Construction Company Builds for the Future with Version One Systems

Dawnus Construction, a leading construction company situated in Wales, will be improving purchase-to-pay efficiency by implementing document imaging and data capture software from Version One (V1 Document Management's UK based sister company). This software, which will be tightly integrated into the company’s COA Solutions financial management system, will significantly reduce invoice approval times, free-up document storage space and provide Dawnus Construction with greater cost transparency. The new systems, which will be made available to over 120 authorised users across 40 sites, will go-live in September 2009.

Dawnus Construction identified the need for reliable document imaging and data capture solutions tightly integrated into its COA Solutions system. The imaging solution needed to be able to provide authorised staff with quick and easy desktop access to documents relating to the costs of each project. Dawnus also wanted to improve the management and authorisation of purchase invoices by eliminating the need for traditional paper-based document storage and invoice processing. It was hoped that the new solutions would free-up document storage space and significantly increase invoice processing efficiency.

Wayne Jones, Group Financial Director at Dawnus Construction, says, “Time-consuming manual procedures generating huge volumes of paper has been restricting our ability to process invoices promptly and retrieve vital documentation relating to job contracts. As the business grew, our document storage issues became an increasing problem.”

With Version One’s systems in place, all purchase invoices and related documents arriving into Dawnus Construction will be scanned centrally, tagged to the appropriate record in the COA Solutions system and electronically stored. At the same time, Version One’s optical character recognition (OCR) technology will automatically capture purchase invoice data, significantly reducing manual data entry. In addition, with COA Solutions’ eBIS electronic procurement solution used in conjunction with Version One’s imaging system, invoice approvers will be able to view and approve invoices directly from their PCs, further enhancing purchase-to-pay efficiency.

With all key documents instantly accessible, we’ll also have a clearer and more up to date picture of what we have spent ensuring costs are kept in check and the business continues to thrive.

- Wayne Jones - Dawnus Construction

Jones comments, “Version One’s systems will drastically improve efficiency and free-up significant amounts of storage space by eliminating the need to print-out, photocopy and manually store and retrieve documents. Invoice approval times will be much swifter as relevant approvers will be able to authorise invoices from their PCs with just a few clicks of the mouse. Version One’s OCR will also reduce manual data entry by approximately 75% and lessen data entry errors enabling our accounts staff to be redeployed in more value-adding areas.”

Jones adds, “Having instant access to imaged documents will also make life a lot simpler as we’ll be able to quickly and easily prove that a customer has received a piece of equipment or has been sent an invoice. This will speed-up the resolution of queries so that we can receive customer payments in a timelier manner. With all key documents instantly accessible, we’ll also have a clearer and more up to date picture of what we have spent ensuring costs are kept in check and the business continues to thrive.”