Xerox Document Management Services Consolidate Operations to Save Time, Money, and Resources

Client Profile
The McGraw-Hill Construction Information Group consists of industry-leading F.W. Dodge, Sweet’s, and trade publications such as Architectural Record, Engineering News-Record, and Design-Build Magazine.

F.W. Dodge maintains a database of 60,000 architectural plans, specifications, and addenda of active commercial construction projects on CD-ROM, microfilm, and via hard-copy at one of its 120 plan rooms nationwide. As the industry leader, Dodge is always looking for ways to improve its operations in an effort to better serve its customers.

The Challenge
To scan all of these documents in a timely fashion, Dodge operated several facilities throughout the country. In addition, in-house technology required imaging each document twice—once to produce microfilm and a second time to create the digital files. Dodge began to look for operational improvements.

“Our goal has always been to image all
of the time-sensitive project documents within 24 hours and deliver the information into the hands of our subscribers within 48-72 hours,” explained Mark Kent, Vice President of Production and Publishing Operations for McGraw-Hill’s Construction Information Group.

In addition, almost 90 percent of the hardcopy materials needed to be returned to their originators, so tracking these documents throughout the entire process was also critical.

“We knew that if we could consolidate our operations into a single location and use a single-pass process, we would save significant time and money. However, this project became more complicated when we realized that we weren’t willing to compromise on image quality, ease-of-access, or service levels, and we couldn’t stop our operations for a single day,” he said. “It all added up to the biggest project we’ve ever undertaken in our segment.”