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Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa: How ECM has improved our business processes


Johannesburg, 09 Nov 2017
Sitting on the left is Ian Dury - Business Process Analyst. Sitting on the right is Werner Engelbrecht - Chief Financial Officer.
Sitting on the left is Ian Dury - Business Process Analyst. Sitting on the right is Werner Engelbrecht - Chief Financial Officer.

Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa has been a VAR for Laserfiche since February 2015. In just over two years, the business relationship between the document solutions provider and the software development company - that creates enterprise content management, business process automation, workflow and other business software, has enabled many industries to experience optimised workflow solutions, but the proof of improved business processes is much closer to home.

Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa has undergone great changes over the past 2,5 years. "The change to our business to encompass full Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions has brought new vigour into the office," says Werner Engelbrecht, Chief Financial Officer at Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa.

The challenge

"In order to truly understand the impact the ECM solution has on a business, we integrated the software into our own operation, implementing it into our finance, logistics and HR business processes. Besides experiencing great results, we have had first-hand experience, which gives our sales team the ability to speak with authority on the advantages of the software."

Business benefits

Because a more automated finance, logistics and HR system requires less human involvement than a manual one, Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa is operating more efficiently, with an ability to keep track of documents more easily in a digital format. There is better compliance, security and more optimised workflow, which means simplified and streamlined critical business procedures.

"We were also facing local legal requirements (similar to ISO27001) around document security and retention and we are very happy that the ECM solution could address over 90% of our requirements with very little customisation," adds Engelbrecht.

Some of Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa's business benefits include:

* 2500 Euro saving per month by moving towards an encrypted, electronic invoicing solution;
* 50% reduction in lead time for spares orders from Kyocera Document Solutions Europe (head office);
* Converted 30 manual processes into Electronic Form based processes with dashboard reporting;
* Improved productivity of workforce by using mobile application to access documents and processes remotely; and
* Significant improvement in business process automation and Lean Six Sigma maturity.

The learnings

Ian Dury, Business Process Analyst at Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa, notes that "from a BPM point of view, an ECM solution allows for a structured process to be enforced with no deviation. A documented process is only as good as what is performed in the actual world. It allows us to be flexible in our adaption to business needs. Any changes made to a process are instant and adhered to from the very next instance. The dashboard functionality allows for accurate and actual measurement of performance KPI's for the Continuous Process Improvement projects we run."

Looking ahead

"Besides seeing the benefits of ECM in our business, our business relationship with our ECM provider has resulted in Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa earning the top VAR status worldwide early last year and a 2017 Winner's Circle award earlier this year," says Dury.

"We are seeing the demand for enterprise content management and business process management systems grow in South Africa, especially as corporates realise that they can ultimately achieve reduced operating expenses and overheads while increasing user productivity, eliminating waste in the business processes, optimising legacy processes, automating workflows and ensuring productivity," he concludes.

Link to YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mJBzaaxo8M&t=1s

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Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa

Headquartered in Midrand, Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa is a country level subsidiary of Kyocera Document Solutions and is responsible for the sales and marketing of Kyocera printers and document solutions throughout southern Africa.

Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa is renowned for its tailor-made document solutions that provide a perfect blend of premium products, software solutions and professional services that increase an organisation's workflow efficiency, enhance employee productivity, minimise environmental impact and significantly reduce operating costs.

The company offers world-class monochrome and colour printers, multifunctional products, parts and supplies, as well as software solutions.

A key differentiator for the Kyocera brand is the primary focus on overall value as opposed to only considering the initial acquisition price. Its solutions portfolio and Managed Document Services division help customers to reduce costs and environmental impact, at the same time as improving the efficiency and reliability of common business processes.

Kyocera Document Solutions is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kyocera, which is a leading manufacturer of high-tech ceramics, electronic components, solar cells and electronic office equipment.

For further information visit www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.co.za

KYOCERA Document Solutions

KYOCERA Document Solutions, headquartered in Osaka, Japan, is a leading manufacturer of document imaging solutions and document management systems, including colour and monochrome multifunctional products as well as printers and wide format devices. Kyocera's products are renowned for their unique long-life imaging components that provide greater reliability and less waste - resulting in a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) over the life of the product. The KYOCERA Document Solutions portfolio does not stop at hardware. A full suite of business applications and consultative services allow customers to optimise and manage their document workflow, unleashing the full potential of their hardware investment.

KYOCERA Document Solutions is a core company of KYOCERA, the world's leading developer and manufacturer of advanced ceramics and associated products, including telecommunications equipment, semiconductor packages and electronic components. During the year ended 31 March 2017, KYOCERA's net sales totalled 1.42 trillion yen (approx. EUR 11.9 billion). For more information and press-ready photos, visit https://www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.eu/.

Editorial contacts

Ingrid Lotze
join.the.dots
(086) 001 7411
Marcom Department
Kyocera Document Solutions
(+27) 11 595 2600
marcom@dza.kyocera.com