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Case Studies
 Universal Music Group
24/07/2005
One of the music industry’s largest global music publishing operations.
UMG is the world’s leading music company. Its global operations encompass the development, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of recorded music through a network of subsidiaries, joint ventures and licensees in 71 countries around the world, representing 98% of the global music market. UMG’s businesses also include music publishing, and mail order music/video clubs.
Universal Music International is the division of UMG that operates in countries outside of North America.
UMG is the global market leader and the leader in 65% of the markets where it operates including the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Canada, and Australia. With over 12,000 employees worldwide, UMG leads the music industry in global sales with an estimated worldwide market share in 2002 of 24.4%.
The Challenge
Improving the turn-around of services and streamlining costs
Universal Music Group brought in Northampton-based software publishing house INVU to replace the costly and time-consuming paper-based invoicing system with an electronic document management and workflow system.
The success of the system has already been endorsed by Customs and Excise, which no longer requires the group to keep paper copies of its VAT records. This has not only reduced storage costs but has also contributed towards the Government's plans to reduce paper consumption by 2005.
“We needed to connect remote sites, track invoices, improve the turn-around of our services and streamline costs.”
Paul Williams, UK Systems Manager
UMG needed to ensure it adopted a system that met the initial criteria of efficiency and could be further adapted to fit in with global accounting.
The Benefits
Significant cost-savings
Invu's answer was its Professional Series 250, a software package developed for a multi-user and networked environment, which was quickly developed and implemented to meet the criteria for invoice scanning, tracking and quick authorisation.
“The solution from Invu is delivering significant cost-savings, replacing the paper trail with a full audit-trail, removing the need to request copy invoices and a product which interfaces with our existing accounting packages.”
Paul Williams, UK Systems Manager
Universal''s Pierre Swart, the Invu administrator who helped specify the business requirements for the complete system goes on to say:
“Invu immediately showed its expertise and the final product cannot be compared to anything currently on the market. The product was modified to fit in perfectly with our business requirements and is now fundamental to the business. We have users who say they cannot think how they operated before Invu.”
UMG have over 100 user of Invu which is used for invoice scanning, tracking and quick authorisation. In addition Invu has been specifically developed to run off an Oracle server.
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 Man Financial
24/07/2005
The Client
A globally recognised broker in the Futures & Options markets and as a result of recent acquisitions a leading broker in the European CFD market
Man Financial is the name adopted by the various international companies and affiliates which make up the brokerage operations of Man Group plc. The division provides agency broking and other related services to a worldwide client base, which ranges from banks, ''CTAs'', ''Hedge Funds'' and major industrial groups to individual private clients.
With offices in London, Paris, New York, Chicago, Kansas City, Singapore, Taiwan, Sydney and Brisbane, Man Financial holds memberships on major securities and futures exchanges worldwide.
The Challenge
Establishing a secure and efficient tracking system for all client files
As financial services companies seek to enter new markets, gain or retain share in traditional markets and bring innovative products to a growing audience of sophisticated consumer''s, electronic document management has become increasingly important since it is able to provide that key operational and strategic advantage.
At Man Financial an individual client file would typically contain 60 pages of A4 paper and delays were often caused by the processing and movement of prospective client files between different departments and sites during the course every day in order to obtain the required approvals prior to opening. Furthermore users required access to the thousands of already processed client files that were scanned and stored on site.
“Once our Management had made the commitment to locate the Documentation Department away from our main office in London to Kent our biggest challenge was to find an effective system to hold scanned data and process prospective client files for management approval in an electronic format. We found plenty of people that could provide tailored services but this would not have given us the flexibility we needed in the event that our procedures or regulatory requirements changed or new areas business came on board”.
Sharon Webb, Documentation Manager, Man Financial
Establishing an efficient and secure tracking system for client files at any stage in their processing was a major challenge for Man Financial as they sought a tailored and flexible solution for their documentation purposes. Man Financial turned to a complete EDM and Workflow Solution for all their documentation purposes provided by INVU.
“Invu offered us a complete package that we could then tailor in house to meet to our needs. It is now fully implemented in both Documentation and Accounts areas. Each area has very differing requirements but Invu has been tailored in house without the need for extra expense, training or implementation time”.
Sharon Webb, Documentation Manager, Man Financial
The Benefits
Real-time Access to Client Files
Client files are passed through an intelligent electronic routing process across different sites allowing staff at Man Financial real time access to a customer''s details the minute they are scanned into the Invu system. The Invu EDM solution has allowed staff the ability to deal with customer enquiries more efficiently and effectively.
Electronic sign-offs ensure an audit log and event history is kept of every document that enters into Invu and the appropriate security and revision control ensure the integrity of all new documents that come into the system.
“.. our greatest achievement has been the additional security the system offers us. We no longer spend many a happy hour hunting down files. Departments requiring instant access to files post sign off can achieve their goals in a matter of minutes. As we move forward we anticipate greater integration of Invu with our systems offering a more complete service to all areas of the business”
Sharon Webb, Documentation Manager, Man Financial
Man Financial have over 60 users of Invu Professional Series 250 which they have been using since December 2002. 1800 pages of A4 paper are scanned and processed everyday which is the equivalent of opening 30 new accounts. Invu is being used for all documentation sign-off purposes.
Norton Peskett cuts down on storage space by using Invu
"We are confident that purchasing Invu will allow us to offer a more efficient service to our clients. Jo Long, IS Manager, Norton Peskett."
Norton Peskett is a long established legal firm, founded in 1892. With seven branch offices and over 100 staff, the company covers all types of legal requirements for the general public and for commercial businesses. To cover the increasing burden on storing records, Norton Peskett originally established one central off site location to store all documents, to ensure the company met the stringent legal requirements. However, as both government and law society requirements now mean that many documents need to be kept for a number of years or indefinitely, the need for storage was constantly increasing. Norton Peskett soon needed an overflow storage site since retrieving data was becoming a major headache for the firm. As a rule, the company would make daily visits to both storage sites, before sending out documents in internal post. This meant that when a client had a query regarding an archived file, not only was it very time-intensive to locate a file, but for non-urgent queries there could be a delay of up to 24 hours in responding. As Jo Long, IS Manager of Norton Peskett comments: "With seven branches around East Anglia managing two storage sites for the company was becoming impossible. Daily trips to the storage facilities meant that we could respond to client queries promptly, but this was a time-intensive process, which was becoming increasingly difficult as our company grew. We estimate that each branch will close around 100 files a week, all of which need to be archived. As a result, it was clear that we needed to find a better storage solution fast." With the opening of two new offices, one in 2003 and one in 2004, Norton Peskett began to investigate online document solutions that could solve the company's growing storage problem. As Jo Long explains "We realised that we needed to invest in a system that would allow us to store and retrieve documents online. However, with over 100 staff potentially wanting to access the site, it was critical that it could integrate with existing software and be very easy to use." Norton Peskett needed a solution that linked to its SOS Practice Software and to Citrix - and ideally would only take one or two mouse clicks to retrieve documents. As a result, the firm turned to Invu's document management solution. Norton Peskett installed a trial system at the end of 2004 to test the product and begin the process of online archiving of files. Following this successful trial, Norton Peskett is in the process of rolling out the software to all 100 staff in all offices. Initially, Invu will be used to archive new documents as they are created, to ensure that no further storage space is needed, as the company can now destroy hard copies once an electronic copy has been made. Following this, it will begin the task of scanning in all saved documents from the two storage locations, allowing it to reduce overhead costs. "To date, rolling out Invu software to all our staff has been a positive experience. Since it uses applications that our staff are already familiar with, only limited training is required, before people feel comfortable using the system. We're confident that purchasing Invu will allow us to offer a more efficient service to our clients as well as saving us overhead costs for storage in the long term," concludes Jo Long. "Like many solicitors, Norton Peskett was feeling the strain of the legal requirements for document storage," commented Douglas Embleton of Invu. "However, by installing our document management solution, it has in place a robust solution that can locate files with a few mouse-clicks. We look forward to working with Norton Peskett and supporting the company as it's storage requirements increase in years to come."
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