Stannic, the instalment finance division of Standard Bank, has outsourced the management of its off-site storage management warehouse in Johannesburg to Metrofile as part of its restructuring exercise. Stannic will also install the Metrofiler software system to manage the operation. The initial three year contract is worth R1,2 million to Metrofile.
"The project represents an important operation at Stannic, forming part of our drive to provide improved customer service in a more cost-effective manner," says Doug Bussio, Stannic`s senior manager: business architecture. The exercise has involved the centralisation of administrative processes in four centres or "hives", in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town, and the adoption of an outsourcing policy.
"We approached Metrofile regarding the management of our off-site storage, because of the reputation they have for expertise in this arena," says Bussio.
Being an instalment finance house, Stannic needs to store every finance and lease agreement it contracts with its customers, be they individuals or companies. There is a statutory requirement for paper copies of these to be stored for five years even in the case of paid up clients.
MetroFiler product manager, Bruce Templeton, says Metrofile welcomes the opportunity to operate any organisation`s off-site storage site, although it has massive paper storage facilities of its own. "Off-site storage is our business and with Stannic we have a classical opportunity to display the capabilities of our MetroFiler application, which has been designed specifically to manage paper filing at clients` own premises."
MetroFiler employs a system of random filing rather than sequential filing by using barcoding and scanning. It enables faster, cheaper and better filing and completely resolves the issue of lost files. When the filing clerk stacks the file onto a shelf, the shelf barcode and file barcode are scanned and the position of the file is stored by the software.
"When you file sequentially, you can paint yourself into a corner by not being able to accommodate a file which has suddenly had a wad of new pages added to it," says Templeton. "To make space for it you may have to move all the files - a mammoth job in a room containing thousands of files. In addition, the shelves may also need to be re-labelled as a result of the small movement of one file."
Sequential filing can also fall foul of human error. Should the filing clerk file into the wrong shelf by mistake, the file is lost.
Other organisations using MetroFiler software to manage their paper-file storage include Deloitte & Touche, Commercial Union, the Medical Bureau of Occupational Diseases (Dept of Health), Imperial bank and the Council for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
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