City of Wilmington Saves Space, Increases Efficiencies and Organizes Key Information with Bowman Enterprises

Challenge

The City of Wilmington Human Resources Department needed a solution to help them overcome their storage and organization issues. North Carolina general statute mandates record retention requirements, the City is required to maintain information from all terminated employee files and payroll records for as much as 30 years. The records must also be kept in a specific format so they can be easily indexed and found, but mass amounts of paper documents was making this nearly impossible. Not only were these documents presenting a huge storage problem for the City of Wilmington, but the files were not easily accessible. The City of Wilmington needed a cost-effective, time-efficient solution to help them save space, increase efficiencies and organize key information. Through a competitive bid process, they found Bowman Enterprises.

 

Solution

Bowman Enterprises is the leading provider of end-to-end document management services for hundreds of clients throughout the Southeast. Bowman took all of the City’s terminated employee files since 2003, digitized them and put them into an executable CD format compatible with the City’s software program, laserfiche. Bowman then housed the original documents in its onsite storage facility. The solution allowed the City’s human resources department to easily access critical information when necessary. The CD solutions also provided a backup source of information in case of a disaster. Bowman even prepared the records for information capture—including staple and paperclip removal, document orientation, etc. “From the pre-production process to the final end product, Bowman is in constant contact,” said Deirdre Buffington, senior human resource analyst for the City of Wilmington. “They’ve worked really hard with us to make sure the information was compatible and accessible via our system.

Result

Since selecting Bowman Enterprises as its primary document management solution for human resources, the City of Wilmington has been able to digitize approximately 100,000 images while meeting federal and state retention requirements. The City has also experienced a quick turnaround time (as little as 6 weeks) with Bowman and has saved significant storage space by leveraging Bowman’s services. The quality of imaged documents is consistently superior, thanks to Bowman’s high-speed scanners. Also, because all records are indexed properly with Bowman, critical information is easier to find, which provides both a time and cost savings to the City. “Bowman helped us get to the point that we can become self-sufficient,” said Deirdre Buffington, senior human resource analyst for the City of Wilmington.