Scan Squad-Tackling Mountains of Docs

Scanner + Intern Does Not Equal Green

2011-09-29T08:38:00.006-05:00

The scanning service bureau world has heard these words a thousand times - "no thanks, we are going to hire some interns and scan all of the documents with our new scanner". I am sure all of our fellow service providers are nodding, yep they have heard those same words.

On the surface it seems like a good idea. Hire college kids for $10/hour, buy a $2,500 scanner that does 75 pages per minute, point them to the file room and get it done. Some math is done to estimate the total cost and to get an idea of when the project will be complete. Sounds good, doesn't it. Clear out that file room. Have documents available on the computer. Less paper in the office. What a great story - Green Green Green.

Here is the rest of the story. The CEO has lunch with a critical customer who wants to double his orders in a new area if the price is right. The problem is when the CEO asks for data to support the pricing, nobody can find the information. Everyone is sure the documents that contain the data were scanned. The documents were in the file cabinet and the interns scanned all the documents in that cabinet. The CFO, the COO, the Director of Sales, two associates and a forensic specialist are brought in to find these files. Two days later they were found on a local drive in the iTunes folder - oops.

I don't think I need to do the math on what it cost to try to find those documents. I also don't want anyone to get the idea that it was a bad idea to scan in the first place. Quite the contrary, it was a great idea to scan. But, like most things in life, it is not that it was a bad idea or bad timing or the wrong people, it can usually be summed up by saying it was poor execution.

Scanner + Intern + Planning can equal Green. Call a service bureau to help consult you on the planning part. Then you will see Green and not Red at an inopportune time.

It's not about Millennia Group

2011-09-09T11:41:00.008-05:00

We are a very proud and dedicated group of people at Millennia. We take pride in the quality of the work we do and we have been happy to tell everyone along the way - 15 years worth today to be exact. We have been telling everyone about our fantastic internal process and procedures and the great Kodak equipment we use for scanning. Of course we have told everyone that we use Kofax, the industry leading document capture software to make sure our clients are getting the best images they can. Our client list is proudly displayed on our web site and we love to mention the great client names that we have serviced successfully over the years. But, you know what? it's not about Millennia Group.

I have recently been doing some deep dive sales and marketing analysis and discovered that our prospects and clients were only secondarily interested in the How We Do It. They basically heard blah, blah, blah. Until I mentioned that they could cut 75% of the cost out of creating and maintaining paper based customer files or how they would be able to find any executed legal contract in seconds and never leave their chair, did they start to listen. Only when I mentioned that they could sleep better at night knowing all the employee files were backed up since we scanned them did people stop hearing blah blah blah and started to get as excited as we were.

We have always been good listeners and we have always worked hard to help our clients solve problems and deliver cost saving results. We just never learned to describe What We Do as What The Benefit Is or What The Result Is. So you will likely see some changes at Millennia Group. We are still very proud of how we do what we do but we are going to scream Why We Do It from now on. That is much more exciting - for both of us.

Visit us at www.mgdocs.com and watch for changes. Thank you.

It's Not About the Scanning

2010-11-15T09:12:00.005-06:00

Almost every inquiry we receive regarding a potential scanning project includes a discussion and focus on the scan resolution (commonly referred to as Dots Per Inch, DPI), file type (PDF or TIFF), logistics of pickup and drop off, prep and re-assembly. Very few of the discussions initially focus on the indexing or categorization and organization of the files. It is mostly an afterthought by the potential customer, as if the entire project is all about the conversion and not about how they can benefit from having the documents easily accessible.

Over the years we have determined that the value of our services is not really in the quality of the scans or how well we re-assemble. We know we do those things very well and those project elements are critical to a successful conversion. But the real value in what Millennia Group provides is the organization and rationalization of the information so that users can find what they need quickly and have confidence that they have the full picture.

Let me describe a scenario that is fairly typical. I have used employee files in the example, but the concept is the same for all types of files and records. Let's assume a company has 2,000 employees and their employee files consist of personnel records, benefits documents, I-9's and all the other documents typically found in the employees folder or folders. Many companies will look at these files and start scanning the documents because it seems simple to have a temp just scan each employee folder as one PDF file and save it to a network drive. So that one PDF for that one employee has all the documents in it including the I-9. Let's say that file is for Mary Adams, so it is saved as maryadams.pdf. Seems pretty straight forward.

Looks can be deceiving. First of all, Mary gets married and is now Mary Reynolds. Hopefully someone will remember to manually go and rename the PDF to maryreynolds.pdf. Secondly, if there is an audit of the I-9's, they will have to go dig out the paper files because the auditors should not have access to all the other documents in the PDF like the background check or the medical information. How about the fact that managers really should only have access to the employees in their region, not easy to do on a shared folder on the network. How about the annual review PDF's that are stored in a different location on the network? Should those be merged into the other PDF for Mary or should users just know to go look somewhere else? How about terminated employees, are their files moved to a different location in the shared folder so that the retention schedule can be activated? Would anyone ever like to audit the files of all employees in a particular office? Can't be done if they are named the way we named the PDFs.

These are just some of the reasons that organization and indexing are so important in every scanning project. This effort is what really justifies the cost of scanning - cost savings from more accessible and complete information.

Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com

Making Good Decisions

2010-09-28T08:36:00.007-05:00

As a parent I know that I have said "make good decisions" to my children and I hope that they do as they go through life. That thought almost becomes more basic, more black and white in the business world. We have spreadsheets that we create to help us make good decisions. We do research on Google and other websites to find out information. We use credit reporting agencies, background checks and we read research reports from industry associations. There is an overwhelming amount of information out there.

So how does this relate to document imaging and document management? For businesses that have been around for a while many decisions are made based on prior experience. The vast majority of that prior experience is trapped in paper documents and in the heads of employees who are still around to remember. One of those known archives can be preserved theoretically forever, while the other lasts until age 65 or the next layoff. Protect your corporate knowledge and history by scanning those business documents.

An amazing amount of highly useful history and data resides in the paper documents that are the "prior experience" of any company. Document imaging, done correctly, can put that experience within instant reach of your employees and new decision makers. It is not someone elses experience that you have read about on google, it is actual experience for your company, real data based on your exact products or services. Don't think of document imaging as just a way to get compliant for business continuity purposes, or a way to go green, think of it as a way to go Black, as in not in the Red. Empower your employees with a tool that will lead to better decisions - convert your critical business documents to digital image.

Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com

When is a Million not a Million?

2010-08-25T10:21:00.004-05:00

Most of our customers and prospects look at a wall of file cabinets or room full of boxes and immediately think "there must be a million pages here". They may be right, but they may be wrong. The correct answer or as close as you can get to the correct answer is extremely important in terms of the total cost of your imaging project and justifying your project.

If the cost to scan, prep, index and re-assemble (I don't like just saying the "cost to scan", since scanning is far more complicated than a single step) is $0.10 per page it makes a big difference if you have 1,000,000 pages or 100,000 pages. There is a huge difference between a budget of $100,000 and $10,000. As an example of how important page count is to the total project budget lets see what the budget is if we increase the cost per page by 50%.

If the project includes 100,000 pages and the cost per page increases by 50% to $0.15 per page, the budget increases from $10,000 to $15,000. $5,000 is a lot of money, but that difference is not usually a show stopper. So if a prospect call us and says "I need a quote to scan 100,000 pages", we can misjudge the complexity of the project by 50% and not really jeopardize the budget or shock the prospect.

If the prospect had said, "I think we must have 1,000,000 pages to scan", then it really doesn't matter what the price per page is, the nominal amount of the budget increases so dramatically that it does become a show stopper. Of course 1,000,000 pages at $0.10 is $100,000, much different than $10,000. Even if we are off on the price by 50%, $150,000 is really not in a different league than $100,000.

This is why page count is so important. Take a close look at the documents in the file cabinets and in the boxes. Maybe there are documents that really don't need to be scanned, which may significantly reduce page count. Take some test counts of the pages in each box or each folder and try to accurately extrapolate out the total number of actual pages that will be scanned. You might also be able to split the project into smaller parts to spread the budget out over a longer period of time.

Price per page is important and there are many variables that go into the cost of any project. However, an accurate estimate of the total page count will typically have the largest impact on total project cost.

Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com

Compliance and Audit - Imaging Helps?

2010-07-01T17:15:00.003-05:00

Two business areas that can benefit, or suffer, from imaging are compliance and audits. Here is why - unless your imaging process is tightly controlled, the risk of mis-information is equal to or greater than a paper based system. What could be some control points. Centralized scanning could be. This might create a bit more consistency in how documents are classified and saved vs leaving that task up to every individual user in the company. There will undoubtedly be spelling errors, mis-interpretations, mistakes and duplicated efforts, some of which might go away with centralized operations. A review step can also help, but that adds a layer of management and cost on the process. Structured file names. Can work, but round things don't always fit into square holes nicely. Workflow rules. That is a great way to ensure consistency and accuracy. A component of Workflow is source data as in matching invoices to the source accounting entry in the accounting system or matching the contract to the customer in the CRM. More to come.

Please Visit us at www.mgdocs.com

Cost Benefit Balance

2010-05-07T13:35:00.004-05:00

Who doesn't smile when they order a turkey sandwich for $5 and it comes piled high with carved turkey, a pickle, a bag of chips and a drink - That is a positive cost benefit relationship. But that same order might cost $20 - That is a negative cost benefit relationship for most of us I presume.

Is there any way to ensure the positive outcome each and every time for each and every customer (User)? You can plan as best you can, but there is probably no way to please all people all the time. You may serve great turkey, the best pickle and all the other good stuff they wanted but the mustard you provide is way to spicey.

How does this relate to document imaging project planning? In the end, there is going to be a need to identify the really critical areas that the users focus on and demand for their daily work. Take a deep look at need versus want to get these answers. How often do I need to see these documents? Exactly which documents are important to which users? Are documents for in-active accounts important? Maybe for only the first 6 months (only scan active accounts and in-active accounts that are less than 6 months old). Does each folder only have 10 pages in it? Consider scanning it as one - 10 page document instead of the more costly 10 - one page documents (each named and dated which takes time and hence money).

Most of the cost of an imaging project is invested in the categorization or indexing of the documents so they can be retrieved later with simple searches. There may be 20 different relative items for a single document, but maybe 98% of the time only 4 or 5 would be used to find it. The cost of capturing all 20 would be far greater than the 4 or 5 yet not provide the overwhelming majority of users with satisfaction.

These are just some of the ways to look at imaging projects. The process to arrive at these answers is well worth the effort and will help ensure that you get the best possible Positive cost benefit relationship.

Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com

Balancing Cost with Business Requirements

2010-03-24T16:38:00.004-05:00

So a prospective client says, "I want to have these documents scanned and I want it done this way and this is our budget. When can you start." The reality is that we almost never get the budget number.

Unfortunately, Millennia Group doesn't operate that way, shame on us. We want to ask a few questions, peel back a few layers and understand the goals of the project. Not because we want to increase the cost, quite the contrary. Our goal is to have a successful project with a happy, very happy client and if at all possible do the project for less money. But, as we all know, low price does not equate to high value.

Typically to get to high value means balancing the cost with the business requirements. Not to be arrogant, but we have some pretty good ideas that can lead to a better end result and not increase the budget. We can't get to that point though unless the client is open to a little discussion and discovery.

I will continue this thought in future short posts centered on how to balance cost and requirements.

Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com

What will an Image Warehouse do for me?

2010-01-19T10:10:00.005-06:00

Sorry for the long delay, end of year planning and close-out always take up more time than I think.

I am not at the end of this topic and have the all important answer to the question - What will an Image Warehouse do for me?

As you will recall, an Image Warehouse is a separate repository of your scanned image files complete with the meta data. The meta data must contain the key fields that allow you to match the image files to the corresponding data contained in your other line of business ("LOB") applications. For instance, the meta data in the Image repository database contains the Patient ID, which is of course also in the EMR system. Therefore, you do not need to push the image files into the EMR storage framework, you can simply create a link to the Image Warehouse.

The advantages of this architecture include:

1. Availability of the image files outside the firewall (for sharing with transaction partners).
2. Availability of the image files to users who don't have rights to the costly LOB application licenses.
3. Image capture can be tailored to the user environment, not restricted to the limited imging features of the LOB application.
4. Availability of linking the image files to other LOB applications, providing better customer service or audit capabilities.
5. Having a single image repository for multiple departments is easier to manage.

The Image Warehouse provides a single version of the truth when data and images are tied together through meta data.

Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com

How do you get documents into the warehouse?

2009-09-22T13:22:00.008-05:00

So you have built the warehouse and integrated it with your line of business applications. Now what? Well, now you have to go on with your business, which means you are creating and receiving documents on a regular basis. Those documents need to get into FileStar.

FileStar is configured with several easy to use methods of adding documents. Documents can be imported directly to the site, documents can be emailed to our process server one at a time or you can batch scan documents to our secure ftp server. I will quickly explain all methods below.

Importing a document is simple, just scan a document to your local drive or a shared drive, select the Import task, browse to the scanned file, add the meta data and press Go. It is that simple. The key here is to add the meta data and this is where FileStar really helps your business. Adding the meta data is simply the process of selecting the key attributes for the document. We make that easy by having your attributes available in drop down lists if possible or custom configured text, date, amount or type boxes. As we have indicated before, the image files should be tied to and associated with the key business data that it relates too. For instance, if you are scanning a lease document, the image file should be associated with that tenant and tenant ID from your lease administration software. Or if you are scanning an employee file, the image should be associated with the employee number from your employee management system.

For the email option and the batch processing option, there is a common task at the beginning of the process and then the process differs to give flexibility to your workflow. In both cases the first step is to create a bar coded "Control Sheet" that is placed as the first page of the document. This Control Sheet is created using the same basic process as adding the meta data for a document that is to be imported, you essentially select and add all of the relevant information about the document such as document name, document date, account number, etc. However, instead of then importing the document, you print the Control Sheet.

Once the Control sheet is printed and placed as the first page of the document, the document scan be scanned and emailed to the FileStar server address. Once received, FileStar reads the barcode, converts the document to text searchable PDF, removes the Control Sheet and routes the document to the correct location in the system. This is a simple, effective process when you have low volume and multiple users that want to directly add documents to FileStar, but the in-house imaging tools don't have PDF with Searchable Text capabilities.

If you have higher volumes and maybe a centralized scanner, but multiple users, you can have the knowledge workers put the Control Sheets on, but then have centralized scanning by a lower cost employee. All of the documents can be scanned as a single file or several large files so that the scanner does not stop. As long as the Control Sheets are in place and every new file starts with a Control sheet, the process is flawless. Millennia can even provide image QC and additional indexing on the files in this batch processing option. This process can also include an option where you send the documents to us for scanning instead of your group doing the scanning.

Just to reiterate the key advantage of FileStar, there are several ways to add documents to the FileStar Image Warehouse. This flexibility is an advantage to your business because it meets your workflow needs without over burdening your employees. A key component of this process is associating the new documents with the critical business information that will make it possible to find and share these documents.

Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com

Who Manages the Warehouse

2009-05-15T15:22:00.009-05:00

We have described an Image Warehouse as well as who builds it. Now let's discuss who manages it. Just like a physical warehouse, an Image Warehouse needs a manager to ensure efficient flow both in (scanning) and out (retrieval by users).

The answer depends a little on how your warehouse is set up. If it is an internally hosted Image Warehouse than you will likely use some internal resources to provide some if not all of the data, image and user management issues. If it is externally hosted, then you will likely rely more on the hosting provider. Remember that the key to the Image Warehouse is the connection between the image files and other key corporate data. These data connections must be maintained and of course there are always changes that need to be monitored.

So lets look at an example of a management issue. Suppose you have set up your warehouse and it consists of franchise agreements that have all been scanned and tagged with data from your franchise management database. You have included in the database and as a searchable field in the Image Warehouse, Region. If there is a re-alignment of regions that takes place in the franchise management database, there is nothing to do in the Image Warehouse because the Region data can be changed without changing the image reference which is based on the FranchiseID.

However, lets say that you acquire another company and now have to add 500 new Franchise agreements and all of those franchise agreements have already been scanned. Maybe those franchase agreements were tied to the franchise data, maybe not. There will likely be a large effort to make sure the image files and data get incorporated into the Image Warehouse and the franchise management database. The manager will need to be able to efficiently sanitize, normalize and import all the data. In addition, there should be some auditing done on the image files to make sure that you are not loading garbage into the system. Make sure the image files are correctly tied to the franchise data and that the image files are good quality before importing any data. You need a good ETL - Evaluate, Translate and Load layer.

If you have a large quantity of documentation that needs to be input into the Image Warehouse on a daily basis, you may consider outsourcing that function or having a consultant review your internal imaging process to make sure the input is cost effective. Remember that input is not always paper as mentioned above, frequently it can be a DVD full of image files in who knows what format (tif, pdf, pdf + text, individual page tiff, etc).

The output side of the management can also have some challenges. No matter how diligent you are during the planning stages there always seems to be some output request that was not planned for. You may have set up export options that include data by Franchisee, by City or State or even Region. You may not have thought about exporting all Franchise Agreements that have an Insurance Requirement for less than $500,000 in bodily injury. These requests happen.

So who manages the Image Warehouse? An external manager can add some know-how from managing other customer accounts. In addition, the external manager can be a remote central clearing house for input via scanning and electronic receipt, even via PO Box. An internal manager will obviously have deep knowledge of the internal data sources and will in all cases be integral to any solution.

The bottom line is that like any other application, the Image Warehouse needs a responsible party, a Manager. If you are going to make the investment to set up the warehouse, don't waste that investment by letting the data become corrupt or garbage.

Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com

Who Builds the Image Warehouse

2009-04-16T13:24:00.009-05:00

In my last post, I explained in detail what an Image Warehouse is. I have repeated my definition here as a starting point.

"An Image Warehouse is a central repository of scanned image files that are support for transactional data, process data and organizational data. The warehouse supports the collection of files, storage of files and retrieval of files in an organized and structured way - much like a physical warehouse. It is all about tying data to image files."

Who builds this warehouse? Of course, at Millennia Group we think we are very good at it since we have been doing it for 13+ years. The key is getting someone to understand your data sources and data needs. Then that knowledge and information can be used to build or integrate the document repository with the underlying and supporting data or integrating the images with other applications - ETL layer (Exchange, Translate and Load).

When determining if you are going to do this in-house or use a third party, make sure everyone has a chance to get sample data exports from all applications that will be involved. One of the most complicated parts of the process is normalizing the data that is coming from different sources that maybe is not consistent. For instance, in the accounting application your job code starts with two zero's ("00") followed by 5 digit numeric code. Unfortunately, your reporting or job tracking database drops the zeros or uses the Job name instead of the code. A process must be devised to ensure that the warehouse always communicates with the other applications in a perfectly matched environment, ensuring data integrity.

If you are going to use an existing document management application to act as the storage and retrieval portion of your warehouse, you have to consider whether you have the in-house programming skills to make the necessary changes in that application or if you need to use a consultant. In addition, make sure the application has the flexibility to support the various different input requirements and data delivery requirements. For instance, not all document management applications come with barcode reading capability or PDF + Text conversion out of the box. Or maybe the application doesn't have web capabilities and you need the information to be easily accesible to users outside your firewall. If you have an existing document management system that is working for the most part but does not provide some of these features, Millennia Group can create a web based warehouse that will pull the image files from the EDM and the data from other sources and create a single unified input, viewing and distribution application.

Regardless of who builds your Image Warehouse, there will be a requirement for internal resources. Internal resources like the database manager, EDM manager and others will need to provide support in this process in order to pull all the pieces together.

So to summarize, to build your warehouse you will need internal resources, possibly outside application specific consulants and also possibly a data and process consultant like Millennia Group. Once you have the Image Warehouse built and users can search and find information that they struggled to pull together in the past, then everyone will forget who built it, they will just be glad it Was built.

Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com

What is an Image Warehouse

2009-04-02T15:06:00.007-05:00

The best way to start our conversation about Image Warehouses is to provide a definition and description.

An Image Warehouse is a central repository of scanned image files that are support for transactional data, process data and organizational data. The warehouse supports the collection of files, storage of files and retrieval of files in an organized and structured way - much like a physical warehouse. It is all about tying data to image files.

The deeper description of an Image Warehouse will help you to get a better understanding. Since we started providing imaging services in 1996 we focused heavily on contracts and one thing that we always instinctively tried to do was to tie those digital contracts to the original accounting or key data. Now, 13 years later our clients could not be happier for that decision.

When the image files are tied to the transactional or process data you can slice, dice and manage that data far easier. This idea facilitates single point of data entry, for instance, you don't have to re-key the name of the parties to the contract if that information already exists in the accounting software or contract management application. You can also assemble your information with far greater ease and certainty with an Image Warehouse. Take for example the challenge of finding all documents on your shared network drive that you have scanned that relate to all customers in St. Louis. With an Image Warehouse, you just have to query the data (which exists in your systems) to assemble the files and export them in a structured format.

Millennia Group has an Image Warehouse platform built on Microsoft SQL and .Net that we have integrated with many different applications. However, you can also use existing EDM or electronic document management applications to be your warehouse. This is where the description gets a little more interesting. Just like a physical warehouse, the actual storage facility is only part of the solution. You still need people to drive the fork lifts and record the ins and outs. This is also true of an Image Warehouse in many ways. You need to have processes to control the input of image files and you need to make the data connect to the images in the first place. Typically there is a start up phase that will involve understanding and possibly normalizing the data with existing images or it might involve planning for new images and new data. This of course is the integration of data and applications. Then you need to create the tools that let users access and distribute that information as needed (and as security permits) - a good user interface.

So in the next post I will talk more about Who builds this warehouse. Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com

Image Warehousing

2009-03-12T17:10:00.008-05:00

Over the next few weeks I will be describing our Image Warehousing strategy. The outline for the next few blogs is this:

1. What is an Image Warehouse?
2. Who builds this warehouse?
3. Who manages this warehouse?
4. How do I get documents in the warehouse?
5. What will it do for me?

We hope to start this blog with this timely topic and then use the blog to expand on the challenging concepts that face all companies when it comes to the proliferation of digital files.

We invite comments from users in all industries, vendors of relavant hardware and software products, IT professionals and Academicians to join us. We have been doing this for 13 years and we have plenty of success stories, plenty of knowledge but soooo much more to do and learn.

Thank you and please visit us at www.mgdocs.com