Streamlining workflows for an established fluid systems manufacturerWorkflow Applications: Accounting, Order Processing & Warehouse / ERP

Document Types: Bank Statements, Account Records, Offers, Order Confirmations, Inventory Lists, Incoming AJP Invoices, Product Information & Warehouse Inventory Records

Overview

Growing success also meant a huge growth in documents for all their paper-based administrative and logistical processes. Workflows were increasingly time and cost-intensive. Managing their filing was costing them 30 minutes per day, per employee. When the management team at Swagelok Manchester realised that the company had to put in weekend hours to tackle the out-of-control paper archive every quarter, it was time to take action. Inspired by the DocuWare system used by Swagelok’s sales and service centre in Munich, the Swagelok Manchester team began looking at ways to incrementally digitize their operations.

Requirements

After seeing the benefits of the Munich operation, they decided to implement DocuWare in Manchester. To ensure a seamless transition from analog to digital document management, the local DocuWare Partner prepared a detailed analysis and documentation of various business processes as well as their existing IT infrastructure. Led by • Sue Brennan, Information System Manager for Swagelok Manchester, they created a four-step plan with their Authorized DocuWare Partner which called for successive, department-centric implementation. One of the goals was to make sure that during implementation there would be
no interruption of their daily processes. They also wanted to ensure rapid acceptance among users. In addition, the system needed to be integrated with existing software applications like a SCALA ERP system, SIMPLE barcoding inventory management solution, and Crystal Reports reporting program.

The solution needed to:

• Analyse existing processes
• Develop successive implementation concept
• Integrate DMS in the existing application landscape
• Define custom workflows.