The Community Mutual Group (CMG) has selected Clayko Group to provide a using SharePoint 2007 based enterprise content management (EMC) solution.

The new ECM solution will give users the means to scan and digitise physical documents at the point of creation, as well as capture electronic documents, and to store and retrieve them .

CMG is the group trading name of three regional Credit Union brands: New England Mutual, Orana Mutual and Hunter Mutual, services regional NSW.

It is the largest inland regional community Credit Union in Australia with a member base of approximately 70,000 members and an asset base of almost $1 billion. The recent mergers with Orana and Hunter Mutual have created a period of rapid growth, and a further challenge in integrating multiple business systems across the group.

With 28 branches and four agencies, CMG recognised the need to find and implement an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system to help control their expanding business and provide better service to their 70,000 members.

Working with heavily paper-based business processes, CMG wanted to ensure timely delivery in their loan approvals process and in customer service-related activities.

Client documents were not always readily available, and each branch held paper-based documentation for clients. Signature records were spread across the full network of branches, meaning delays in customer service when customers visited branches away from their home town. Searching through paper files was time-consuming, and the cost of storing and distributing paper documents was excessive.

For customers wishing to use the services of a different branch to their original one, all signatory documentation needed to be faxed through from the original branch. There were multiple paper-based files containing member documents.

CMG also needed a system that would assist meeting compliance with their regulatory body, the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA).

CMG had recently acquired Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS), and was keen to leverage this as a platform; however SharePoint alone did not offer the ECM controls required. Also, the adoption rate of the new SharePoint system was poor, with users not readily taking on the new system.

The solution needed to allow the digitisation of physical documents including signature records, loan and credit card applications, as well as capturing electronic documents like emails, Word and PDF documents. All documents would then need to be stored centrally to enable easy retrieval and viewing by authorised users.

Clayko Group implemented an end-to-end document management solution using KnowledgeLake's Capture, Connect, Capture Server; and Imaging Server

The solution also included supplying Kodak i1320 and Kodak i1420 duplex scanners to scan documents on-site at each branch and in their head office.

Using KnowledgeLake Capture, documents are scanned with the software enabling them to be indexed according to important document information (metadata) such as type of loan, member number, first name and last name. The completed scans are housed on a dedicated SharePoint Server that is accessible from every CMG branch. The use of metadata in the indexing process means that CMG can now search through hundreds of thousands of documents with very specific search terms, and find the right document, in seconds.

Using Clayko Group’s Scanning Bureau services, CMG was able to digitise years of current and archive documentation for over 70,000 members in the space of three months. With more than 55,000 signature records and 30,000 loan files, this amounted to over 1.5 million images scanned, indexed and uploaded to SharePoint in just 12 weeks.

Where previously branches would have daily courier deliveries of paperwork to head office, now they scan and index files at each branch. This has significantly reduced the amount of time between document creation and upload to a central repository, and also the costs involved with couriering documents.

Customer service has also been improved through the implementation of KnowledgeLake, due to the access to signature records within SharePoint. Where branch staff previously had to search through paper customer records, or contact other branches to send fax copies of signature cards through, branch staff can now access signature cards from any branch, within seconds, regardless of where the original document is housed.

Community Mutual Group’s Head of HR and Organisational Development Valerieanne Byrnes said, “At CMG we pride ourselves on being a community business. Our staff are empowered to make business decisions locally and we needed a document management system that would support this. KnowledgeLake and SharePoint allow us to easily and securely access customer information, regardless of the branch they enter.”

“Working with Clayko Group has facilitated our continuing shift from a paper-based document management system to an electronic content management system.”

The solution went live in January 2010 and as a result of the KnowledgeLake/SharePoint implementation, CMG are now moving towards being a completely paperless business.