Image makers: when purchased to fulfill solid business objectives or to help employees solve problems, focused, project-based software applications for document imaging and storage are resulting in big gains for many pro suppliers

Prosales, July, 2003 by Chris Wood

The Highest Degree

In the course of overhauling BMC West's AP processes from Integra's first call in late 1997 to a fully operational system in spring of 2002, the entire department changed. All incoming invoices not received via electronic data interchange (EDI) are now scanned into the Optika system, assigned keywords for search and retrieval, and then disposed of in a secure manner. A single, solitary filing cabinet maintains all the physical account paperwork necessary for the branch locations and thousands of vendors. Desks are spread out and free of stacks of invoices. The windowsills are home only to potted plants.

"By 2000, we had online invoice capability with Optika's Immedia software, but we still shipped detailed reports to locations," Miller recalls. "In July 2001, we upgraded to Optika's Accorde system and integrated it with Oracle's new 11i and a COLD (computer output to laser disc) system to provide full online reporting and document retrieval for locations by spring 2002."

The now-complete system allows BMC West locations to log on to the corporate Intranet and get online copies of all their AP information, including links to every invoice image, keyed reports, charges, and vendor payment schedules. For AP data entry operators, Optika has field population functionality that can recognize vendor and branch locations from keywords and prepopulate name, address, and even general ledger accounting fields. Every field that receives input also is transferred to Oracle and becomes an indexed keyword that can be searched in Optika to bring the scanned document back for onscreen viewing.

And the list goes on. Vendor EDI information flows directly into Optika and is uploaded onto readable and printable invoice templates. Employee expense reports can be faxed directly to a line that uploads the documents into the Optika AP system. Branch locations also have credit cards for delivery fleet fuel and other expenses, and BMC West's bank transmits daily purchasing reports into the Optika system, which are uploaded onto an invoice template similar to those used for vendor EDI. "BMC West pushes all the limits of our technology at Integra," says Moyler. "It is all about time; it is all about processing transactions as quickly as possible and creating the highest degree of efficiency. You have to give Pam Miller the credit for the vision. We've tried to match it with programming sweat and tears."

Although BMC West originally had planned to achieve a return on investment (ROI) from Optika document imaging in two to three years, Miller says the company had its initial investment recouped in only nine months, and she has a laundry list of bonus savings. "We moved from 33 filing cabinets down to one, so I know I'm not paying for the square footage in office space. I'm not retaining physical documents, so I'm not paying for storage and retention. I don't have the daily mailing costs that I used to have, and my head count has been reduced. Also, the system creates all of our printable invoices and checks, so we are not paying printing costs," Miller says. "Let's put it this way: When I go to the top guys and ask for permission to update the imaging system, I don't face any questions."