Century Fence implemented DocuWare as the first step on their journey to becoming a paperless company. Digital document management meant a reduction in the time spent on clerical tasks. Field Superintendents had mobile access to project documents, so processes were not slowed down when they were not in the office. DocuWare provided seamless digital collaboration between departments and motivated every employee to contribute their best work resulting in improved productivity and profitability.
Industry: Manufacturing/Service Provider
Location: USA
Application: Accounting / Finance, Company-wide, Sales
Document Types: quotes, cost breakdowns, bills of material, invoices, contracts, insurance certifications, site plans, work orders, change orders, correspondence
Established in 1917 as a scrap metal brokerage firm, Century Fence is a family-run company that has evolved into a custom fencing provider and pavement marking contractor. A big part of the company’s fence business is focused on high-security fencing for municipal, federal and other high-security customers.
A growing company, Century Fence wanted to reduce dependence on paper-based files, speed up workflows and ensure records were searchable and transparent. The company also wanted to implement a digital mobile solution to provide Field Superintendents with remote access to project documentation. The company needed a solution that had the flexibility to integrate with their ERP and accounting programs. It also needed to offer easy management of documents such as: quotes, cost breakdowns, bills of material, contracts, insurance certifications, site plans, work orders, change orders, and correspondence between multiple people.
Century Fence's trusted IT vendor and Authorized DocuWare Partner recommended DocuWare because of its flexibility, mobile app and ability to sync with their ERP system. The company rolled out DocuWare to its fencing division at all three locations simultaneously during a staged rollout.
In the first month, invoicing and accounting documents were brought into DocuWare and electronic invoice approvals was introduced. The following month the solution expanded to digitize all project documentation and during the third month, mobile access was given to Field Superintendents, with tablets. Indexing is done in a variety of ways including using DocuWare’s Connect to Outlook feature to archive correspondences, the Intelligent Indexing feature which “learns” where to find each index field on a document, and through the integration of DocuWare with other IT systems by using, for example, the Job Number on each project document as a matchcode to pull in other indexing terms from the ERP system.
The company’s project folders remain open and active for about three months during the quoting, staging, installation and billing phases of a project. With DocuWare in place, every member of the team can easily add and access project documents, whether they are in the office or onsite. One quick search facilitates better information coordination between departments and has eliminated time spent hunting for physical project folders.
“DocuWare allows us to keep Superintendents in the field, where they are most valuable, rather than in the office doing paperwork. Time in the field enables them to oversee the work and keep projects on time and on budget,” said Matt Powell, VP of Business Development for Century Fence.
Installation is usually done over the course of 2-3 days. All the company’s fencing installations are performed by sub-contractors, so it is crucial for Superintendents to be onsite with quick access to project files at this time. A Superintendent’s time spent on cost approvals has been reduced from 4 hours to 30 minutes per week. Digitizing accounting process has allowed the accounting department to operate more efficiently, eliminating the hassle, costs and time of physically sending documents back and forth between three offices. “DocuWare has helped us clean up our cost approval process and our accounting department is now taking full advantage of early payment discounts,” said Powell.
“At this stage of our transformation to digital, we are serving our customers and ourselves so much better. The transparency and easy-to-use workflow encourages everyone’s participation and commitment to bring projects to completion,” states Powell.
The next stop on this digital journey is rolling out DocuWare to the Pavement Marking division.
“DocuWare allows us to keep Superintendents in the field, where they are most valuable, rather than in the office doing paperwork. Time in the field enables them to oversee the work and keep projects on time and on budget.”
Matt Powell, VP of Business Development, Century Fence
