McBride and Son Enterprises, Inc.

Building Efficient Business Processes

Documents

Builders Bloc’s seven regional offices each handle their own accounts through one shared accounting program. The company needed a centralized document filing solution to manage and store accounting documents such as invoices and check copies. They also needed to streamline their invoice approval process to better manage their cash flow, reduce errors, and improve relations with vendors.

Work Process

To pay invoices, the accounting department needed approvals from the President to the Superintendent level, across regional offices. This was accomplished using a multi-step paper-based system that relied on interoffice mail and couriers.

Another vital role of this department is the filing of liens. When a lien was filed on a house because of non-payment, Builders Bloc would have to locate all the invoices relating to that particular job. With document storage both on and offsite, misplaced or lost invoices not found at the time of the lien could not be submitted; lowering the total claim value to be collected.

Solution Requirements

DocuWare was chosen of the evaluated 17 different systems because of its workflow capabilities, high level of functionality with searchable full text fields, and the ability to “read“ information from a document using OCR technology.

Solution

McBride utilizes CITRIX to provide regional offices with access to their shared accounting system (CITRIX works by transmitting only keystrokes and screen shots of a program allowing the actual computing to occur on a server at a central location.) Developing a centralized electronic document pool and automating their business process was the next step in the company’s evolution. SBP Image Solutions, an Authorized DocuWare Partner, implemented DocuWare and rolled it out to employees at the regional offices using CITRIX. Fujitsu scanners including the fi-5530C and the fi-5120C models were installed at each regional office. Today each of the seven offices scan, index and store documentation into one central document pool.

Received invoices are now scanned, indexed and routed through the approval process using electronic stamps and folders. Each employee has an electronic CONTENT-FOLDER located on their desktop, which contains invoices needing approval. Annotations, job codes and approval stamps are digitally added to each invoice, automatically routing it through the workflow process. Once paid, the invoice and an image of the check are stored together in DocuWare.

Setting up new employee hire packets is also more efficient. Human Resources (HR) initiates the process by scanning and indexing the packet. Again, using e-stamps, information is automatically routed to be entered into the payroll system, and then back to HR.

Since implemented, DocuWare now holds all active employee files and has been expanded to include other HR documents such as employee’s stock ownership documents and I-9 forms (the form that establishes US citizenship regarding employment). Health enrollment forms are being stored electronically - separate from other HR documents to comply with the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

User Benefits

Automation has made approving invoices hassle free. Looking up information on past purchases is just as straightforward and fast. Employees are saving time and have gained more control over their daily business processes, improving efficiency and employee moral.

Department Benefits

For the accounting department, detailed job code indexing on invoices makes finding data quick and easy, allowing information to get to the right person faster so better decisions can be made. With electronic workflow in place, the accounting staff can now monitor the invoice approval process, following up when an invoice has not been returned for payment. This audit trail improves internal controls by increasing employee accountability and productivity, in turn, resulting in efficient cash management.

Corporate Benefits

The central storage of documents and detailed index system allows Builders Bloc to proactively respond to building material recalls, strengthening the company’s reputation with customers and contributing to higher sales.

“DocuWare helps us access information we’ve never had access to before. If I find out that there has been a problem with XYZ concrete, I can now do a search and come up with a list of all the properties where that concrete was used. McBride can contact these customers and resolve the issue under the recall before actual problems develop. This proactive approach does a lot to further our reputation as a quality contractor,“ said Andrea Templeton, Corporate Controller for McBride and Son Enterprises.

Using DocuWare and their detailed job code index system, filing a lien has never been more efficient. Finding all relevant invoices for a lien has increased the value the company can claim; minimizing losses. Based on index criteria, DocuWare is also serving as a monitoring system to readily determining the last date of work on a property to comply with the six month window for submitting a lien.

After surviving two fires and a flood that left nine feet of water in their lobby, McBride truly values DocuWare for its role in the company’s disaster recovery plan. The images and index information stored in DocuWare are backed up nightly to tape which is moved offsite as an additional precaution. Plans for a mirror system at another location, out of the flood zone, are now in place.

“When our corporate office flooded, we lost thousands of documents. We were able to secure our computers on the second floor, but we were unable to access them for almost a month. Once we have DocuWare mirrored to another location, we won’t have any downtime,“ said Jeff Sheldon, Information Systems Manager for Builders Bloc Contracting. Beside the cost of savings from courier and storage space fees, DocuWare has helped McBride become compliant with HIPAA regulations, as well as efficiently manage growth while controlling personnel costs.

“In the last two years McBride and Son Enterprises revenue has grown 15% and we have been able to manage this growth without adding staff, because of our investment in technology and DocuWare. As an employee owned company, many of our employees have been able to personally witness the return on investment of our DocuWare system,“ said Templeton.

McBride and Son Enterprises are firmly committed to management techniques that achieve maximum cost effectiveness for its customers and DocuWare helps the company meet this commitment.