Profusio Leipzig, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, is required to create comprehensive documentation and protocols regarding the production process and must retain them for at least 5 years after the expiration period of the drug has ended. This results in more than 450,000 pages of production, quality control, and release documents that have to be archived every year, adding 1,500 every day. The company needed a solution to better cope with this document volume and to be able to quickly find documents on demand. The company also wanted to save natural resources by completely going paperless. The documentation security was the key aspect in drug manufacturing.

Mengali Accountancy, a boutique CPA firm, was looking to streamline their work processes, improve fraud prevention, and transition to a paperless office. The firm was dealing with a high volume of incoming documents received via mail, which were then manually scanned, indexed, and routed through a predefined workflow. This process was time-consuming and involved mundane tasks of filing and refiling paper documents. The firm also wanted to divide their workload by task and client and match them to the skill set of each employee. They aimed to assign basic transactional processes to entry-level staff, thus freeing up senior accountants to address more complex tasks.

MANN Energie, a specialist for wood pellets and eco-electricity, was dealing with a significant amount of paper waste in their offices. This was not only consuming a lot of storage space and organizational effort but also contradicted the company's environmental philosophy. They were looking for a solution to restructure their business processes, save space, staff time, and make a choice for environmental sustainability. They needed a document management system (DMS) that could handle the types of documents and information generated daily by the company electronically. They aimed to significantly reduce processing times, especially for their paper-based workflows.

SCHERDELGroup, a leading supplier to the automobile industry, faced numerous organizational challenges due to its impressive growth. The company had been using a mechanical circulating filing system to store and administer business documents at their German headquarters. However, when paper files reached capacity in the late 90’s, the management team began to look seriously at document management. The increasing piles of paper and the increasingly global nature of their business necessitated a solution that could convert information on paper into centrally stored information that could be used by employees worldwide. They wanted a Document Management Solution (DMS) that was a secure investment that could keep pace with their company’s dynamic development. Modularity and flexibility were also top priorities – it was especially important to integrate with their existing diverse application environment which includes custom ERP, CRM and accounting software.

GOETTFERT, a leading manufacturer of rheological testing equipment for the plastics and rubber industry, was facing challenges with its document management. The company had to deal with a large number of documents such as email, paper documents, drawings, telephone notes, customer correspondence, orders, proposals, order confirmations, shipping slips, and invoices. These documents needed to be assembled, shared, and stored, which was a time-consuming process. The company was looking for a solution to reduce the time and effort spent on document management and improve efficiency.

The German Red Cross in Ulm, Germany, was facing a significant challenge with document management. The organization, which provides a broad spectrum of services including emergency rescue, home care, donor management, and accounting, was dealing with a high volume of documents. Each year, about 65,000 documents needed to be securely stored. The documents were collected in binders and placed on shelves in the offices of various employees. Older documents were stored in fireproof cabinets in the basement. However, space was becoming increasingly tight as the organization had nearly doubled its revenue in the past five years, leading to an increase in the number of records. Searching for older documents was particularly problematic, requiring employees to dig through the cellar and even climb up ladders to reach certain records. Additionally, the process for handling invoices was inefficient, with multiple copies of each invoice being printed and filed separately.

The State Tourist Office of Bad Brückenau Spa, a business owned by the state of Bavaria, was dealing with a large volume of documents every month, amounting to about 5,000 documents. These documents, which included contracts, regulation compliance forms, invoices, and documents for managing events and guest facilities, were all read, processed, and stored. Many had to be completed chronologically as part of a workflow, and several departments needed to have access to the documents. The records were all collected and placed in binders for retrieval near various workstations, before they were ultimately relegated to the Royal Kitchen in the Main Hall’s cellar. Long search times for older documents were especially tedious. New legal retention requirements meant that their paper archive was quickly at capacity and it wasn’t possible to add on.

The Town of Henrietta, located in Monroe County, New York, was facing a significant record-keeping problem. Paper documents were filling both on-site and off-site storage facilities at a costly pace. These documents included town meeting minutes, planning and zoning case files, registration forms, claims, and lawsuits, all of which needed to be permanently archived. Searching for important documents in filing cabinets and vaults had become a daunting task, and off-site document storage and retrieval was a growing expense. The town's IT Coordinator recognized that implementing a document management system would solve their paper file problems. The top priority was finding a solution that could seamlessly integrate with their existing software such as RPS (New York State Real Property Tax System), BAS’s Municipal Clerk Licensing System, and ABBYY.

Propel Schools, a federation of not-for-profit charter schools, was facing challenges with their invoice approval process. Each school in the federation ordered and received their own supplies, but approvals were handled by a central business office. Invoices, packing slips, and purchase orders were sent there for processing through inter-office mail. The Accounting Department matched the purchase orders and packing slips with each invoice and made a copy of invoices needing approval. Then the documentation went back into inter-office mail to be sent for approval. Many invoices needed multiple approvals, so the documents were often passed from desk to desk. This process was time-consuming and inefficient, leading to delays in invoice approval and payment.

Nobilis Group, a successful sales partner for exclusive fragrances around the world, was facing challenges due to its rapid growth and the increase in the amount of paper used for order processing. The majority of orders still arrived by fax and had to be sorted by hand, which was time-consuming. The processes involved in inter-departmental processing of paper-based incoming invoices were equally complex. The goal was to completely digitize both the order and the invoice documents. As a central electronic document pool, the DMS to be implemented was to securely archive and manage all types of incoming and outgoing documents, and at a later date – even personnel records and other confidential business documents, such as contracts.

UTi United States, Inc. is a family-owned firm that handles all aspects of international trade between the United States and Mexico. They coordinate and file the necessary documents with U.S. and Mexican customs agencies on behalf of their clients. Each import and export transaction is accompanied by a number of documents which may include: customs forms, invoices, certificates of origin, bills of lading and other papers which help clear the transaction. The documentation for each transaction must be saved to satisfy customs regulations as well as for responding to follow-up activities. With 200 active customers, it’s not unusual for UTi to receive questions regarding import/export transactions. Customer inquiries, and the completion of intra-office activities, require employees to look at one or more of the documents relating to a shipment. UTi understood that the electronic storage of documents, or document imaging, provided a host of benefits to companies where employees frequently referenced many different documents during business procedures.

Sigma Financial, a premier full-service financial broker dealer, was facing several challenges related to document management. Every morning, the mailroom staff had to open 100-150 overnight envelopes containing 220-250 sales forms that were 8-10 pages in length. The 'original' was sent to the Compliance department for approval, and once approved, the form went to the Sales Processing department who sent the 'original', via overnight mail, to the appropriate fund company. The 'copy' was sent to the Commissions department, where the information was manually input into Sigma’s commissions program, giving the rep credit for the sale. The 'copy' was then filed by rep’s name in Sigma’s dedicated file room. Most of the records stored there needed to be kept on file for seven years and a few document types needed to be stored indefinitely. Processing a sales form was at least a two-day process. Average document retrieval time was anywhere from 10-15 minutes per form and usually 20-30 forms were accessed daily. Retrieving, refiling and just keeping track of pulled files was made even more difficult because all of Sigma’s corporate employees had access to the file room. Furthermore, Sigma was running out of room and would need to add additional filing space and personnel.

Due to the company's growth, the central accounting office faced the daunting task of filing and storing mountains of paper, which was quickly becoming harder and harder to store. For example, incoming invoices are received at each of the six stores. Before the introduction of the DocuWare document management system, the invoices were copied and mailed to headquarters, where they were sorted alphabetically and by store. Unfortunately, from time to time some of these parcels got lost and most of the documents need to be stored for seven years. IKEA decided that a document management system would provide the solution they needed.

Sedus Stoll, a leading European manufacturer of office furniture, was facing challenges with its document management process. The process for purchasing production materials was complex and divided between several departments and locations. This decentralized process caused long delays in accessing information, resulting in numerous copies of documentation being sent to different offices. The internal mailing service was overloaded by the delivery of so much paper. Over the years, more and more working copies and local subdirectories of information were created; soon anyone looking for information was forced to also rely on the memory of coworkers. Too often, this information was exchanged by phone, making the transmission of figures especially error-prone. In addition to numerous private subfolders, the purchasing information was also available on microfilm. The Sales and Accounting departments had access to two microfilm readers in order to retrieve order confirmations and invoices. With so many working copies of information, finding needed documents became more tedious and difficult.

Langenscheidt Editorial Group, a renowned publishing house, was facing challenges in maintaining high-quality customer service due to the growing heaps of documents that noticeably slowed down the retrieval of important records. The first document management system the company used provided quick access to documents, improved the ability to answer questions and shortened work processes. However, the system could not keep up with Langenscheidt's increasing requirements. As a result, one of the first prerequisites for a new document management system was the migration of data from the existing system to the new system. Secure storage of records subject to retention requirements and audits was another important criterion for Langenscheidt. The new system was first implemented in the order processing department.

Bibliographisches Institut & F.A. Brockhaus AG (BIFAB) had a wealth of information stored in various formats, including card indexes, contracts, historical publishing bibliographies, and readers’ queries. However, this information was not easily accessible to all staff members, and searching for specific information was time-consuming and inefficient. The company’s contracts were kept in the management office, and searching for a contract involved at least two members of staff. Searching for information in the historical publishing bibliographies was also extremely time-consuming, as it involved carefully removing the very old and sometimes very delicate volumes from their shelves. The large number of readers’ queries, which were filed with the answering letters, was getting out of control. The company needed a solution that would make all necessary information available in a secure, simple, fast, and transparent manner.

The Tippecanoe County Clerk’s Office in Indiana, USA, was tasked with maintaining and storing a vast archive of legal, historical, and ownership records. The challenge was not only to store the information but also to provide timely access to it for internal and public use. The county had numerous storage facilities, and most of the records dated before 1990 were stored on microfilm. The process of retrieving a document was time-consuming and could take up to three days. The County Clerk discovered that money was available in the records budget to modernize the storage of records. A plan was developed to gradually transfer the county’s records into DocuWare.

ZF Friedrichshafen AG, a leading supplier of mechatronic solutions for the automobile industry, had over a million corporate and technical documents in their electronic archives by 2004. The company needed a new system that could carry over the legacy documents at low cost, demonstrate a flexible and customizable software structure, and promise to be a safe long-term investment. The requirements for electronic document administration had drastically risen over the years. Features for process management and optimization, such as the ability to generate workflows, were nonnegotiable. They also were looking for a certified SAP interface. In the interests of preventing their applications from growing out of control, for years they have held to the strategy of consistently standardizing all their business processes to fit into their SAP environment.

BEGO, a dental company based in Bremen, Germany, was facing challenges with its document management. The company had to meet strict requirements for production, research, and development, as well as administration and information management. Businesses in the dental sector must satisfy extensive obligations for documentation. BEGO was spending large amounts of time searching for documents and related day-to-day paperwork, especially when customers had follow-up questions. Filing the various documents was quite labor-intensive. They were running out of space for document storage. Inquiries, invoices, delivery notes, and offers were all kept in traditional paper files, and the filing cabinets were overflowing. They were eager to save on the labor and expense that it took to maintain their unwieldy files.

The Biggest Loser Resorts, a well-known fitness and wellness resort, wanted to streamline its accounting processes across its three locations in Utah, California, and New York. The resort was looking to reduce document processing time, streamline invoice approval for internal and remote employees, and strengthen document retention compliance. The resort also wanted to adopt environmentally healthy business practices. The challenge was to find a solution that could address these needs while also providing secure archiving.

The Newark Group, an international paper and cardboard recycling company, was facing inefficiencies in its administrative business processes due to the high volume of paper documents. Particularly in accounting, order processing, and production, tons of documents had accumulated over time. One employee was singularly dedicated to managing the central paper archive. Searching for certain documents was increasingly time-consuming, and the physical exchange of documents between two locations often led to documents being lost or untraceable, often because of misfiling. The company sought to eliminate these issues and lay the foundation for savvy digital workflows by introducing an electronic document management system.

The decision to use a DMS came in early 2009 after dhmp was created by the merger of two previously independent consultancy firms. Some company employees already had experience of working with an electronic filing system, but others were used to working with a paper filing system. This required an enormous amount of space: Around ten million sheets of paper had to be stored and archived in a tamper-proof format each year. In some branches, this meant that older documents which were only needed on a very sporadic basis had to be moved to alternative storage for financial reasons. During the merger, they wanted to streamline processes throughout the company. They decided to stick with the Addison platform and to switch to the DocuWare document management system.

H&J Martin, a leading European provider of Facilities Management services, was facing challenges with their paper-based approach to business and administrative processes. The company was generating around 12000 engineer service reports, 3000 suppliers sales invoices, and numerous amounts of paper on a monthly basis. The long search and processing times for paper-based systems were affecting the ability of employees to source the information they needed. In 2010, the team at H&J Martin Facilities Management decided it was time to replace their paper-based approach with an integrated document management system. The company sought to significantly reduce the high number of paper copies and enjoy savings in future archiving space. They also needed a system that could integrate with their existing software environments and could be expanded later.

T-Formation, a large volume printer in the United States, was facing challenges with its in-house order system solution which provided limited reporting functionality. The system handled all sales, general ledger, artwork management, production schedule, statistics, shipping, receiving, and invoicing, but linking this data in a way to identify opportunities was not easy. The traditional form of reporting did not allow decision makers to get to information easily. The organization knew there were areas they were unable to successfully analyze and wanted to implement a tool that would allow business to see – at a glance – whether they were making a profit and how they could manage their contracts more efficiently.

Over the course of a decade, NCN accumulated over 1.5 million rows of data for internal reporting on a relational database, and used a relational database management system (RDBMS) to access their data. In order to create internal reports from the database, the Business Intelligence (BI) Manager had to spend approximately three to four hours daily researching, writing, and executing SQL queries. After extracting the appropriate data, the BI Manager was then tasked with several more hours of analysis and ultimately placing the data into a suitable format for presentation and distribution. Another challenge NCN faced was providing business users access to their data in a timely fashion. In order to create reports, employees first submitted IT tickets wherein a series of very specific instructions were provided and subsequently executed by a member of the IT staff. However, because new questions would often arise after the report had been delivered, employees would then have to resubmit an IT ticket requesting a revision of the original report. This delayed the efficacy of decision makers and created a backlog in the IT department.

AmberPoint provides solutions for governing and managing composite applications for enterprises, government agencies, and leading software companies. These clients run high-transaction systems, many of which are mission-critical and high-value. They rely on AmberPoint for reliable, comprehensive solutions for runtime governance of their composite applications. However, AmberPoint faced a decision about the data presentation layer of its service level agreement management function. The requirements called for Web-based information access for ad hoc reporting needs and formatted PDF report distribution for standardized uptime reports. If an OEM solution were to be selected, it needed to offer the flexibility of control that an internally developed one would have offered. AmberPoint sought to avoid limitations in an API that would impede the ongoing development of new core application features and their related information reporting needs. Lastly, the technology needed to be easy enough to implement and deploy that attendant costly consulting services could be avoided.

FPX's clients are in industries such as manufacturing, high-tech, and medical devices where products have myriad configurations, strict specification matching requirements, or regulatory demands. The users are sales departments who benefit from the time saved, greater order accuracy, and higher sales throughput gained from an automated workflow process for the configuration or selection of order components, the calculation of pricing based on complex volume discounts or bundles, and the generation of professionally crafted, branded quote documents. FPX did not want to perpetually expend resources on developing and maintaining reporting and publishing technologies when its core competency is developing an application that maximizes workflow efficiency and optimizes the user experience. As a provider of a SaaS application that is Java-based, FPX sought a Java-based publishing solution that could be easily integrated with its own. FPX required a very dependable, high-throughput publishing engine that had direct data access and modeling capabilities plus a strong design tool to generate ad hoc and templated documents in PDF and Excel formats.

The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSFMC) was faced with the challenge of monitoring fish migrations through the Federal Columbia River Power System to provide valuable research information for the restoration of declining salmon and steelhead populations. The monitoring process involved recording large volumes of data which were automatically uploaded to the PTAGIS database every three hours. The challenge was how PSMFC reports were to be accessed, delivered and used across their disparate user base. Users access PTAGIS from remote locations and a wide variety of platforms including Windows PC, Apple Macintosh, Sun Solaris, Linux and others. The PSMFC needed a flexible, extensible, and easy-to-use solution.

eScholar provides solutions for collecting, cleansing, identifying, analyzing and reporting on the data that educators need for tracking and improving the performance of the complex enterprise of educating children. All of the data elements in eScholar systems are maintained at the finest, or lowest, level of detail and can be stored for an unlimited period of longitudinal history within any of the categories or domains of data. eScholar must integrate all of these data regardless of source. Therefore every fact collected by a school district that relates to an individual student’s performance remains tied to that individual. eScholar had several mandatory requirements for their reporting solution. First and foremost, it needed to offer an easy-to-use self-service environment that enabled their users who had a wide variety to technical skill levels, to access and report on their information. Secondly, it needed to be a low maintenance solution that integrated seamlessly with a wide variety of IT infrastructures and didn’t impact school districts with application downloads, plug-ins, or upgrades. It needed flexible, easily administered security, and had to be as affordable for schools with a couple of users, as well as districts with tens of thousands of users in widely distributed information system environments. eScholar selected InetSoft after evaluating many vendor solutions, as well as the open source products available today.

ArcSight’s award-winning ESM software acts as a command center for customers to discover and manage risks, correlate relevant event, operational and trend information, assess vulnerabilities and communicate compliance. The system collects and distills millions of enterprise-wide events down to the most critical information necessary for organizations to make informed decisions to protect their business and network assets. ArcSight required a flexible, low-maintenance, high-performance reporting tool that could be embedded into its software and easily integrate with many disparate data sources. It needed to report on thousands of devices, throughout widely distributed deployments, multiple firewalls and a wide assortment of third party vendor products. It also needed to be easy enough for customers of different technological skill levels to use, and still provide sophisticated graphical reports.