German Red Cross - Ulm
Customer Company Size
Mid-size Company
Region
- Europe
Country
- Germany
Product
- DocuWare
- Secure Office
- Swing
- Apetito
- Fedas
Tech Stack
- Document Management System
- Microsoft Office
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Productivity Improvements
- Cost Savings
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Analytics & Modeling - Process Analytics
Applicable Industries
- Healthcare & Hospitals
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Human Resources
Use Cases
- Process Control & Optimization
Services
- System Integration
- Software Design & Engineering Services
About The Customer
The German Red Cross, based in Ulm, Germany, is a well-known charitable organization that operates emergency medical services (including emergency rescue and medical/blood transport), first aid training and disaster protection along with ambulatory home care services, transportation for the disabled, a homeless shelter, food pantries and second-hand shops. The organization has over 200 employees working on site at its headquarters and is supported by 17,500 members through donations. The organization has a modern IT infrastructure, which includes Secure Office, a system solution for fire and rescue services, and accounting programs which support their different service areas. In 2012, they opted for a DocuWare document management system to help manage their high volume of documents.
The Challenge
The German Red Cross in Ulm, Germany, was facing a significant challenge with document management. The organization, which provides a broad spectrum of services including emergency rescue, home care, donor management, and accounting, was dealing with a high volume of documents. Each year, about 65,000 documents needed to be securely stored. The documents were collected in binders and placed on shelves in the offices of various employees. Older documents were stored in fireproof cabinets in the basement. However, space was becoming increasingly tight as the organization had nearly doubled its revenue in the past five years, leading to an increase in the number of records. Searching for older documents was particularly problematic, requiring employees to dig through the cellar and even climb up ladders to reach certain records. Additionally, the process for handling invoices was inefficient, with multiple copies of each invoice being printed and filed separately.
The Solution
In the summer of 2012, the German Red Cross opted for a central digital archive. They chose DocuWare, a document management system, to help them manage their documents more efficiently. The system was implemented in two phases. Since October 2012, twelve employees in their accounting, rescue and home care divisions as well as HR department began working with the solution. The documents created with their existing programs were automatically indexed and stored in DocuWare at the same time they were printed. Authorized employees could access the central document pool. The staff didn’t need to change their familiar work processes, and the system worked immediately, seamlessly. The organization also added a new scanner to help with the digitization process.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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