The company’s multi-layer structure determines the requirement to create a single archive storing all corporate documents, offering simultaneous access to authorised staff of the Group's companies. A similar system has been in place at Knauf companies in Germany for a few years now. The process of creating the electronic document archive in Poland was initiated in 2002 with the implementation of a Magellan Software solution at Knauf Sp. z o.o. in Warsaw.

 

"Organising a system of electronic document flow and archiving at Knauf’s companies in Poland is a real challenge which requires extensive qualifications and good knowledge of business processes and technology." – says Marek Zwierzchowski, IT Manager at Knauf Service Sp. z o.o. "We were looking for a provider that would be able to meet the IT standards that are in place at Knauf companies in other European countries. Magellan Software was the only company capable of designing and implementing an application tailored to the AS400 architecture and integrating it with SAP R/3.”

In 2003, Magellan completed the second stage of constructing an electronic archive of documents by implementing the solution at Knauf Service Sp. z o.o. In March 2004, the application was implemented at another Knauf company in Brzezie near the city of Opole. In the opinion of Knauf’s representatives, implementation works at all three locations were extremely efficient. It took barely three days to complete the implementation process at Brzezie.

 

The solution employed by Magellan was based on MagSCAN, a document-processing application compatible with highly efficient scanners. The application is provided with mechanisms for automatic document indexing and index validation. It is scalable. It uses the TCP/IP communication protocol and has the Client-Server make-up. The application supports the assignment of authorisations both to staff entering documents and browsing them. Installation and implementation of all components of the solution have been effected in cooperation with Business Consulting Center Sp. z o.o. which was in charge of SAP R/3 configuration.

 

”Throughout 1.5 years of system operation, we have scanned and archived around 150,000 documents." – says Marek Zwierzchowski In each of the three locations, we scan between 300 and 1000 incoming and outgoing invoices, and other accounting documents, a day. We intend to gradually enter all the other document categories into the system as well, including contracts with customers, debt collection documents etc., so that the archive will eventually store all company documents."

 

In the opinion of Knauf’s representatives, document management processes carry tangible business benefits. The cost of innovative document organisation, distribution and handling is returned very quickly. The introduction of electronic documents as the standard document form in Polish companies belonging to the Knauf Capital Group has markedly accelerated document flow. Documents, which used to be distributed over a number of locations, have now become accessible to authorised users of the application at any time convenient to them. A transparent catalogue system has sped up the process of reaching necessary information even more. An electronic archive eliminates the problem of document duplication, which is why the company is able to gradually do away with the traditional archive.