Insurance giant Sanlam has successfully integrated Exsol`s DIS document imaging system, previously used to assist in its demutualisation process, into its mainstream business workflow. The system integrates Exsol`s high-speed scanning hardware and AFPS Pro imaging software with Sanlam`s DB2 mainframe database, enabling automated electronic processing and indexing of incoming policy documents from Sanlam`s brokers countrywide. Imaging technical support manager, Willem van der Spuy, says the system enables brokers that don`t have direct access to Sanlam`s head office to fax through policy documents and application forms for rapid response and feedback.
"Faxes are received and classified electronically," says Van der Spuy. "Information is then automatically passed through AFPS Pro`s advanced OCR engine that interfaces with and populates our DB2 database."
Sanlam originally purchased AFPS Pro from Exsol, a company in the JSE-listed EC Hold group, with an automated capture system in mind, although it was first used to support the company`s demutualisation process in a R7m operation earlier this year. At the time, the demutualisation imaging exercise was the largest ever undertaken in the Southern Hemisphere. Today, the system eliminates the manual data capture stage, significantly reducing the turnaround time for policy processing. "We`re now in a position to automatically validate and process new cases as they arrive," says Van der Spuy. "This enables us to electronically issue a policy within minutes of receiving the broker`s fax, freeing up valuable resources that would otherwise have been used up at the verification stage."
Manual verification may still be required at the capture and verification stages if faxed information can`t be recognised electronically or if the system determines that necessary data is missing from an application. "Data completion assistants are always on hand to guarantee the integrity and accuracy of the captured data, although the accuracy of the system warrants little, if any human intervention," adds Van der Spuy. "We`re in the process of optimising our fax input to further improve our service to brokers, starting with application forms designed specifically for the OCR software."
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