Patricia Clay, CIO for Hudson County Community College, discusses the challenges, progress, and future prospects for transitioning administrative processes from paper-based to digital.
How a $375 million credit union uses Laserfiche to automate the input of documents, including loan applications, new member cards, internal documents and loan documents.
Patricia Clay, CIO of Hudson County Community College, on using Laserfiche to guide its digitization efforts, implementing new workflows and streamlining processes to make employees’ lives easier.
The city of Long Beachreleased a new, Laserfiche-powered tool to connect at-risk individuals with resources to keep them from becoming unnecessarily involved within the criminal justice system.
As your Laserfiche repository grows, it’s important to have a organization structure that supports how you store, retrieve and search for content.
Learn best practices for designing a repository so you can build a solid groundwork for the future.
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SITUATION
• Needed more consistency in workflows across geographically dispersed offices
• Addressing compliance requirements involved many manual, time-intensive steps
RESULTS
• Streamlined the new account opening process
• Opened 600 new accounts and brought in $400 million in new assets in 2023
• Modernized records management and workflows reduced the burden of compliance and audits on associates
Rehmann’s wealth management practice must coordinate a lot of moving parts across its offices in Michigan, Ohio and Florida. In addition to advisory services, the firm operates as a broker-dealer, a role which greatly expands its compliance obligations. Coordinating workflows across those services to ensure advisors across branches follow rules around conflicts of interest and suitability is only half the battle. Having documentation readily available to prove compliance adds another layer of complexity.
In Laserfiche Forms, the firm has found a flexible tool capable of streamlining data collection and reporting, as well as shaping the design of workflows in ways that make them less prone to human error and easier to audit. “Our biggest challenge with Laserfiche Forms tends to be keeping up with demand for new ones,” said Amy Flourry, Rehmann Wealth director of operations.
The ability to connect information across different parts of the client life cycle has enormous potential to improve processes throughout the business. Digital onboarding became an area of intense focus during the pandemic, when the ability to meet clients face to face became limited. For Marla Masters, strategic business analyst for the Wealth Management team, digitization was just the first step in a journey toward a more streamlined process.
Integrating customer relationship management (CRM) software with other back-end tools has long been the elephant in the room for making onboarding more efficient. The ability to move information from Rehmann’s CRM to its Laserfiche repository was a deciding factor in its recent transition to Salesforce.
“With the old system, our associates had to enter the same information multiple times to get it from the CRM and into Laserfiche,” Masters recalled. “Now, we’re able to use the same data, so when our associates enter information about a lead or a prospect, it’s still available as they transition to a client.”
The ability to automatically populate onboarding forms makes the process faster and easier for associates and clients alike. That streamlining means the firm can make the best impression possible on new clients right away, while giving support staff more time to put toward higher-value tasks. The firm can also use the information it collects to automatically file compliance documents, such as those identifying the beneficial owners of entity clients, yielding further back-office efficiency gains. With these integrations in place, Rehmann opened 600 new accounts and brought in $400 million in new assets in 2023 alone.
In addition to new account opening and onboarding, Rehmann has automated several other processes across the organization, including:
Compliance is a major concern for broker-dealers. Conducting audits used to be a resource-intensive process that involved harmonizing physical files in multiple locations. If the firm identified a compliance concern, it would then have to go back and fix things after the fact, which could be a complicated process.
Now, using Laserfiche Forms, Rehmann can put guardrails around processes that help the firm identify and fix problems while processes are still ongoing. As a result, many issues can be corrected on the fly, as opposed to having to go back and redo a process from scratch.
The firm has also leaned on the expertise of the consultants at CDI, a Laserfiche solution provider that offers training and technical resources to help implement large-scale system changes like the Salesforce transition. This ensures that organizations have the best available tools for their current needs. As a result, Rehmann’s success in building more efficient processes continues to build momentum. The low-code tools and solution templates available for Laserfiche Forms have made it possible for Masters to continue to refine the firm’s tools and processes further to make them more dynamic and user friendly. These solutions have reduced implementation time for new, automated processes from six months to approximately 30 days, freeing up IT resources to focus on strategy, rather than implementation.
In one recent example, Masters reconfigured the firm’s Excel-based trade ticket process to work via Laserfiche Forms. Rather than having to send emails to the right people and collaborate on a spreadsheet, associates can manage trade requests through a form-based system that requests information dynamically, driving an automatic escalation process to ensure trades are compliant and routing forms to the appropriate people for confirmation. At the end, trade tickets are saved automatically to client files.
“Our work technology must keep up with the apps we use every day on our phones. The way we interact with technology in all aspects of our lives has changed, so it’s critical for our office environment to keep up,” said Flourry. “Laserfiche makes it easy to design processes that our people really want to use.”
SITUATION
As DHL strengthens infrastructure in Latin America, the IT department needed to build more automated, digital and sustainable operations. Initiatives to digitize flight information and records for pilots and dispatchers evolved into larger projects in airplane maintenance and legal.
SOLUTION
Laserfiche was the perfect solution for its records management, electronic forms and process automation capabilities. As departments discover new efficiencies and see how easy Laserfiche is to use, the Laserfiche project list continues to grow.
RESULTS
With Laserfiche, DHL has created more sustainable and efficient operations. These digital initiatives have also opened up opportunities to gather data on processes, enabling the organization to continue to optimize and grow without sacrificing quality in its services.
DHL is one of the world’s leading logistics companies, employing 100,000 people in over 220 countries and territories. Whether for a small parcel or fleet of large shipping containers, DHL prides itself on its efficiency and care in transporting goods and information.
As the company strengthens its infrastructure in Latin America and looks to more automated, digital and sustainable operations overall, Laserfiche plays a critical role in its innovation, responsible and sustainable information management, and growth in the region.
As part of DHL’s efforts to increase efficiency, support sustainability and strengthen business resilience, the IT team began searching for a platform for digitizing records in the human resources department. When COVID-19 became a concern in 2020, this morphed into a quest to quickly deploy a digital solution for the electronic flight bag (EFB) process. This led DHL’s IT team to Laserfiche, which presented the opportunity to optimize these processes and more.
The DHL team consulted with Canella, S.A., a Laserfiche solution provider based in Guatemala, who recommended Laserfiche. When deciding between an on-premises or cloud deployment, the choice was clear.
“In 2019 we were told, ‘No more local servers,’” said Rodolfo Gonzalez, information technology manager at DHL de Guatemala S.A. “So that’s why we went with Laserfiche Cloud — for IT, it’s easier because we don’t have to buy servers and have maintenance for servers. We don’t have to worry about updates or infrastructure; Laserfiche handles those.”
The first project the team took on was the EFB process: Historically, pilots and crew members were required to visit the dispatchers office to get a hard copy of the documentation needed for their flight. This documentation included critical data including flight route, weather, and landing surface/airport information, as well as details about weight and balance, and dangerous goods or animals aboard. On top of the copy for the pilot, dispatchers also had to make seven additional copies for compliance purposes.
“The biggest challenge is that all that information comes from a different system,” said Gonzalez. “We have one system for weight and balance, one for weather, etc. At the time, printing it all was the quickest solution.”
If changes were needed to the documentation, for example due to updates or changes to routes, the pilot would need to call a dispatcher to make the adjustments, re-print the package and physically deliver it to the cockpit.
This became unfeasible with COVID-19’s arrival. IT needed to roll out a solution and do it fast. Gonzalez and his team deployed Laserfiche as a repository that would hold all electronic flight bag information from different systems. All pilots received iPads from which they could access Laserfiche, removing the need for anyone to physically pick up or drop off documentation. Changes could be made instantaneously and digitally accessed through the iPads.
DHL continues to use the new process due to its efficiency and better employee experience, even as COVID-19 restrictions have eased.
“Dispatchers can prepare the EFB an hour before the flight and pilots can review and approve it on their iPad before they even come into the office,” said Edwin Wong, aviation regional IT manager. “And because we can prove we have the information backed up, we don’t need to print the packet eight times.”
“We also used to have dispatchers running to planes, introducing risk of falling on stairs or slipping if it was a rainy day, for example,” Gonzalez added. “So we’re preventing accidents as well.”
After the success of the EFB process, the IT team redirected its focus to HR, which needed a digital solution for employee records. “We have an issue here with humidity,” Gonzalez explained. “This presents a risk to paper files; we’ve lost some files because of it.” Laserfiche was the perfect solution for its records management, electronic forms and process automation capabilities.
Additionally, the IT team built a Laserfiche form with which pilots and crew members can report on flying hours, which are automatically sent to flight operations managers for approval. Ultimately, Gonzalez and his team would like to enable the organization to track more data about the planes and crews, such as how many hours flown, in order to better allocate resources — something that they would do through an integration with DHL’s airplane information management system (AIMS).
In a similar effort, DHL now tracks mechanics’ certifications through Laserfiche, which were historically managed manually by a maintenance and quality control assistant who recorded documentation and mechanics’ information, as well as what aircraft mechanics were able to do maintenance on based on their certifications in a spreadsheet.
Challenges with the legacy process included lapses of time between certifications expiring and being revalidated. “Sometimes mechanics had to be sent to training, and sometimes that training is in a different country,” Gonzalez said. “But if your certification hasn’t been renewed and you show up to work, you can’t touch our airplanes.”
To combat these lapses and make the entire process easier for everyone involved, Laserfiche now automatically sends reminders on a specific cadence before certifications expire. Mechanics are responsible for uploading their own documentation into Laserfiche which is then routed to quality control for review and approval.
“We simplified the process and now we have more control over it,” said Gonzalez. “Having a system of record, automated notifications and automated routing for review and approval helps us a lot. We have more visibility into the process; it’s more streamlined and we’re not losing valuable time from expired certifications.”
Today, Gonzalez and his team continue to optimize processes and find new areas to automate throughout the organization. “One of my biggest worries in IT is that the performance of the systems we use could suffer from increased use,” Gonzalez said. “But this hasn’t been true for Laserfiche. We used to have 30 users, and now we have 200. We used to have two forms and now we have a lot — the performance stays the same.”
One high impact project that’s currently in progress is contract management. “Having contracts in Laserfiche — with the ability to track changes, versions and work off the same document — it’s going to give us more control,” said Gonzalez. “We’ll also have a sense of how much time it takes to review a contract, enabling us to optimize or allocate resources if we find that our legal department is inundated during certain times of year, for example.”
For DHL’s IT team, the sky is the limit. “Laserfiche is so easy,” said Gonzalez. “You can build a process in your mind, put it on paper, and Laserfiche will do its magic. And if business users ask for a change then we can make the change — the system is flexible. We’re able to be agile in our processes. Our solution provider Canella and Laserfiche have been incredible partners and have been able to handle anything we’ve thrown at them.”
“We can take a complex process and simplify it for our users,” added Wong. “Users have information at their fingertips. Prior to Laserfiche, there was a lot of going back and forth to get information, and now with Laserfiche, everything is within reach with just a few clicks or by filling out a simple form.”
SITUATION
• Dependence on proprietary software was costly to maintain and lacked scalability
• Needed a flexible solution that would streamline multiple logistics management processes
RESULTS
• Automated processes that enable the company to better track inventory, accelerate delivery and capture damage liability documentation
• Enabled processes to scale with the company’s growth, from handling 10,000 packages per month to 30,000 per month without adding significant numbers of warehouse employees
• Enhanced customer experience
Sometimes freight doesn’t fit neatly into a box or packages need to be placed carefully inside a home or commercial space. Enter white glove delivery services, which require a close partnership with clients to get product to where it needs to go in a safe, efficient and cost-effective manner.
“One of the challenges with white glove delivery service is that it is a lot of big product,” said Kent Werner, president director, business development at Kore Logistics, one of Canada’s leading specialized providers of final mile fulfillment and home deliveries. “If you get a big box one day for your sofa sectional and two other boxes come on different days, you’re not happy — people are back in your home and your living room is being upended again. So we prioritize efficiency, and being able to locate, identify and pick all the pieces for an order in a way that allows us to provide the level of service our clients and the end consumers expect.”
This level of tracking requires a lot of moving pieces, data and centralized documentation — and at Kore Logistics, all of this is now managed through Laserfiche and an integration with the company’s dispatching software. Using Laserfiche Forms, automated workflows and a centralized repository, Kore Logistics created processes that supported a threefold increase in capacity; the company grew from handling about 10,000 packages per month to 30,000 packages per month over the course of about a year and was acquired by Canada Cartage in 2021.
Much of the complex journey of non-conveyable freight at Kore Logistics was initially managed by proprietary software that the company had built when it was a much smaller organization.
“We had stretched our proprietary application to its limit,” Werner explained.
The team decided to search for off-the-shelf technology rather than follow the traditional path of building a new custom enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, to prevent another period of stagnation as the organization grew, as well as to avoid ballooning developer costs.
Critical elements that the right technology solution needed to manage included:
“Most off-the-shelf solutions would require us to cobble together two or three different solutions in order to get what we needed,” Werner said. “They also required significant investment in specialized hardware. We knew we had to get away from another custom solution because we needed the flexibility to grow, to scale, to add modules — things that are just not possible with an in-house application.”
The company worked with Laserfiche solution provider Inspiris to implement a Laserfiche system that would address initial needs. This would quickly grow into a more comprehensive solution as Werner and his team uncovered the power of the Laserfiche product suite.
“For us, the rapid development enabled by Laserfiche supported a quick deployment,” said Jeremy Regehr, owner of Inspiris. “We took a phased direct-to-testing approach and, from there, made continual improvements that continue to this day.”
The first project consisted of enabling Kore Logistics to scan packages into and out of bins when they arrived at a warehouse. Shipping manifests are captured in Laserfiche and employees scan barcodes on items using a barcode scanner or cellphones, so everything can be easily tracked with a simple search in Laserfiche.
The new process has been a game changer for the organization, significantly reducing dock searches, a typically disruptive process that occurs when goods are missing, misplaced or incorrectly labeled. Dock searches require warehouse staff to inspect various areas to find the requested item, as well as checking manifests and other documentation to verify the location of the item and confirming that it is ready for further handling.
“Before Laserfiche, in a busy season, it wasn’t uncommon to have 60-plus dock searches,” said Werner. “Today, during a busy season, the maximum number of dock searches we’d have at any time is probably seven — and that’s with three times the volume.”
“Before Laserfiche, in a busy season, it wasn’t uncommon to have 60-plus dock searches,” said Werner. “Today, during a busy season, the maximum number of dock searches we’d have at any time is probably seven — and that’s with three times the volume.”
Next came the integration between Laserfiche and Kore Logistics’ dispatch software, DispatchTrack, to improve the process of generating pick lists, which include data such as order details, item information, quantities and location. Employees select packages within Laserfiche that need to be delivered, and that information is sent to DispatchTrack. DispatchTrack then sends truck routing information to Laserfiche, and warehouse employees are able to generate pick lists through a Laserfiche Form.
Pick lists are more efficient than with the legacy process, since employees can generate pick lists based on where items are located in the warehouse, saving hours of time each day.
More recently, Kore Logistics added the ability to import proof of delivery (POD) documents and generate them alongside pick lists, since PODs need to be made available to delivery drivers and vendors. Additionally, warehouse employees can use Laserfiche to take pictures of packages as they are received, in case they are damaged, for instance. These photos are routed to the same location as all of the other package information so that documentation is easy to find in case there are claims or other issues.
“Damaged freight is a big challenge in white glove delivery work,” said Werner. “So us being able to identify it in advance and have it documented helps us to provide better service to our clients.”
These processes have supported Kore Logistics’ growth while also positioning the company for continuous improvement as team members uncover more opportunities for efficiency. “Our team is at a point where now they’ll ask, ‘Can we change this? Can we automate this?’” said Werner. “Everyone appreciates that we have that flexibility now. We can add something or change a process when we need to.”
Fostering a culture of innovation will be critical for the company into the future, as inflation and supply chain issues put pressure on the logistics industry. “When we started this project pre-COVID, people’s buying habits were very different,” Werner said. “COVID changed everything — different value-adds that allowed for profit disappeared. If we didn’t have tools like Laserfiche to help with efficiencies, we wouldn’t be able to stay competitive. The industry is evolving quickly, and today there’s a magnifying glass on things like freight claims. We’re able to meet those increased needs. Laserfiche allows us to stay current with our customers, and allows us to look into issues and provide them with the visibility and documentation they need to feel supported.”
SITUATION
• Processes dependent on submission of physical documents
• Wider digital transformation initiated to facilitate service to citizens and minimize storage costs
RESULTS
• Digitized over 400,000 files since 2015
• Increased efficiency in back-office tasks by 30%
The Town of Paradise is a municipality located in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador near the capital city of St. John’s. Currently serving a population of around 23,000 residents, the town is also one of Atlantic Canada’s fastest growing municipalities with the youngest-aged population in Newfoundland and Labrador. To continue serving a growing population and meet the expectations of an increasingly younger generation of residents, the town has implemented Laserfiche technology to help drive efficiency and a more frictionless experience for residents.
Since implementing Laserfiche in 2015 to scan and manage civic files, the Town of Paradise has digitized over 400,000 files, establishing efficient scanning initiatives to continue supporting its electronic document management initiative. The physical space saved from document storage has allowed the town to hire more employees, which has subsequently expanded the scope and reach of services provided by a growing team.
To support its Laserfiche implementation and uncover additional solutions, the town partners with Ricoh, a Laserfiche solution provider. Beyond scanning, the town has worked with Ricoh to implement automated workflows and electronic forms to further optimize processes, improving the user experience for staff in and out of the office. These initiatives have helped to optimize costs, reduce processing times for key services, as well as improve responsiveness to residents. Using Laserfiche, the town has also been able to strengthen its continuity of services during major disruptions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Town of Paradise recognized a need to revamp legacy processes such as enforcement issues and actions reporting and building inspections. The organization needed to streamline data capture, centralize content management and better track information as it moves through the organization.
The issues and actions reporting process, for instance, is used by the town’s municipal enforcement officers (MEOs) when investigating public and private property, as well as municipally licensed and permitted businesses and premises to ensure compliance with acts, bylaws and regulations. This legacy process was digital, but because information was previously hosted on an external database, MEOs could not update it when they were out in the field. Rather, MEOs had to travel back and forth between project sites and the main office for reporting and to submit forms.
The town developed a new form using Laserfiche, which enabled MEOs to use tablets in the field to provide live updates, which are recorded in the Laserfiche repository, eliminating the need for the external database. On top of a savings of $2,500 from eliminating the external database, the town achieved a 37% savings in processing time during the pilot run of the form.
The town also leverages the collected metadata for a high-level view of action history, open tasks and other metrics. This serves as an efficient way to delegate tasks digitally between management and employees while also improving and accelerating responsiveness to issues and actions requests.
“Since implementing Laserfiche, we have greater insight into on-site locations with recurring problems,” said Elizabeth Piercey, purchasing and risk manager at the Town of Paradise. “Staff can more effectively identify and address problems, saving on time and costs without revisiting the same location again.”
Building inspection forms have been similarly updated, making the process more transparent and eliminating paper forms. The Town of Paradise benefits from improved reporting standards and tracking for processes initiated by digital forms, which now enable employees to upload pictures, automate emails to stakeholders, as well as support legal compliance by providing a clear, digital record of actions taken by employees on each project. With inspections centralized in one location and accessible with a click of a button, inspectors can easily input the most commonly used notes and take pictures if required. Benefits also include:
“Laserfiche Forms has been a great tool for building inspections,” said Dawn Doody, administrative assistant at the Town of Paradise. “It saves time and is more efficient and user-friendly for the whole department.”
Since deploying Laserfiche Forms in 2020, the town has worked to improve the user experience and quality of forms submissions relating to issues and actions and building inspections so that management can develop a better understanding of both employee and resident needs.
In addition to the benefits of cost savings and increased efficiency, Laserfiche has enabled employees to minimize face-to-face contact in office or with residents, which was especially crucial during the pandemic. During major disruptions requiring remote work, the town was able to leverage Laserfiche to provide employees and citizens with continued service using pre-existing and newly developed digital processes.
For example, a Laserfiche solution automating the accounts payable workflow was initially developed and implemented prior to the pandemic, but has now been fully rolled out to all departments. As entire communities were disrupted, this workflow was vital to the on-time delivery of invoices and payment to vendors. It also allowed the accounting division to monitor outstanding items.
“To say the workflow functionality has improved our overall AP process is an understatement,” said Cathy Broydell, manager of finance at the Town of Paradise. “The development of an AP workflow has allowed invoices to electronically move through the approval process seamlessly and has improved collaboration between every employee who is involved with the AP process. Our AP team can now easily track where invoices are within the approval process and as a result are able to process payment for invoices in a more timely and efficient manner. Today, invoices can be easily retrieved by using customized search tools within Laserfiche, and we can confidently say that invoices will never go missing again.”
Similarly, the town developed a correspondence management workflow which routed scanned mail to the appropriate department or user without the need for in-person interaction. Scanned items are tagged with the relevant department and user information. This has supported staff and community health and safety, allowing staff to access mail while working remotely for long periods. Additionally, the correspondence management workflow has provided the Town of Paradise with greater insight into what areas to focus on based on the volume of different categories of mail.
“If we had entered into the pandemic with thousands of undigitized physical files in our office, we would have faced more significant challenges in business continuity,” recalled Piercey. “As staff worked remotely, Laserfiche provided a way for us to access crucial information in a centralized location at our fingertips. This enabled us to respond to residents more efficiently during a stressful period.”
The Town of Paradise now has 30 active workflows across departments and has continued using these solutions even after the most severe part the pandemic. This has resulted in a more comprehensive and functional digital work environment, better preparing the town to serve the new generation of residents, even during unpredictable circumstances. These initiatives have provided employees with confidence in their own digital transformation efforts, leading the town to continue identifying more areas to automate using Laserfiche.
The insurance industry has embraced digital technology in pursuit of gaining a competitive edge. Despite ongoing economic uncertainties and various significant challenges, insurers and their distribution channels are currently grappling with disruptions. These disruptions encompass a rise in claims and incurred costs, as well as a surge in operational expenses. Given these evolving circumstances, insurance leaders must remain adaptive and flexible with a steadfast commitment to digital transformation.
Join us for a panel of industry experts who will unveil the latest Digital Insurance survey findings. These insightful discoveries shed light on how technology and operational leaders at insurance carriers are strategically redefining the priorities of digital transformation and shaping the new normal.
Topics covered in this webinar include:
