RADIX Case Studies

After expanding their Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system, Worldwide ISCS enabled the freight payment services department to efficiently manage hundreds of invoices each day and to increase revenue by 30%. 

Worldwide ISCS (www.worldwideiscs.com) is a $150 million business that designs freight-transport systems and manages truck and multi-modal traffic for manufacturers and distributors. They use knowledge, information and technology to optimize loads, routes and schedules and efficiently match loads with capable and reliable carriers.

In 2007, employees in the carrier management department were overwhelmed with paper records. It was taking them 30 minutes to search for each insurance certificate, transportation agreement or operating authority record. To solve the problem and save them search time, Worldwide ISCS decided to manage documents electronically and implemented an Imagetek ECM system. They used PaperFlow to convert paper files to electronic records and now they store and manage documents using RADIX, the Software as a Service (SaaS) ECM technology. As a result, employees are saving an average of 400 hours each year in file search time and simplifying disaster recovery. If a disaster struck, it would take minutes rather than two or three months to recover their records.

In 2008, CEO Carl Waldenmaier recognized a potential for business growth in freight payment services. Worldwide ISCS customers were frustrated with the number of detailed payment documents they needed to coordinate and they were eager to outsource the work.

Waldenmaier and Ryan Bendickson, System Administrator, knew that the first requirement for a successful payment services department would be an effective and highly efficient information management system. “We absolutely couldn’t provide payment services using paper records, because we would have needed multiple warehouses just to store all those documents. It simply wouldn’t be cost effective or productive,” said Bendickson. Worldwide ISCS needed a system that would allow them to manage thousands more payment records each week using just a handful of people. Most of all, they needed technology that could expedite invoice processing, match invoices with supporting documents, populate shared index values and easily load documents into their Trans VM Transportation Management System (TMS), which is used to manage transportation operations and identify the best and most cost-effective shipping methods.

When Bendickson explained their challenges to Imagetek, he was surprised to find that their existing ECM system could achieve all their new goals. “RADIX was so easy to roll out the first time that we immediately knew this was our answer,” said Bendickson. The scalable ECM system was easily expanded to accommodate the new department and RADIX WorkFlow was added to accelerate invoice processing. Using the point-and-click graphical design tool, Bendickson set up WorkFlow for their unique business process. “As an add-on component WorkFlow was effortless to just turn on and set up. We didn’t need any programming or scripting. It was really simple,” he said. 

Today, the freight payment services department has increased Worldwide’s revenue by 30%--thanks to the fact that employees have the technology they need to handle invoices and provide a valuable service to customers.

Using RADIX and WorkFlow, the freight payment team electronically routes invoices to the proper person, alerts users of pending work assignments and tracks progress step by step. With just a handful of people, they quickly handle hundreds of invoices each day and process all incoming payment documents by the end of the week. There is no backlog of work on Monday!

Here’s how the ECM system works. A team of scanning operators scan and index all invoices and supporting documents into RADIX. Meanwhile,  WorkFlow is constantly monitoring RADIX for new invoices. Once it “recognizes” invoices, it automatically groups them by customer and by type and routes all like invoices to the correct person. The processors can open their queue, immediately see pending work and make decisions with all the supporting documents at their fingertips. If processors have a problem with an invoice or need special verification, they can route it into a queue built just for managers. The system also helps processors handle duplicate copies of invoices and bills of lading, so they never have to waste time processing identical documents twice. Once the WorkFlow process is complete, invoices are entered into the TMS and ready for payment.

Across the company, every step in every process is measured and studied and WorkFlow is helping Bendickson identify inefficiencies, examine bottlenecks and reassign tasks on the fly. WorkFlow status reports show him where invoices are in the process. “If someone leaves for the afternoon, it’s easy to make sure the team doesn’t fall behind on the work,” he said.

With proper routing, timely processing and instant information retrieval, as many as 30 people across the company use RADIX to drive productivity and further streamline their business. “Without our ECM system, we wouldn’t be able to effectively manage payment documents and other information. This is a critical system in our smooth running supply chain,” said Bendickson.