microsoft SharePoint via the bespoke built portals and then stored in the EMC SAN which is located in Oando's centralised IT department. Staff have been impressed with the Kodak Scan Station devices' ease of use as well as their range of innovative features. For example, the Kodak Scan Station 500 is the first and only scanner to have a voice attachment feature which enables Oando staff to send helpful verbal messages with instructions about the documents they are scanning simply by attaching a WAV file. In addition the Kodak Scan Station 500 is up to 9 times faster than competitive products (at 200 dpi duplex colour scanning), offers whisper-quiet operation and allows optional A3 or A4 tethered flatbeds to be attached. Uchendi concludes, "Today, we have a world class solution for document and content management and single source of the truth per document." This has meant that users throughout the business have stopped sending each other so many emails with documents attached, resulting in a storage saving of around 40%. In the future, Oando will be taking advantage of the workflow features in the NSi AutoStore and SharePoint software to route documents like expense claims to the appropriate people for approval. Also, Oando is planning to digitise its two physical archive centres so that documents are available electronically; a project expected to be completed in 2010. Ajufoh-Obi says, "We're starting to see more and more companies embrace EDMS in Nigeria, and Oando is a pioneer in this area. For over a year, we've worked in close partnership with them to bring our knowledge and expertise to bear to help them get the most out of their investment in document management technology - a project which has been a resounding success."

David Whitton, Kodak's UK sales manager, says, "Connecting directly to an IP network without the need for a PC, the compact Kodak Scan Station network scanners provide a convenient way for everyone in an office to digitise documents for easy sharing and saving. Oando is a significant reference site for Kodak and we're delighted to see them making such good use of the equipment."

More info: www.kodak.com/go/docimaging

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