Kodak today announced that Huws Gray, the largest independent builders materials company in Wales and the northwest of England, has installed 39 KODAK i2400 Scanners and 39 licenses of KODAK Capture Pro Software along with Border Merchant Systems’ (BMS) proof of delivery scanning module. The proof of delivery scanning solution enhances efficiency and provides Huws Gray workers with instant access to documentation associated with all deliveries made by its team of 70 drivers should a customer have a query.

The new system will digitize approximately 15,000 delivery notices generated each month. KODAK Scanners and Software were supplied by Kodak’s reseller, BMI Solutions.

Huws Gray sells plumbing, heating and building materials and has its head office in Llangefni on Anglesey. Since it was founded in 1990, Huws Gray has doubled in size every five years through organic growth and acquisition and now employs more than 400 staff. The company has expanded its branch network and opened five new sites in 2012. Huws Gray now operates a total of 39 trading locations, and each site uses a KODAK i2400 Scanner and KODAK Capture Pro Software.

“With the old paper process, if a customer phoned our accounts staff at head office with a delivery question, the specific branch would then have to be contacted, the paper proof of delivery found and faxed over,” said Michael Owen, Huws Gray’s IT manager. “That was a process which could take a day or two, as our branches are busy selling goods. Now everything is instantaneous as proof of delivery is available electronically.”

This is key, as Huws Gray receives numerous queries per month with some of its bigger accounts wanting to know who has signed for goods before invoices are paid.

The proof of delivery scanning module links to BMS CounterAct fully integrated merchant software, an enterprise solution used by Huws Gray for the past 15 years for its accounts (sales, purchase and nominal ledger), price book, point of sale, stock control and quotations.

Each proof of delivery form is given a unique barcode, which Capture Pro Software automatically reads. This is matched against a sales number within CounterAct Software when the images are imported on a daily basis, with the proof of delivery scan archived together with the customer’s order in the same folder.

Phil Davies, BMS’ account development manager, says, “It’s then a simple case of Huws Gray’s staff running a client report or looking at the sales ledger if there is a question and clicking on a link to the scanned proof of delivery, with a PDF able to be emailed straight from the system.”

Speed of response to queries has improved dramatically. In addition, the system allows accounts staff to produce reports on those orders which do not have a proof of delivery associated.

BMS recommended that Huws Gray use KODAK i2400 Scanners, as they are robust and reliable with the same workgroup solution implemented throughout the company to make support easier even though scanning volumes differ per branch. Furthermore, KODAK Capture Pro Software is simple to install and deploy across multiple sites. BMS also liked that both the scanner hardware and imaging software came from the same manufacturer, as integration is seamless. Each scanner connects to a desktop PC and as part of the roll-out, which is now complete, Huws Gray also upgraded to MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 OS.

Able to process up to 2,000 pages per day at 30 pages per minute, the compact i2400 Scanners come with Kodak’s Perfect Page imaging technology and use next-generation dual indirect LED illumination, which eliminates traditional lamp warm-up time so staff can scan in black and white and color safe in the knowledge that the very best, crystal clear images will result straight away.

In addition to speed, the i2400 Scanners automatically de-skew and rotate pages so everything is the right way up, as well as coping with paperwork even if it gets crumpled.

Michael Owen says, “Ease of use is key to minimise training and ongoing support, and the KODAK Scanners and Software provide this. We wanted a solution where staff can just grab a bunch of proof of deliveries, put them into the hopper, press a button and the system takes care of everything. That’s what we’ve got, with the barcode recognition within KODAK Capture Pro Software being particularly impressive.”

Not only does Huws Gray scan proof of deliveries, but other paperwork as well. This covers a range of documents such as sick notes, expenses and other office forms.

Phil Davies adds, “The key thing with our proof of delivery scanning module is the close integration with CounterAct Software. Everything related to an order and delivery is now in one place—on the system—which is what our merchant customers wanted. This improves efficiency, saves time and means paper proof of delivery storage files don’t have to be held at branch level with all the space and management issues that this presents.”

Michael Owen says, “Our aim as a business is to be as paperless as possible so as to enhance efficiency and effectiveness and be more environmentally conscious, and the new proof of delivery scanning module certainly helps here as well as keeping things operationally as simple as possible.”

Neil Murphy, Kodak’s UK sales manager, says “KODAK Scanners and Imaging Software offer compelling performance. Not only are they packed with innovative features to ensure great scans, first time, every time, but with our three-year warranty, customers like Huws Gray are guaranteed service over time.”