Successes - NCI Building Systems
Largest Metal Components Producer Solves Warranty Claims 240 Times Faster with Westbrook Fortis

Summary
NCI Building Systems, Inc. is the largest producer and distributor of metal components for building construction and the largest supplier of metal roofs in an estimated $20 billion roofing industry.

After observing the tremendous time savings and efficiency gains NCI’s Douglasville, GA division was benefiting from with Westbrook Technologies’ Fortis, Eddie Evans, director of NCI’s Corporate Information Technology department, decided to implement the document management solution at the corporate headquarters in Houston, TX. Three years later, the effects of Fortis can be seen across this manufacturing empire in multiple areas including Accounts Payable, Purchasing, Credit, Human Resources, IT, Components and Building.

Purchasing department – investigating warranty claims 240 times faster
Purchasing staff investigating warranty customer claims are retrieving documents faster – 240 times faster – using Fortis when tracking steel mill production reports. These reports detail the specifications on many of the brands of steel coils purchased by NCI, which provide customers with a 30-year warranty. Warranty claims may include a client reporting a steel coil is thin, has a rust spot on the steel, or has a perforation or tear. Staff accesses the report within a minute and obtains details on the materials used right down to the paint used. Even researching the steel coiling process, tracking a mill number or obtaining information on the paint vendor is easily retrieved. Prior to Fortis, staff members had to leave their offices and head over to the off-site file storage facility 20 miles away. Obtaining files could take up to four hours!

Accounts Payable – all payee information available within 12 hours
NCI’s Accounts Payable department makes all payee information accessible through Fortis including weekly vendor checks, corresponding invoices and accounting records. Originally stored off site, these files are available the next morning right after payment processing. Fortis is also used in this department to track month end reports and year end reports for auditing. Visiting auditors performing independent audits have accounting information available on their desktop as well alleviating the need to print out reports saving copying time and paper costs.

Buildings Group – communicating even faster!
Fortis is assisting this group with the design process of building manufacturing. Working with the client, the drafting staff handles the design, which is then certified by the Engineering department before being scheduled for manufacturing by one or more plants. CAD drawings, hand drawings, shop details, contracts, even directions to the job site are also scanned into Fortis for quick access by staff.

A special process incorporating Fortis’ Inflo was developed by Westbrook Technologies’ consultants. In conjunction with PrintDoc – a custom application – the Buildings Group now has the ability to print contracts, bills of materials and other documents right to local plant printers. Rather than e-mailing or mailing, PrintDoc's seamless printing process quickly delivers documents to the right office, speeding up the manufacturing process. “Now, we no longer have to distribute multiple copies of 200-300 pages of design copies,” says Evans. “Effectively, the drawings are getting to plant staff sooner so they can start manufacturing even faster. We run this process every 2-3 hours a day and again at night so staff receives the most recent revisions to a project design,” he says.

Fortis Web Option – access to data from anywhere at anytime!
Fortis can be used off site as demonstrated by NCI’s use of the Fortis Web option, which assists the traveling sales and service staff, plant managers and those who may be experiencing a slower network connection to quickly and easily retrieve records just as if they were on-site.

Additional Areas – file sharing and maintaining confidentiality
While the Components Division uses Fortis for maintaining project files from start to finish alleviating missing files are delaying multiple staff members from accessing the same paper file, the Human Resources department keeps confidential employee files containing resumes, background checks, applications, new hire information and payroll information.

Another forward thinking vision using Westbrook Technologies’ software solution to produce extraordinary results from an initial install to an organizational initiative.

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