Tracking and tracing - sounds more like detective work than two record center business processes. Yet they are quite similar in that you need to be a Super Sleuth when it comes to monitoring your facility's operations.

Here's a case study on a company who was able to track and trace every single document (work orders, electronic validation of pickups, trucks and deliveries, etc.) and guarantee customers a full audit trail on their records (who, what, when and where), thanks to O'Neil Software.

Processes are the paths of decision making -some are simple, others complex and hundreds weave through a record center's business every day. Monitoring and managing the flow of work and information along these process paths determines the speed, agility and quality of decision making.

Secur'Archiv recognized that processes involve people, business systems and content. The company was also aware of the fact that only when they work together in an automated environment can maximum productivity, profitability and value be realized.

Secur'Archiv is a service provider in the records storage industry, operating in Switzerland for more than 25 years. The business began as a division of Pelichet, a more than centennial family-owned moving company. Secur'Archiv has been operating as a separate company since 2001.

The services that Secur'Archiv offer are as follows: records storage which includes random storage, private shelves, Archiv'Express (a computer-driven Kardex shuttle for very active records), RFID-monitored cases for very sensitive documents; media vault storage; imaging; indexing; express delivery (one hour); 24 hours a day service; audit and consulting; and scan on demand. The company is ISO 9001:2008 Certified.

Secur'Archiv currently stores 350,000 containers (1.5 million file folders) and 100,000 tapes for more than 1,250 customers. They currently register 2,000 moves a day (in and out).

Their business location Switzerland is a small, but complex market: there are 4 official languages and 26 states for only 7 million inhabitants, so the level of service is important.

"Secur'Archiv has been using O'Neil Software since 1999 (the product was then called Record Storage for Windows®)," notes Emmanuel Lorang, Quality Assurance Manager for the company. "We have always been extremely satisfied with the product, providing us with everything we need to run our record center. Over time, as the records storage/management industry has changed, we've been able to keep pace with the changes, using more and more of the O'Neil's software capabilities."

You should be able to tell your customer where anything is at any time of the day. Therefore, your system should be able to track and trace any item within your records center, from shelf to van to customer and then back again to the record center. With such capabilities, you have complete control of your customer's inventory. If you want to take track and trace one step further, couple it with a portable printer and you can provide the customer with an itemized printed receipt.

One of the most interesting challenges in Secur' Archiv's business has been track and traceability. They wanted to enhance this capability because a large part of their customers are active in the Banking, or the Pharmaceutical/Health industry - the two most regulated industries in the world. On one hand, security and secrecy of personal or highly confidential information are central requirements to the Banking industry.

On the other hand, the GxP (Good Practices), which govern the Pharmaceutical/Health industry, require that documentation be handled with great reliability, accountability and availability.

"Thanks to O'Neil's RS-SQL®, Secur'Archiv could set up a process that allowed us to track and trace every single document (work orders; electronic validation of pickups, trucks and deliveries)," states Emmanuel. "This way we could guarantee our customers a full audit trail on their records (traceability and accountability as to who, what, when and where)."

For many companies, invoice processing requires too much manual effort, causing a drain on resources internally and for the customer involved. Manual processing and resolution efforts for problems involve time-consuming historical research, communication with the customer, process documentation, and requests for additional information from multiple parties. Some examples of invoicing problems include invoice disputes, invoices submitted without work orders, insufficient approvals, cost center errors, duplicates, discrepancies in quantity, price or date.

Secur'Archiv wanted to optimize and simplify the process of creating, managing and monitoring invoices for their staff and customers. They were looking for a system that would track and bill for every activity performed on an item, from data entry, sales of new boxes or containers, deliveries, pickups, labor, repacking, etc. Their desire was to have everything flow back to invoicing and be automated. They got that using O'Neil's software.

Additionally, Secur'Archiv linked the RS-SQL database to their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. This way they could find out anything about their customers at a glance, such as the number of boxes, file folders or tapes they are storing; new items coming in; storage history; latest work orders; invoices; turnover; contact persons and addresses - everything readable from the RS-SQL database.

"We also use RS-SQL in our Imaging Department, to track and trace original documents, which many competitors in the industry don't do," states Emmanuel. "And with O'Neil's RSWeb®.NET module, Secur' Archiv customers can manage their own items, such as tapes, with regard to retrievals, returns and audits. They can determine at any time the exact status of their tapes, without being dependent on our customer service staff, eliminating unnecessary emails, faxes and telephone calls. No longer does one of our staff have to re-key an order, or look up information. The power is now in our customer's hands through a standard Web browser, anytime, day or night, from anywhere in the world.

Fact: you can't react to what you can't see and you start losing money the second your record center becomes unmanageable.

Emmanual summarizes: "Using RS-SQL means finding what you need, when you need it. Guaranteeing 100% service accuracy and efficiency to your customers. Ensuring correct billing for every service you've performed and having meaningful data at your fingertips. The end result - total peace of mind for you and your customers, as well as greater profitability."