Bunzl Retail

Bunzl Plc is a growing and successful business providing outsourcing solutions and value added distribution with operations spanning 23 countries and 4 continents. Bunzl Retail Supplies is a division of Bunzl Plc that provides end-to-end Supply Chain Management, distributing over 15,000 product lines to the retail market.

The Challenge

Bunzl Retail Supplies decided some time ago that scanning documents in electronically for instant retrieval and use was the way forward. Originally it chose a solution which required sending documents off-site to be scanned and indexed and hosted over the internet. This solution still required some document preparation, lacked control and was expensive.

The Solution

In June 2010 Bunzl Retail Supplies installed FILESTAR enabling all documents to be scanned, indexed and filed automatically on-site. Client Accounts documentation, Shipping Notes, Delivery Notes and Invoices are scanned using OCR Template Technology built into FILESTAR. FILESTAR automatically files documents away under relevant tags or indexes for instant retrieval and use.

"I would encourage any business looking to move away from hard copy filing to look seriously at FILESTAR. The return on our investment in FILESTAR was almost instant. To purchase and install it cost less than half of the annual cost of the previous outsourced solution, and it has provided Bunzl with control. We are very happy with it. It was very simple to install and it is simple and intuitive to use."

Keith Middleton, Financial Controller

Dabs.com

Dabs.com is part of BT Business (British Telecom), originally founded in 1987. Today dabs.com is a very successful e-business with more than 200 staff providing IT and technology products to around 75,000 customers per week generating annual turnovers of £180M. dabs.com winning many high profile awards over the years for both online retailing and general business performance including the “What Laptop!”, “PC Pro” and “Computeractive” magazine awards for “Best Online Retailer”.

The Challenge

Dabs being a large online retailer produced very large quantities of paper primarily from incoming invoices and delivery notes. Dabs had outsourced their scanning & archiving a few years previously. This required a time consuming process of manually highlighting index data, organising and posting of the documents to the scanning company. This quite often meant there was a delay in seeing documents electronically and was costing around £50,000 per year.

The Solution

In January 2011 dabs installed FILESTAR enabling all documents to be scanned, indexed and filed automatically on-site. Delivery Notes and Invoices are scanned using a mixture of Filestar’s OCR Template Technology and manual indexing when required. FILESTAR has shown a very clear and quick return on investment even when including that cost of an extra staff member dabs.com employed to help with the scanning.

"Since moving to FILESTAR we have noticed that our documents are in a searchable electronic format far quicker than our outsourced solution. The FILESTAR interface is simple and intuitive and we’ve been able to roll out access to most of the business cost effectively by concurrent web access. The return on our investment in FILESTAR was well within the first year including taking on an extra member of staff to help with scanning. "

Donna McClarence, Credit Manager

WD Rollings Ltd

WD Rollings Ltd has been established since 1928 and is a leading manufacturer of glass products. Supplying into all market sectors across a national customer database WD Rollings today prides itself on the quality manufacturing and service levels that the business was originally founded on.

The Challenge

WD Rollings decided 3 years ago that it wanted to improve its handling of paper documents. Typically customer orders were received by fax or email and sometimes could even be handwritten. Orders would have attached to them drawings for the workshop to use during the manufacturing process. These paper orders & drawings were vulnerable to loss or damage and often took time to locate.

The Solution

In March 2008 WD Rollings installed FILESTAR enabling orders and drawings to be scanned and indexed at the point of receipt. Workshop Engineers now have a pc for instant retrieval on the shop floor where orders and drawings are viewed electronically. Installing FILESTAR has resulted in WD Rollings saving a substantial amount of time and original orders and drawings are safely electronically stored saving valuable office space.

"We started using FILESTAR for a key problem which was storing and retrieving customer orders and drawings. However our use of FILESTAR has quickly evolved in to something much greater. We now file invoices, emails and many other office documents in to FILESTAR. It has become such an integral part of our business that I now cannot imagine running the business without it."

Guy Marshall, Director

High Peak Steels

High Peak Steels is a privately owned leading Steel Stock Holder in the North West of England which has built its reputation on a unique blend of reliability, integrity, quality and courtesy. With over 200 years experience within their team they provide over 3000 product lines and services such as state of the art high precision sawing, Bar Turning & Precision Grinding and deliver on a Nationwide scale. http://www.highpeaksteels.com

The Challenge

High peak steels were looking for a solution to their test certificates filing issue as an increasing number of requests for their retrieval was becoming an administrative burden. These critical documents were being stored in filing cabinets in the back office that not only led to delays in their retrieval, but subsequently they would have to be faxed or scanned and then emailed. “All of this was tedious and what normally happened was the certificates would get left to the end of the day when the salesmen found time to do them.” – Mark Thornley, Managing Director.

The Solution

“Filestar has totally transformed this process. We now scan all certificates to Filestar which automatically recognises order numbers, batch numbers and cast numbers, so there is hardly any input from us which saves a lot of time filing. The salesmen can then retrieve the documents rapidly allowing them to fax or email the certificate directly to the customer saving time and improving the customer service we offer.” – Mark Thornley, Managing Director.

"On top of being a quick efficient product to use we also liked how easy it was for FILESTAR to grow with our business requirements. We have now expanded FILESTAR since our initial problem. We now store all signed delivery notes, invoices, stock cards, and confirmation orders. All documents in FILESTAR are now available to view or send within seconds."

Mark Thornley, Managing Director

Ellis Patents

Yorkshire based Ellis Patents was established in 1977 and is a leading manufacturer of cable cleats. Already a very successful national enterprise, Ellis Patents is now also a successful exporter of their products to China – an achievement that merited a visit from the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment: HRH Prince Andrew. http://www.ellispatents.co.uk

The Challenge

The initial problem was the same as with many businesses. Storage space and time consuming retrieval. As a manufacturer Ellis Patents’ staff produce, receive and collaborate on a vast array of documents, from design specifications, orders, quotes, order acknowledgements, dispatch notes, sales invoices, correspondence and purchase invoices.

The Solution

In June 2011 Ellis Patents installed FILESTAR enabling their staff to start the scanning and storage of all documents within FILESTAR. Many key documents such as order acknowledgements, dispatch notes and sales invoices have been set-up to automatically index and file by using the FILESTAR FILEWATCHER. Implementing FILESTAR has given Ellis Patents tangible benefits; time saved for filing and retrieval and freeing critical floor space.

"Initially we were very cautious about taking on an Electronic Document Management system as although much needed it would be a vast change to the way we ran our business. The team at FILESTAR however made the decision very easy and once installed and trained our staff began scanning the documents in very quickly. The overall effect on our efficiency has been quite profound as we have access to all our critical documents within seconds. We will be expanding the system out to other areas of the business as we grow and become more confident with the system. I would with no hesitation recommend the FILESTAR product to anyone with similar issues to us. "

Diane Holmes, Company Secretary

Jesmond Nursery

Situated in the heart of Jesmond, Jesmond Nursery was founded in 1993 by caring parents to fulfil a long-standing need in the area for a high standard of full-time and part-time nursery care for babies and young children.

The Challenge

Jesmond Nursery had the all too common problem of too much paper storage and not enough room. With the maximum amount of floor space being given to the children’s daily activities this leaves limited space within the office, storage rooms and cellar for storing paper. Nurseries are typically large consumers of paper due to being heavily legislated, requiring them to report on every aspect of the childs stay at the nursery from medication to staff and planning records. The most critical files they need to deal with were the child records and the central registers.

The Solution

Jesmond Nursery made the decision to take on Filestar in September 2014 to give them the ability to scan all critical documents from January 2014 onwards. The bulk of the scanning was accomplished in only 5 months by January 2015. This now enables Liz or any other member of the team across their 2 offices to find any document in just a few seconds. This has also given Jesmond Nursery the safety net of knowing all of these critical documents are backed up each day in case of disaster recovery from fire, theft or flood.

"Filestar has simply taken off here at Jesmond. The system has done everything we had expected and more. In fact it’s been so good we burnt out our shredder getting rid of paper we didn’t need."

Liz Cooke, Nursery Manager

"When we initially took on Filestar we were hesitant and sceptical of the benefits to us but over the last 5 months it has just been amazing as the system is very easy to work with and filing the paperwork only takes seconds."

Sarah Jackson, Senior Early Years Teacher