Digitalisation for rapid growth with automated workflows

Konica Minolta has been supporting Molls GmbH, a thriving independent metering services provider, with appropriate hardware and software since the company was founded. Without digitalised workflows, the company's existing number of employees would not have sufficed to allow Molls to supply several thousand buildings and apartments with metering technology and services for heating and operating costs within just a few years.

What began with a simple bizhub C3350 A4 multifunction printer (MFP) has now become an IT landscape featuring a professional bizhub Pro 754e MFP, servers, PCs and an IP-based telephone system as well as UPSs, scan routing solutions and a document management system. Konica Minolta continues to support the company's ongoing operations via Smart Managed Services and is facilitating the automation of additional business processes.

Six months after Molls opened for business and purchased its first Konica Minolta multifunction printer, it became clear that the company's initial estimate of its print volume was too low. Founded in 2016, the company sells smoke detectors as well as metering and measuring devices for monitoring water and energy consumption in buildings and homes. What's more, it also offers all related services and prepares heating and operating cost invoices.

The limits of an analogue system were quickly reached

Due to the company's rapid growth, the print volume had increased so much after just a few months that simply switching to a different multifunction printer significantly reduced the company's printing costs. At the same time, consultations revealed that there was great potential to simplify workflows and transfer them to a digital format. While Molls initially focused on streamlining customer acquisitions and the associated quotation process, order acceptance, recording customer data and invoicing soon also needed to be addressed. "At first we worked with paper files, but the files contained so many documents that it was all very difficult to track. They were kept in just one place, meaning that our ability to access and search the files was also very limited", reports André Molls, managing director of Molls. "We quickly realised that, with many documents arriving in two formats—digital and paper—we couldn't continue to work in this way and everything needed to be digitised."

Just to create a quote, property data, such as the existing and required systems and devices, in addition to their individual types and locations, all have to be recorded for each unit. On top of that, Moll needs to record data on the number and size of the rooms, on previous heating and water bills as well as on the residents. Meter reading requires the creation of numerous documents, especially when reading each individual meter and even when simply arranging appointments. These documents must also be retained for several years. Then when it comes to the invoice, a whole host of data sets need to be compiled.

Digitalisation starts with automated workflows

For this reason, upon purchasing the second multifunction printer, Molls implemented a scan routing solution that converts paper documents into searchable PDFs. Additional software, which includes AutoStore, eCopy PDF Pro Office, dokoniFind and a document management system, allows PDF documents to be processed and their contents to be quickly searched. One of the features of the installed solution is that it ensures that the invoicing software generates a barcode for paper-based documents such as orders or contracts. This barcode then enables the scanned documents to be stored automatically and in a structured manner.

"This means that we are able to search the full text of everything that comes in as a document. We have a much better system than before and can access information much faster by using search terms. All employees can access the data no matter where they are and they can work with it directly", explains André Molls. What's more, the company's ability to provide information has been greatly increased. When a customer calls, employees are able to quickly access the documents they need using the search function.

In order to ensure revision security, Molls asked Konica Minolta to install a document management system. This system allows digital files to be managed and stored in a legally compliant manner. It also removes the need to store paper documents and helped the company to regain space, delaying a move which would have otherwise been necessary due to the company's growth.

Successful digitalisation thanks to first-class support

In retrospect, Molls regards the greatest challenge as being correctly recording workflows and digitally mapping processes, which required a workshop to be held alongside other training. "But all the work was worth it. Our rapid growth would not have gone so smoothly without digitalisation. It allows us to work extremely efficiently and has helped us to avoid an unnecessary increase in staff", Molls is pleased to report.

The managing director explains that the successful digitalisation of processes was primarily due to the first-class support provided by the Konica Minolta team, who installed various solutions that intelligently interact with each other: "Our contact person provides incredibly competent advice, is always available and always has good ideas on ways in which we can move forward. On top of that, Konica Minolta has a number of experts who can be consulted on specific topics at any time."

Being extremely satisfied with his experiences so far, Molls has now also contracted Konica Minolta to act as the company IT service provider, opted for Smart Managed Services to provide IT support, as well as purchased PCs, servers, UPSs and IP-based telephone system from Konica Minolta.