Project Description
Case Study: PJ Dick Workflow Automation
Executive Summary
PJ Dick is part of a trio of construction companies (including Trumbull Corporation and Lindy Paving) that performs contracting in a variety of markets, such as commercial, heavy/highway, government, healthcare, education, corrections, retail, infrastructure inspection, landfill management and asphalt production. As one of the region’s largest construction firms, PJ Dick provides the industry’s finest construction management staff to estimate, plan, and build the area’s most prominent projects for major universities, hospitals, businesses and sports teams.
PJ Dick credits their success to their culture of partnership. So, when their key technology partner for AP invoice workflow was no longer available, they knew the importance of forming a new partnership right away.
They turned to ECM Toolbox for help transitioning to a new system they could rely on that could also increase efficiency, lower cost, and provide greater process control.
The Situation
PJ Dick was faced with the dilemma of having an AP invoice workflow system their team members liked, but which was no longer supported by the manufacturer. Though the system was generally held in high regard, it was not without its drawbacks.
There were still some manual tasks that could be automated, such as pulling values from scanned invoices, auto-filling of invoice accounting information, automating tax calculation, applying accounting profiles to multiple invoices, and more. Also, managers were accessing job and equipment financial data on a separate system, which was both inconvenient and time consuming. Finally, the system was putting undue stress on AP Admins who were left handling errors in which invalid accounting information was entered for an invoice.
Nick Coccagna, CIO of PJ Dick, decided it was not only time to migrate to a new system, but also to find ways to improve workflow by streamlining processes.
“Most important for us was to find a solution that would require minimal labor with efficient IT interfaces, accuracy of invoice and accounting data, and rapid throughput,” explains Nick.
The Solution
The ECM Toolbox team recommended ECM Toolbox AP Invoice Workflow with ABBYY FlexiCapture for Invoices (scanning software) and OpenText ApplicationXtender (AX) for document management.
The system has numerous advantages over their previous system, in that it requires less labor, ensures accuracy, and speeds productivity.
ABBYY FlexiCapture for Invoices recognizes invoice layout and pulls invoice index values from the image, eliminating manual entry. Invoices can also be received electronically in XML or CSV format and automatically inserted into AX. ECM Toolbox’s CAT Invoice Processing module for AX eliminates labor to handle paper invoices for Caterpillar equipment, improves accuracy in invoice index details, and gets invoices ready for processing quicker. Finally, ECM Toolbox AP Invoice Workflow routes the invoices for approvals, with custom rules and Shop PO integration, and sends to their Profitool construction software within AX for final payment.
ECM Toolbox also created several customizations to AX to help PJ Dick team members view documents in AX, including modules for Related Documents, Workflow History, Excel Export, Auto Annotations, Condense Multi-Index Rows to single query result row, Default Search Criterias, and Fast Searches for associated documents for Vendor or Job+Vendor.
While the upgraded system was loaded with new functionality and process improvements, there was virtually no learning curve.
“We were able to roll out ECM Toolbox with little to no training. This is because of a combination of the software being easy to use and PJ Dick’s team already being familiar with ApplicationXtender from the previous system,” explains Stephanie Cristophorou, Account Manager at ECM Toolbox.
“We saw immediate benefits in efficiency, accuracy and process control,” explains Nick. “Our team members – whether they are working from the home, office or are tablet users in the field – love the unique combination of ease of use and the power of information provided to quickly do their work.”
“Once we selected ECM Toolbox we have not looked back,” adds Nick. With ECM Toolbox AP Workflow, we have a solution that allows us to grow and meets our new needs.
About ECM Toolbox
ECM Toolbox provides software solutions that add value to document management systems by extending their functionality with modules such as AP workflow, on-boarding, work orders, user permissions, and e-forms setup wizards. We offer special expertise with ApplicationXtender (AX) from OpenText. Our solutions have been created by software developers, integrators and value-added resellers (VARs) with special expertise with enterprise content management (ECM) who see a need that is not being provided within the existing document management system. ECM Toolbox is the distribution center for these solutions. We provide a shopping mall experience for end-users that need more functionality out of their document management system and for resellers who would like to add these solutions to their product and service portfolio.