Physical files taking up space in cabinets across office, lack of document security, manual destruction of retained records, manual workflows across the organization
Enterprise Content Management & AP Automation, Ricoh Multifunction Printers
XMA Corporation has been a PiF Technologies customer since 2020, and currently utilize DocStar Document Management, Ricoh Copiers, and recently implemented Accounts Payable Automation. Peter Richard has been with XMA Corporation for nearly 18 years and currently serves as their General Manager, and was a key champion in the decision to automate as well as transform their copier fleet.
Like many other organizations relying on paper, XMA Corporation had a daily physical reminder of just how much paper they had. Their offices had storage rooms filled with filing cabinets containing records physically maintained for seven to ten years. XMA faced a true inflection point when their organization was growing and they were hiring additional employees and according to Peter, “the filing cabinets were taking up so much real estate that it was just a no-brainer. We had to get rid of them. Our new layout was not going to support having rows of poorly utilized space (filing cabinets), so we had to remove them while maintaining appropriate record retention.”
This was the catalyst to make the change to DocStar (Epicor ECM) Digital Document Management with PiF Technologies. There was a physical impact across their offices once their solution was implemented, old filing cabinets were replaced by a completely digital document storage system and they had the space they needed to support their new hires.
While their biggest benefit was the elimination of paper, the XMA team also gained the ability to search and find documents faster than ever before. “We gained the ability to easily find records, versus searching through multiple filing cabinets hoping the information was still there,” said Peter, “everything was able to be put into DocStar, which we could then reference back to either the purchase order where we originally bought it or the lot number of the material.”
As XMA Corporation has used their Document Management System, an opportunity arose for them to expand their solution to Accounts Payable Automation. XMA has one Accounts Payable Clerk who processes on average a few hundred invoices per month. When processing an invoice, their receiving department handles the packing slip, which then makes its way to their AP clerk, who then routes it for approval if it’s not a Purchase Order. It then goes back to AP for entry and filing and is then pulled from the queue for payment. Once it’s paid, it’s matched up with the check stub, and filed again. Because paper needs to be routed to multiple people in order to be approved, the timeliness and accuracy of the payments is not guaranteed. Peter refers to it as a “haphazard” process that sometimes leads to invoices not being approved and mystery about where a file is and where it needs to go.
The benefit of Accounts Payable Automation is that this same process is now completely digitized and streamlined. Rather than passing paper from person to person, invoices can be automatically routed and approved with little to no human intervention.
The overarching theme of the continued partnership between PiF Technologies and XMA Corporation is reducing data entry time and improving efficiency. One specific project that Will Cosentino, a PiF Solutions Consultant recently completed was in regards to updating workflows for Job Order Reports and Job Orders for a specific lab within the organization. Rather than scanning in data then filling in the fields of a report or Job Order, all fields are being populated automatically based on data fed into the system.
“I am virtually doing no manual data entry, just glancing through each record for any glitches. So this is a big gain in efficiency on scanning,” says Carlene Vaitones, Admin Support at XMA.
Thanks to the power of DocStar and the unique expertise of the Professional Services Team, PiF Technologies is able to continually eliminate data entry tasks across XMA Corporation. At the end of the day “the end product has exceeded my expectations,” for Carlene and those who previously were completing this and other processes by hand.
Often copiers are considered to be an afterthought, it’s a utility purchase for organizations and rarely is there much thought put into it. For XMA Corporation, the biggest draw of investing in Ricoh Multi-Function Printers (MFPs) with PiF wasn’t just the quality of the machines or the savings on service, it was the simple fact that they would have a single point of contact for multiple technology solutions.
PiF Technologies offers a unique approach to copier technology, thanks to years of experience servicing and supporting sophisticated software solutions, the PiF service and support team take a strong approach to installing and servicing their customers machines that leads to a smoother installation and far less downtime.
By offering local support, as well as having existing knowledge of the organization and their infrastructure, PiF is able to provide a much higher value to XMA Corporation than other copier providers who are nationally-based and may not have as extensive an understanding of the organization.
For PiF Technologies, a customer relationship doesn’t end once the project is implemented. The focus on continued support and identification of new opportunities for automation is how XMA Corporation has been able to continually expand on their solution.
XMA Corporation’s journey with PiF Technologies has been one of transformation and efficiency, resulting in significant improvements throughout their organization. By embracing Document Management and Accounts Payable Automation, XMA successfully is eliminating the burdensome piles of paper, gaining the ability to access and search documents with unprecedented speed and ease.
PiF Technologies’ expertise and support have continually led to the elimination of data entry tasks, saving time and enhancing overall efficiency. The integration of Ricoh Multi-Function Printers with PiF’s solutions further solidified the partnership, providing XMA with a single, reliable point of contact for multiple technology solutions.
As XMA Corporation and PiF Technologies continue this successful collaboration, it is evident that their commitment to excellence and the pursuit of innovative automation will propel them towards even greater achievements in the future.
In 2021, PiF Technologies will be celebrating its 25th year in business. They’ve been a DocStar partner since day one and got their start selling a simple solution; scan, file, and retrieve. While the technology and complexity of their projects have evolved, their dedication to their customers and their desire to stay on the bleeding edge of technology has been their number one priority.
They cover a broad range of applications and industries. Popular implementations include AP Automation for Manufacturers and Distributors, Non-Profits, Construction firms, school districts, and any other business that faces inefficiencies in their processes.
Their expertise lies in their ability to design, deploy and support complex, fully integrated solutions with workflow automation, artificial intelligence including intelligent data capture, smart web forms, robotic process automation, and Cloud hosting.
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