COINS Information Manager (CIM) is providing COINS users with integrated image management and work flow. Benefits include reduced costs, reduced use of paper and supplies, less storage space, less time spent filing and retrieving documents, and fewer errors.

Sue Pearce, Vice President of Piping & Equipment Co., Inc of Wichita, KS, can’t praise CIM enough. ‘CIM is fantastic. We went paperless for all our accounts payable documents in early September and it has already made a big difference in the company. Our PMs can get into CIM and review invoices for their projects anytime, anywhere -- no more going into the file room, locating the job file, and digging for the papers they need. All they need is a laptop with an air card, and they can get at the documents whether they are in Kansas or California’.

Developing work flow allows COINS CIM users to add even more value to the imaging process. Larry Bower, CFO of the Hunton Group, Houston, says, ‘CIM has brought about major improvements to the speed and efficiency of our accounts payable process. CIM automatically routes invoices by email for review and approval, including situations where several individuals need to approve the same invoice. Fewer items are lost or delayed. The routing appears in each person’s task list until it is released, and the invoice remains on hold until all the approvals are in. In Invoice Inquiry, we can backtrack and immediately see the invoice, when it was approved and who approved it, so we can research and resolve questions much more quickly’.

Although CIM’s most widely adopted function is attaching images to Accounts Payable and using workflow in the approval process, it has many uses elsewhere. Many COINS users are taking advantage of being able to store and retrieve images against transactions, and using workflow to manage processes that previously required paper forms to be moved around the company.

According to Larry Bower, ‘CIM has given us the confidence now to move toward a complete paperless AP process. We will begin to look in other areas, such as HR, to continue the paperless process’.

Fountain Construction is eager to implement CIM. Controller Peter Lee of Fountain thanked Debra Lewis, Senior Accountant at Hunton, for hosting a demonstration of CIM. ‘Seeing CIM in use was really beneficial. We will be talking to COINS about getting CIM and using it with the Project Management Module. Automatically saving submittals, change requests, and RFIs in CIM will save so much time and make it much easier to retrieve information when we need it’.

Document management, once just a buzzword, is now finding widespread acceptance in the construction industry. Growing numbers of COINS USA clients are discovering the benefits of implementing CIM document management and work flow.

Last updated: December 15, 2008