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Intelligent Document
Handling at Bibby |
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Bibby Financial Services
chose the IBM System i as their preferred operating
platform. The System i is secure, reliable and can
be accessed from any location making it an excellent
choice for a company such as Bibby Financial Services
who have many different locations and a need to
guarantee customer confidentiality and application
availability.
A number of the Groups core financial services companies
had a need to produce customer documents which are
of a set format and layout. Printing would historically
be done onto pre-printed forms using an application
which overlays the data onto the pre-printed stationery
in the correct positions. All this takes place on
a server running at one of Bibby Financial Services
locations. Extending this to allow other companies
within the group to utilise the same facilities
would require the installation of a server and software
at each location.
Bibby Financial Services turned to SpaceTec an IBM
business partner specialising in applications for
the System i for advice on overlay printing and
the use of their System i. SpaceTec recommended
that they deployed InterForm400 an intelligent output
management software designed for the System i. InterForm400
enables the formatting, distribution and archiving
of System i documents. It provides the standard
tasks such as automatic merge of documents from
the spool file to form, plus additional benefits
such as a form designer allowing you to create any
type of form with no assistance necessary from the
vendor. Another feature is the ability to create
a pdf document and then distribute this document
as an email, reducing postage costs and labour time.
By using InterForm400 Bibby Financial Services have
been able to:-
 Reduce
costs. InterForm400 is installed on the System i
at one location reducing the need for separate servers
and software at multiple locations.
Decrease
deployment, training and support times. Bibby Financial
Services have saved 2-4 days per site of engineer
time for the installations alone without taking
into consideration any ongoing support time that
would be required for the servers.
Increased
Bandwidth efficiency, InterForm400 is quick and
effective when processing print jobs freeing up
WAN Bandwidth for other applications.
Increased
Printing Speeds. The System i is far more effective
at processing the forms overlay print jobs significantly
improving remote printing performance.
Make
use of additional Features. InterForm400 is a comprehensive
tool that has a number of additional features. Bibby
Financial Services also use the print to PDF and
the data compression features of InterForm400 to
manage report distribution via email and transfer
of data to service providers.
Malcolm Spence-Herbert, project manager of Bibby
Financial Services said:
“Apart from the flexibility that InterForm400
provides in the production of forms and documents
from the System i, we have also made significant
cost savings against the software and hardware we
would have needed to replicate the legacy server
solution”.
InterForm400 is a modular product, comprising of
a number of different applications for the System
i. Additional modules allow you to merge data with
documents created in any PC word processor, Distribute
documents directly to fax, instantly archive copies
of documents no more need for hard copy filing and
create and distribute secure pdf’s ensuring
only the intended recipient can view the information.
Patrick Race, MD of SpaceTec said:
“We have many customers using InterForm400,
most of these are now also using one or more of
the additional modules. Without exception all of
our InterForm400 customers have made cost savings
and now have a more reliable and stable platform
to work on.”
About
Bibby
Bibby Financial Services is a market-leading specialist
in the provision of a range of business cash flow
solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises.
As a global services provider, Bibby Financial Services
has a network of 15 operating units throughout the
UK and Ireland, and overseas companies in the USA,
Poland, Australia, and France, offering a local,
fast and flexible approach to servicing clients.
Bibby Financial Services is wholly owned by the
Bibby Line Group, a business-to-business services
group with interests in ship owning and operation,
shallow water accommodation, oil field services,
contract logistics and business finance.
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