Alaska's Department of Labor improves report delivery and saves $3,200/month with a 4 week ROI

Case Study 20

Problem:

The Alaska Department of Labor distributes roughly 90,000 pages per month of cut sheet reports to 30 offices spread across the state. The department wanted to provide instant access and a more reliable distribution than a manual separation of the reports and the use of a "routing slip" method of distribution.

Print, separation, and distribution costs, document storage and retrieval, and retention schedules were also important considerations.

Solution:

OctoTools™ was chosen to automatically reformat and convert their existing reports into an electronic PDF format. This enabled instant access via web posting and supported automated email of the output. With flexible bursting capabilities, larger reports could be split into smaller disbursable modules. Electronic archiving, indexing, and 128-bit secure encryption are insured by OctoTools' universally supported PDF output. This is accomplished automatically, without any changes to existing applications and no special operator involvement is required.

Using OctoTools' front end GUI based Designer module, existing forms were converted into templates and enhanced with stripes and graphics for better readability and user acceptance. The 60+ forms were converted in less than two weeks and production level processing began immediately. Reducing 90,000 pages at 3.65 cents per page resulted in a monthly savings of $3,285 not including additional distribution costs.

Benefits:

1. Instant electronic access to report data across multiple and remote locations meant less staff effort chasing paper reports.
2. Converting older legacy reports into electronic and/or laser print compatible output saves on paper storage and archiving costs.
3. Financial and Program report enhancement for improved readability and PDF search capability results in more efficient and accurate handling of reports.
4. Print and distribution costs are reduced.
5. Added the ability to create, print to PDF, and disburse sub reports without modifying existing applications.

Products Required: OctoTools, RPM Remote Print Manager LPD Server, Acrobat Reader

Implemented By: Paul Hegg, Department of Labor, Juneau, Alaska