In 2015 H&J Martin joined the Lagan Specialist Contracting Group, bringing together two family owned and run businesses. Within Lagan Specialist Contracting, H&J Martin (who DocTech's relationship began with), operate three main divisions, Asset Management Services, Construction and Fit Out.
The maintenance and administration of public buildings, retail spaces, office complexes or entire industrial plants requires a specialised Facilities Management service provider to ensure high levels of quality and commitment are met.
DocTech helped Lagan Construction Services digitise over 150,000 project documents, giving office and site teams secure remote access to drawings, contracts and project files. The solution reduced paper storage, improved document retrieval, strengthened version control and provided a single source of truth for project information.
As Lagan Construction Services went from strength to strength, it was clear to them they needed more efficient business and administrative processes and to no longer be held back by the growing mountains of paper.
On a monthly basis, around 12,000 engineer service reports, 3,000 supplier sales invoices and numerous amounts of other paper documents are generated.
Long search and processing times in paper based systems affected the ability of employees to source the information they needed.
In 2010 the team decided it was time to replace their paper-based approach with an integrated document management system.
Transparency and efficiency in order processing was a top criteria. For economic and ecological reasons, the company sought to significantly reduce the high number of paper copies and enjoy savings in future archiving space.
Flexibility was another requirement as customers, sub-contractors and vendors with whom they exchange documents come from a wide variety of sectors.
Staff located in remote offices needed to access a central document pool, and integration with leading enterprise applications was on their essential to-do-list.
After a demo and consultation process with DocTech, Lagan Construction Services chose DocuWare due to its modular design and optional interfaces.
It offers a high degree of flexibility, particularly in regards to integration with existing software environments and is future proofed for expansion over time.
DocuWare was integrated into their existing Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) system, as well as their accounting solution, SunSystems & Mardak to streamline all their document processes.
With only six weeks from DocuWare being chosen until roll out, DocTech was able to install and train staff on the custom solution, which included use by departments around the UK.
All updates and any further modifications or enhancements DocTech can do by remotely accessing the system.
The DocuWare archive is at the heart of the solution. A wide variety of business documents are stored in structured directories with clearly defined access rights, including customer data, invoices, service reports and sheets to track employee hours and performance.
Document exchange needed with partner organisations and customers occurs via a secure portal, and any remaining paper documents are added into DocuWare via high performing scanners installed onsite.
Using their existing reporting software Crystal Reports, Lagan Construction Services can directly access information stored in DocuWare. A connection installed by DocTech quickly and easily generates reports.
Not only does this support billing and audits, but Lagan's Operations Manager highlighted that:
The ability to digitally stamp documents and automatically control their processing using workflows.
Integration with existing software so all applications are working together rather than in isolation.
Faster and more transparent business processes
An increase in efficiency resulting in greater customer satisfaction
Processing errors have been 'virtually eliminated'
Large savings in paper and storage costs
Increasing the value of the information stored on documents through quick and easy access
Significant changes in how a company handles core business processes will always pose some risk. But on the other hand, this type of restructuring offers tremendous potential. DocuWare has turned into a valuable tool for everyday, practical work and has significantly increased our productivity.
info@doctech.co.uk
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