Electronic Document Management Helps Aluminum Manufacturer Grow Business

Jupiter Aluminum (Jupiter) prides itself on its ability to produce low-cost, high-quality aluminum coil that exceeds customer expectations. Electronic document management plays an important role in its highly effective business model.

Before implementing electronic document management software, Jupiter struggled with the unnecessary time, costs and physical paper that document processing requires.

By making a successful push to go paperless, Jupiter is now able to:

• Store documents digitally and securely
• Provide faster access to critical information
• Increase office employee productivity

Ultimately, Jupiter didn’t just improve its processes and streamline workflow. The company was able to handle significant business growth without adding new personnel, as well as improve staff satisfaction.

Here’s how Jupiter traded print for digital and reaped serious benefits.

Taking Stock Of Productivity

Prior to implementing an electronic document management solution, Jupiter’s accounting and customer service departments generally used and stored paper documents. Paper document processing caused lengthy file retrieval times, slowing down internal collaboration and customer service operations significantly.

In the office, file retrieval time consistently took an hour: a stark inefficiency, especially in the customer service department. Offsite, long-term document storage meant that approximately once a month, an employee would drive 70 miles to find a file the home office needed delivered. Internal and external audits, payroll and other essential operations all suffered greatly from process delays, costing Jupiter time and money.

The time for change had come.

Crafting The Right Solution

To overcome logistical challenges impacting its bottom line, Jupiter decided to go paperless and install an electronic document management system that indexes and stores documents automatically while providing employees with online document access.

Today, Jupiter’s accounting staff scans payable invoices, purchase orders and other key documents into its new system. They are automatically indexed by file number and empty fields are populated by matching the file with key information already in the system. Scanned documents are available for employees to view online, making retrieval and collaboration time close to instant. The customer service department also uses document scanning to quickly and securely store key files.

Realizing Benefits

Jupiter’s successful attempt to go paperless using electronic document management paid off.

Today, Jupiter’s employees benefit from:

• More Time. Free of cumbersome, paper document processing, Jupiter’s employees now focus more attention on being productive and serving customers.
• Less Stress. Knowing scanned documents are securely stored and easily accessible reduces fear of misplacement and associated stress.

At a departmental level, Jupiter is able to: 

• Reduce Costs. After Jupiter decided to go paperless, costs associated with faxing, shipping and physical storage are almost completely eliminated.
• Improve Performance. Because customer service reps spend much less time retrieving information, more customers are serviced per day, boosting efficiency.

At a corporate level, Jupiter takes advantage of:

• Better Relationships. Better reports and document availability improves vendor relations, facilitating favorable pricing from suppliers and better control of inventory costs.
• Return On Investment. Streamlined operations helped Jupiter grow its business, accommodate growth without hiring new staff and see a return on investment within one year of its purchase

“Up until the last two years, we experienced 20-30% growth each year. Even though the volume of documents has accelerated, since we installed DocuWare, we haven’t needed to add any administrative personnel.” – Alex Gross | Vice President | Jupiter Aluminum

Every day, thousands of companies and organizations struggle with archaic paper document processing, increasing staff stress, interrupting workflow and bleeding the bank.

If Jupiter’s story is all too familiar, consider working with an electronic document management solutions provider with the experience, expertise and resources needed to meet your strategic and financial goals.

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