The Cure for Paperwork Headaches

Laserfiche Document Management Software saves the Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center time and money

Texas A&M University (TAMU) is one of the largest universities in the U.S., both in terms of enrollment and physical size. With nine system schools and two campuses, as well as a main campus with over 100 buildings on over 5,200 acres, TAMU faces a unique challenge in sharing information.

Relying on paper was an inefficient use of TAMU’s monetary and staff resources. In addition, board requirements frequently limit the amount of office space to conserve space for classroom and labs, so space used for paper storage was at a premium. What little space was available could have been better used for professors’ offices.Beginning in 2004, different programs and departments within TAMU began investigating document management solutions, in order to more efficiently and cost-effectively share information—not to mention save space. Ultimately, they chose a Laserfiche enterprise content management solution to securely store paper, implement business process management and eliminate file cabinets.

Currently, nearly 1,200 staff in 10 departments and divisions within TAMU use Laserfiche document management software. The Health Sciences Center (HSC) reaches across Texas to educate health professionals and researchers through its seven components: the Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas; the College of Medicine in College Station, Round Rock and Houston; the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; the Institute of Biosciences and Technology in Houston; the School of Rural Public Health in College Station and McAllen; the Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy in Kingsville; and the College of Nursing in College Station.

When the HSC was planning to build its 200-acre new central campus, it wasn’t planning on using space that could house students and labs to house file cabinets. Add to that a system that spanned the state and often required costly overnight delivery of paperwork to its central office, then a need to duplicate and store copies of that paperwork, and Laserfiche was just the cure Project Manager Kristin Nace was looking for.

Nace, the director for fiscal services, was formerly in the HSC accounts payable division. While working in that department, she scanned documents into a basic system that used a centralized network drive. In 2007, the HSC formed a committee to find an alternative system and a vendor to provide it.

Because of Laserfiche’s successful implementation in the Texas A&M AgriLife program, it was considered for the HSC, and was ultimately chosen due to ease of use. Nace says that Laserfiche’s document management interface is simple and self-explanatory, and the system’s ability to import and export Microsoft Office documents was critical to its ultimate selection.

Since implementing Laserfiche, the finance office has quit accepting paper documents, and instead requires all internal documents, such as invoices, payroll documents and contracts, to be submitted electronically. They have been able to eliminate most of their 69 file cabinets, which cost $2,100 annually to maintain. And they have been able to adhere to their records retention schedule much more easily.

Even better, the department has eliminated nearly all their overnight shipments from regional locations. Previously, regional offices would overnight documents to the finance department on a daily basis. Because 95% of these overnight shipments were internal, they are now handled electronically through Laserfiche—eliminating nearly $55,000 spent in shipping costs.

Nace has recently created a position to manage the expansion of Laserfiche into new HSC departments. Eventually, every department in the HSC will be using Laserfiche.

“Our largest unexpected benefit came in realizing how popular Laserfiche has become within our organization,” she says. “I’m regularly getting requests from our departments to set up additional folders, processes, or even repositories. I knew people would love the product, I just didn’t expect they would love it this much… As a matter of fact, I’ve not had to convince anyone to use it, if anything I cannot keep up with all of their requests to bring more documents into the system. We are excited it has taken off as quickly and easily as it has.”

Benefits of Document Management

In this day and age, most forms of communication have gone digital. All major companies have digitized all of their systems and rarely use physical paper for anything. It is easier to have things organized on a computer, to where anyone can access it at anything, without making multiple copies. Filing cabinets and folders used to be the old form of Document Management. This was the way businesses kept track of all the vital information needed to keep the company running efficiently. Today, to keep up with the times, that is simply not good enough. These businesses, whether they be domestically or nationally run, need some sort of Document Management Software.

These management software systems make it possible for the businesses to digitalize all of their records in a clear, concise, and easy to use fashion. It allows multiple users to see the information at once, without having to be in the same place to view it. The systems create a network for the companies to use, which ties everyone into the same stream of information. This will substantially increase the efficiency of the business.

The advantages of digital Document management are clear. It is cost effective in the sense that it saves time. Employees will not have to spend time going and looking for a record. The information is all in the same place, easy to access. The systems also allow the company to back up the information. There is not a need to make multiple copies of the items, they are backed up within the system. You can make it so all of the information is secure. You can set up password protection and limit access of information is necessary.

In order to back up old files that were previously only in paper form, a company may find the need for document imaging. This is a system in which the old documents are taken and scanned in order for them to be placed in the new digital database. This allows for everything to be in one place, making it easier for a company to locate important information. Much like with the systems created for document management, there is document imaging software that allows companies to take large scale physical paper documents, and make them digital for the computer.

These document management systems also tie into features online, allowing them to be stored as a database for the company. This enables the ability for the company to access the information from any location in the world. Imagine the possibilities and the room from growth of a company that is able to operate or access information from any location.