Gallatin Steel Company

Case Study | Manufacturing | Gallatin Steel
Manufacturer performs enterprise-wide
transformation through optimization
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Manufacturer performs enterprise-wide transformation through optimization
Customer
Gallatin Steel
Industry
Manufacturing
Size
450 employees
Location
Ghent, Ky.
OnBase Integrations
Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne®
Order-to-Cash in-house system
Safety in-house system
Ivara Technology’s management and
maintenance system
Microsoft Outlook®
OpenText RightFax®
Departments Using OnBase
Accounts Receivable
Claims
Contracts
Customer Service
Finance & Purchasing
Human Resources
Maintenance
Quality
Raw Materials
Safety
Shipping
The Challenges
Gallatin Steel Company was consumed with paper. In a facility dominated by electric arc
furnaces and quality control labs, the steel manufacturer was running out of room to store
critical operations information such as shipping documents, human resources forms and
compliance documentation.
The business processes surrounding steel manufacturing produced a great deal of paper,
too, including shipping and receiving documents and safety policy and procedure sign-offs.
Gallatin’s manual processes were time-consuming and offered little transparency.
While looking for a document management solution, leaders at Gallatin learned how an
enterprise content management (ECM) solution could reduce paper processing to increase
operational efficiency, and improve customer service and corporate accountability.
“We don’t have a lot of office space and our former CFO’s initial concern was paper storage,” said
Tamera Koegler-Vaughan, process manager of Information Systems. “In performing our due
diligence, we learned there was a lot more that could be done than just getting rid of paper. It
soon became clear that technology like ECM was going to be really important, too.”
That’s when the manufacturer discovered OnBase by Hyland.
The Solution
In 2004, Gallatin worked with Konica Minolta, an OnBase authorized solution provider, to
implement OnBase to quickly fulfill and audit customer orders and contracts. Once the
manufacturer increased order fulfillment speed, it leveraged OnBase to streamline processes in
Shipping, Claims and Accounts Receivable.
“We had an enterprise vision from the beginning,” Koegler-Vaughan said. “We knew we wanted
to roll the solution out to every department. We needed the same method of retrieval for
everybody so we could train everyone once and only have to support a single system.”
Four years later, the company further expanded its OnBase solution to include Human Resources’
recruiting processes and policy and procedure sign-offs. By storing all information in a secure,
central repository, Gallatin supports compliance efforts while automating processes and
increasing visibility. These improvements inspired the company to expand OnBase across the
enterprise, including its Maintenance and Safety departments.
“Now, the information we need to do our jobs is online and available to whomever needs it,”
Koegler-Vaughan says. “There’s no longer the risk that the file you need is on someone’s desk
under a pile of papers. It’s given us the opportunity to re-engineer our business processes to
provide consistency and standardization, making us more efficient.”
With the success of these implementations, Gallatin continued its OnBase expansion. Between
2009-2011, Gallatin streamlined additional processes in Human Resources as well as Raw
Materials, Purchasing and Safety.
Gallatin Steel | 2
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Manufacturer performs enterprise-wide transformation through optimization
“We’re using OnBase to do everything
we need with documents. That’s the
reason we purchased it – to make the
company more efficient by implementing
a standardized repository that can be
utilized company-wide.”
- Tamera Koegler-Vaughan, process manager, Information Systems
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Manufacturer performs enterprise-wide transformation through optimization
Gallatin’s OnBase Deployment Timeline
Since 2004, Gallatin Steel has utilized OnBase to streamline processes throughout the
company. Click on the timeline below to learn how OnBase increases efficiencies and
reduces costs for specific departments and processes.
Customer Service
Contracts
Gallatin Steel | 4
Shipping
Claims
Quality
Accounts
Receivable
Policy & Procedure
Sign-off
Human Resources
Raw Materials
Recruiting
Maintenance
Purchasing
Safety
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Manufacturer performs enterprise-wide transformation through optimization
Customer Service:
Cuts costs while improving customer service
“OnBase saves me a lot of time and
paperwork. I don’t have to worry about
printing and filing POs once they’re
entered. It’s also much easier and more
convenient to have POs stored on your
computer versus having to look them
up in a binder or cabinet. I now see all
connected paperwork with an order at a
moment’s notice.”
Prior to OnBase, staff relied on paper to process customer purchases. While some documents
like POs were faxed to the manufacturer, staff often had to drive to customer sites to pick up
purchase-related information. Once gathered, staff printed and copied the documents, placed
them in folders and circulated them throughout the plant. Not only was this manual processing
expensive, it also increased service times for customers.
OnBase reduced Gallatin’s paper usage by more than 190,000 customer-related documents per
year, streamlining related processes and cutting costs.
“With OnBase, our sales team has all of the documents generated for an order at their fingertips,”
Koegler-Vaughan said. “That’s the big benefit – somebody calls and you can pull up the
information while on the phone with them. It’s really improved our customer service.”
– Gallatin sales associate
Claims:
Eliminates stalls in claims processing
Before OnBase, Gallatin employees used physical folders and paper to process claims.
“Staff passed documents from person to person,” Koegler-Vaughan said. “A claim would sit on
somebody’s desk and no one would know where it was. Someone would go to look for it, but
it wouldn’t be where it should have been. We implemented OnBase in claims processing so
employees could be efficient instead of spending too much time tracking down files that were
sitting on someone’s desk.”
Now, after entering a claim, OnBase kicks off a workflow that informs the correct employees to
review it. The solution also allows multiple users to view claims simultaneously, eliminating
delays previously associated with searching and waiting for documents.
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Manufacturer performs enterprise-wide transformation through optimization
“OnBase helps me process claims – by
simply clicking a button, all the
documents I need are available. We’re no
longer passing folders among employees,
filing information away or storing it in the
basement.”
-G
allatin claims associate
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Manufacturer performs enterprise-wide transformation through optimization
Human Resources:
Speeds hiring processes by electronically storing
and routing documents for review
“Now that we’re using OnBase to update
and distribute procedures and our
company handbook, we have time to
accomplish more value-added tasks
than we ever did before.”
– Cathy Hanley, general manager, Human Resources
In the past, those interested in applying for a position at Gallatin submitted a paper resume.
Staff logged resumes received on a spreadsheet that they printed and distributed to the
company’s hiring team for review.
“We didn’t have automated processes letting us know where information was in the review
process,” said Chelley Spenneberg, recruiting process manager. “It was hard to keep candidates
up-to-date on the status of their application.”
Applicants now submit their resumes online. Once submitted, OnBase automatically routes the
information for reviews and approvals, speeding the hiring process. With a click of a button in
OnBase, hiring personnel quickly see the status of all those who have applied, allowing Gallatin
to keep applicants notified of their application’s status.
Streamlines policy and procedure changes by eliminating paper
Each month, Gallatin’s HR department spent several days compiling policy and procedure
changes made throughout the company and mailing the updates to all employees. Not only was
the process time consuming, it also meant days went by without employees reviewing the latest
information needed to properly do their jobs.
Now, it takes only a few hours for HR to electronically compile and distribute updated policies
and procedures each month.
“The changes are made in real-time so we can send them immediately to employees,” said Cathy
Hanley, general manager of HR. “It makes the company safer and allows the HR staff to focus
on more value-added tasks we didn’t have time to do before.”
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Manufacturer performs enterprise-wide transformation through optimization
Safety:
Up-to-date policy and procedure sign-offs
ensure employee safety
“This is a potentially dangerous
environment. That’s why it’s critical
employees have the most current
information when trying to do their
jobs. OnBase ensures they get the
information they need.”
– Scott Alsup, general manager, Information Systems
Employee safety is the number one priority for Gallatin. However, ensuring employees reviewed
and acknowledged each updated policy and procedure was difficult.
“It was a cumbersome process,” Koegler-Vaughan said. “Managers would leave a piece of paper
on the pulpit hoping that every shift would read and acknowledge the update. They weren’t sure
who had signed off on the document and who hadn’t. They were always missing people.”
With the OnBase Policies and Procedures Administration solution, employees acknowledge the
latest policies and procedures electronically, ensuring their safety while working with a variety
of machinery and equipment. Updates are highlighted in red, making it easier for employees to
quickly find, read and acknowledge changes.
Gallatin also created a web portal, providing staff with the ability to sign in and review new
information from anywhere when they have time.
“Overall, OnBase is a great system for controlling documents, disseminating them to our
workforce and making changes quickly,” said Butch Collins, general manager of Safety and
Security. “It’s easier for employees to do reviews during their shift – they can review them on
maintenance days or whenever they have down time.”
Increases safety awareness with streamlined incident reports
Before OnBase, Gallatin manually processed incident reports. When a safety issue occurred,
employees gathered information – including accident reports, photos, etc. – in a binder and
circulated it throughout the company for review. The process was time consuming and slowed
Gallatin’s ability to review and update policies and procedures when needed.
Now, employees submit incident reports electronically to OnBase, including photos, diagrams
and related information.
“If we want to talk about a particular incident during an executive or team safety meeting, we
can pull it up and review all of the information,” Collins said. “It provides awareness as well as
documentation that’s easily accessible for safety leaders.”
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