Ditch Your Documents, Share the Knowledge
Transitioning paper documents to digital content accelerates the decision-making process across your organization.
-Sales contracts
-Addendums
-Work orders
-Purchase orders
-Invoices
What do all of these items have in common? Aside from the fact they all typically come in paper form, each one of these documents—along with many others that circulate on a job—carries a distinct piece of knowledge that is important to someone throughout the building process.
The trouble is most of the time these documents are sitting in a file cabinet or are buried on someone’s desktop, inaccessible to the people who need them the most. As tighter margins and reduced cycle times place a strong impetus on streamlining the decision-making process, builders need to find ways to share even more knowledge with more people throughout the various stages of the job in less time.
Document imaging and management technology allows companies to scan paper documents into the system, attach these files to other documentation throughout the enterprise, and provide users with the tools that make each of these electronic documents easily accessible via a simple keyword search in most instances.
Demand for such technology is definitely prevalent in the market today. Residential respondents to Constructech’s 2008 National Construction Technology Survey tab document imaging/management solutions as the No.1 new or hot technology in which they plan to invest within the next 12 months.
In the search for the right solution, builders can turn to various enterprise-software providers that have added these capabilities to their product suites. Or, they can look towards point solution providers that focus exclusively on imaging, management, and routing software; data collection tools; and distribution applications.
The big push for document imaging and management technology has always been associated with reducing the cost of producing and storing paper. While that is still a very appealing facet of the imaging technology, the ability to share information in a more efficient manner is equally appealing.
The level of information shared on today’s homebuilding projects continues to escalate. In many instances, the content needed to be managed goes well beyond basic paper documents. The trick is to understand the process of how content flows throughout your jobs, and then apply the right technology that enables you to share the knowledge.
Content, Evolved
At its core, document management technology will ultimately help improve communication. However, the method by which communication is occurring on jobsites continues to evolve. The use of paper documents is still customary throughout the process, but new forms of communication have entered into the mix, and builders need to adapt. Chief among these are emails.
In the commercial realm, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and eDiscovery requirements that apply when working on federal jobs may require contractors to produce all emails and other associated documents in a few weeks. These requirements are not enforced on a residential job, however Larry McAdams, president, Construction Imaging (CIS), www.construction-imaging.com, Rocky Mount, N.C., says builders should not underestimate the importance of archiving and managing emails. McAdams recalls instances where builders estimate the cost of trying to recover documents, mainly emails, in lieu of litigation to be roughly $60,000.
The company introduced E-MailXtender, an add-on to its core content management applications. This supplementary product enables builders to include all forms of electronic messaging media as part of the document-management process. This system automatically collects, organizes, retains, and retrieves email messages/attachments. It copies each email and attachment into an Enterprise Message Center, proceeding to generate a full-text index of all messages/attachments. According to CIS, E-MailXtender supports Microsoft Exchange/Outlook, Lotus Notes/Domino, UNIX Sendmail, and Bloomberg Mail.
“Finding and retrieving those emails can be difficult if (the emails) are not archived in an imaging system. Being able to drag and drop an email into a job folder, and being able to save both incoming and outgoing emails is important,” continues McAdams. “Some products also allow you to archive all emails, but we feel it is important to be able to archive selected emails and manage those emails appropriately.”
Custom luxury homebuilder Charles Cudd Co. LLC, www.charlescudd.com, Plymouth, Minn., leverages email archiving capabilities in conjunction with its use of both the Invoice Router and Construction Document Manager products from CIS. But the builder also uses the applications to help manage another unique form of “content” that is being used on jobs—voicemails.
“Customers call in with (change requests) and we have contact with a customer via voicemail. We have the ability to drag that voicemail message into the imaging system,” says Mark Poff, controller, Charles Cudd Co. “The software recognizes the voicemail and it shows up in my computer and I can drag that in and attach it to the appropriate job file.”
Naturally this requires a specific type of phone system, specifically a VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) system. Karen Cavanagh is a former communications consultant and now works for a large commercial subcontracting firm. She says, depending on the VoIP system, the process of adding a voicemail to your data network, and then into your document management application, can be rather simple given the phone system used.
“When voice is added to the data network, it becomes just another source of data traffic (packets). The voicemail “server” is just another device on the network like the email server. The phone system forwards (optional) the voicemail message as a .wav file to the email server and it shows up in your mailbox with an icon that looks like a cassette,” says Cavanagh. “When you open the message you can (hit) play, fast forward, reply, etc. That recording can then be saved—on a server, your hard drive, or in your document management software.”
When it comes to VoIP phone systems, the market is comprised of two types of providers. One is traditional PBXs (private branch exchanges)—which is a telephone exchange that serves a particular business as opposed to using a common carrier for voice services—that have added IP capabilities.
Another are systems developed as pure IP, such as Cisco Systems Inc., www.cisco.com, San Jose, Calif., and ShoreTel Inc., www.shoretel.com, Sunnyvale, Calif. Network providers include Paetec, www.paetec.com, Rochester, N.Y., Qwest, www.qwest.com, Denver, Colo., Sprint, www.sprint.com, Reston, Va., and AT&T, www.att.com, San Antonio, Texas.
Back to Charles Cudd, when it comes to typical paper on its jobs, the company uses Invoice Router for streamlining the archival, routing, and approval of such documents. POs (purchase orders), for example, are entered into accounting and then scraped, which involves the system taking specific data from one program and automatically populating another, into Invoice Router. These indexed POs can be viewed at any time by any users authorized to view the system. Invoices are entered into the system and can be looked up by vendor number or vendor name. Indexed information and the accompanying images are saved within the system and an email is sent to the person needing to approve the document.
“Everyone now has access to information without having to call up accounting asking them to dig up an invoice,” says Poff. “I can (sort the date in different ways) to see if the vendor’s price has been consistent. We do a lot of cost-plus work on the custom side, so they want to see invoices. I can create a PDF and send it off rather than printing paper.”
Liability Assistance
One of the early push backs from construction companies regarding the use of document imaging and management technology involved concerns over liability. Some were concerned that replacing paper documentation with electronic forms would cause several problems down the road in instances—such as litigation—where the paper record was required.
Don Scattergood, vice president, MARK SYSTEMS, www.marksystemsusa.com, Mt. Holly, N.J., sees this concern as less of an issue from builders these days. MARK SYSTEMS includes Document Image Library as a standard feature to its Integrated Homebuilder Management System, built into Sales, Warranty, Accounts Payable, among others.
“Builders will still have some paper—like a physical copy of the sales agreement, and the physical copy of the signed change orders, or like in many states you need a physical copy of the signed lien release from sub,” says Scattergood. “We are not at a point where we can eliminate 100% of paper, but we are at the point where we can eliminate some extraneous paper.”
He believes imaging technology can actually play a strong role in helping builders with regards to liability—such as with managing subcontractor insurance forms. Builders can run into a substantial amount of liability if subs are not covered by liability and worker’s comp insurance. Subs will send these forms to the builder who proceeds to enter them into a database and then file the certificate away.
“Each sub delivers multiple insurance certificates to each builder. Rather than getting a fax and printing it out, there is IP-based fax software available that allows you to receive an electronic version of that (fax),” says Scattergood. “So as part of your document-management schema, just like you have a file folder for each community, you should have a folder for each sub. In that folder there could be electronically generated copies of contracts, and electronic form of that fax, etc.”
myFax, www.myfax.com, Ottawa, Ont., and FlyDoc, www.flydoc.com, which is part of Esker Inc., Madison, Wis., are among the companies that offer IP-based fax solutions. The typical process involves a user sending a fax in typical analog format and the software then converts the fax into a digital document that can be received as an email attachment. If need be, these solutions enable the reverse procedure where digital documents can be received as analog faxes.
Daniel Hayden, director of product development, UDA Technologies, www.udatechnologies.com, Auburn, Ala., also sees a growing need to digitally manage insurance certificates. UDA, which recently released its ConstructionSuite 2008 suite of products, offers document management capabilities across its full line of products which are tailored for the smallest homebuilder up to the large homebuilder.
With regards to insurance certificates, once the document is scanned in to the system, Hayden believes the real benefits exist with being able to manage quality assurance associated with subcontractors.
“We allow you to go within your contacts in the system and see details and manage certificates. By putting in a bit of info, such as expiration date; insured amount; agency classification; primary contact and storing; we have quality assurance checks,” says Hayden.
“For instance, if I try to add a subcontractor to a schedule or write a check out of (accounting), we capture that event. When you try to do it, if the insurance or license for that subcontractor is expired, a notice comes up informing you of the issue,” Hayden continues. “It prompts you on the action. It can save you from adding someone to a schedule only to find out a few months down the line that they did not have insurance—long after you have been penalized as a result.”
Systems that allow you to assign basic administrative functions to different users, rather than a need to have all administrative tasks go through one party, can help speed up the knowledge sharing process.
Setting up the appropriate workflows between your imaging system and accounting can be an essential step to helping share the knowledge across the company. CNG-Books from Cabinet NG, www.cabinetng.com, Madison, Ala., is integrated with QuickBooks from Intuit, www.intuit.com, Mountain View, Calif.
Paper documents are scanned into the system and when the document is filed a corresponding transaction is created instantly in QuickBooks. As the operator enters information from the image on screen, the appropriate data is sent to QuickBooks and the image is sent to the document management system.
“Companies also have the option of placing documents into a workflow procedure for approval before they are filed into QuickBooks,” says James True, vice president of business development, Cabinet NG. “So the workflow that you establish with this transaction can be controlled by a number of different factors.”
This integration makes working with a filed document much easier for accounting. A Cabinet NG dropdown is created within QuickBooks that allows users to instantly pull up that document for reference rather than having to search the entire system for the content.
Should you not have the resources to scan and index your documents, services are available to assist in such processes. One of the services offered by IDEAL Scanners & Systems, www.ideal.com, Rockville, Md., is to scan, index, and archive all of your documents and provide customized searchable files. IDEAL creates a document database that is ODBC compliant, meaning the data can be easily exported to various other programs within your enterprise. For older documents, IDEAL will perform an archive scan and convert them to .doc or .txt file.
Spread the Knowledge
Whether you are talking emails, voicemails, insurance certificates, or just the standard job documents, imaging technology has taken information sharing to a new level.
Jenamar Communities, www.jenamar.com, Granite Bay, Calif., designs and constructs large-scale master-planned and active adult communities. The construction company is in the primary stages of using document imaging software from MARK SYSTEMS.
Deborah Bridge, business and systems programming manager, Jenamar, says the company recently completed internal training on the document imaging system. This consisted mostly of naming conventions associated with documents and where the actual document will be attached within the system.
Documents were previously scanned to a local server, but Bridge says searching for and retrieving documents using this method proved much too cumbersome. The company has been using a full suite of construction management technology from MARK SYSTEMS for years and recently added the Document Image Library.
“We have a scanner where we scan a document to a file. Within the application from MARK SYSTEMS you attach that file to that house and you can call it what you want. That is where the process of instituting some naming conventions (comes into play).
“The technology has given us the ability to attach a document in so many areas throughout the development of a home,” says Bridge. “It is very easy, so I believe that if we organize ourselves correctly (setting up the proper naming conventions associated with documents) then I think we will reap the true benefits of the system.”
As an example, Bridge outlines how the technology will help manage the sales process more efficiently.
“(Sales associates) will scan in the sales contract and attach it to a home (folder in the system) as well as any addendums for options. Those signed addendums will be added to a customer (folder),” says Bridge. “On the construction side, for that same customer we will be able to attach permits, walkthroughs, or quality checks—things that (assure) the home is being built in the manner to which the customer expects it to be built.”
Bridge envisions the technology eventually being used for things such as warranty maintenance. When a customer requests maintenance, Jenamar will scan in that
document, as well as documents from trades that address the issue, to help track the activity. Out in the field project managers can access these documents using a laptop with wireless connectivity.
For the time being, the immediate benefit of the system is directly associated with knowledge sharing across the organization.
“Our corporate office is in California and our site offices are in different states, so it makes it easier for us to review documents—they are online rather than asking someone to scan it and fax it over. Immediately we see a benefit to using the technology for remote offices being able to view documentation instantly,” adds Bridge. “Long-term, I envision it becoming a repository for research. As we try to identify how many times we sell an option we can look at the supporting documentation to indicate trends.”
John Havener, CIO (chief information officer) for Hacienda Builders, www.haciendabuilders.com, Scottsdale, Ariz., says the technology empowers users by allowing each to work on their specific function of the job without having to wait for a physical document to come across their desk.
“The key focus for a builder in general should be to know their process and what it needs to be in order to improve their bottomline. They also need to have staff and vision in place to utilize technology when appropriate,” says Havener. “For a builder that understands its processes, imaging is one of the key stages to utilize with technology. But you also want to be careful and not put something in place because it sounds cool in an article, you want to put something in place that has a real return and real benefit to the company.”
He explored some of the imaging solutions available on the market, but found them to be a bit cost prohibitive at the moment. Instead, he put on his technology hat and “turned the screws” with the company’s existing Microsoft SharePoint environment to create a suitable solution for the company.
“We started with a process of looking at documents we already had automated through our sales system and how they were laid out,” says Havener. “This provided a basic framework that we could work from. I then interviewed senior management on the functional sides, as well as the users, watching what they did with actual file folders. This helped me verify the documents they look at and the order they look at (them) and replicated that process through the SharePoint environment.”
While he admits better, faster, smaller footprint solutions are available, he believes the environment he established is providing good value for now.
“One area I thought I would have seen a bigger impact on is improved communication in the manner of having more detail in front of you,” he adds. “We are not realizing that yet. We have to get to a point where it is a more integrated solution. We still need to access three or four different applications in order to get the full picture and that is still a bit tedious from a user’s perspective. Having that further automated so that you can more (inherently) tie those different functionalities together would be important.”
He says the next big focus surrounding this initiative will be to further embed the process around other key parts of the enterprise. The biggest gap with the current environment is the imaging solution is not fully integrated with Hacienda’s builder-management system from Trueline Systems. Trueline’s parent company Explorer Software, www.explorer-software.com, West Vancouver, B.C., recently acquired document management software ezDocs from Ferrell Companies, www.ferrell.net, Lakewood, Colo. Although no official plans to integrate the software within the Trueline suite have been announced, this would present another option for Hacienda to consider down the line.
While the ability to more efficiently share information has become a supplementary benefit to using the technology, many users still measure the worth of document management technology by the amount of paper it reduces throughout the building process. Charles Cudd’s Poff falls into this category; measuring the return on investment in inches as well as dollars.
“I used to have a file that was about one inch to two inches thick when I closed a job,” says Poff. “That file is now about one-fourth inch to one-half inch thick.