Paper Weight

Four years ago, almost two floors of the 22-story home to the Knights of Columbus in New Haven, Conn., were devoted to paper file storage. The sheer weight of some 60 million documents was creating minor structural issues on the floors housing the files. "We also knew there were tangible risks associated with the continuing use of paper files," says William F. Howard, manager, business analyst, for the Knights of Columbus. The paper files were potentially in danger from physical perils including fire, water damage, age, and weather-related threats such as hurricanes. While there were other issues, too–for example, lost files and privacy–Howard indicates the company realized paper files were not compatible with the future vision of office automation.

When the decision was made to image 1.8 million insurance files, the business analysis group, working closely with the senior vice president of IT, spent six months evaluating vendors. Company representatives made site visits to see the products in operation, spoke to references, attended user meetings, and eventually selected Captiva's InputAccel for document capture, Vignette (Tower) IDM for image repository and retrieval software, and Tibco Staffware for workflow. The user effort was led by Lynn Hussey, VP of policy service and support services, and Gary Havens, director of central records and in-house imaging. "Our users and IT worked collaboratively throughout the project," says Howard. "Without that mutual cooperation, it would have been impossible to complete the project successfully."

Getting the people and equipment in place and having the project variables mesh at the same time was a daunting task, according to Howard. "We tested the entire process extensively and had a few false starts, but while we had a number of issues to work out, we were pleased with the end result," he says.

One of the biggest challenges the Knights of Columbus faced was locating enough physical office space for the file scanning operation staffed by 22 people from Pitney Bowes and the in-house scanning operation that required space for 19 people. Training went smoothly both on the capture side and the retrieval side, notes Howard. "Document-viewing software is pretty easy to use as long as everything is properly indexed," he says. "Our indexing scheme is fairly simple, involving policy number and document type only. We did purchase 19-inch flat-panel monitors for all 300-plus imaging users, and that increased user acceptance significantly."

Users are pleased with the imaged files, Howard believes, and do not miss the paper. "They are looking forward to the point when all our files are available online," he says. "They also are anxious to have workflow deliver all incoming work from the mailroom directly to their desktops."

Several operating areas in the company have revamped their procedures to leverage imaging, and Howard reports there is increased productivity in those areas. "When you replace that manual process with the more efficient online retrieval of file documents, it clearly results in a faster, more efficient process," he says.

The Knights of Columbus' goal is to make its administrative areas operate at peak efficiency, Howard explains. "To help us attain that goal, we envision an electronic mailroom operation that will scan all incoming documents," he says. "[The images] then will be routed via workflow to the appropriate department and available clerk. With close coordination between our administrative system and workflow, all business processes would be optimized based on our best practices."

The Knights of Columbus looks forward to completing the imaging of the older files in 2007. "We already have freed up about the space equivalent of three-fourths of a floor in our building, and within a year and a half, we will have all the file areas open for other uses," he says. "We also look forward to enterprisewide implementation of workflow and the clear benefits in labor savings and increased productivity. That is the true promise of imaging and where we anticipate the biggest benefit."