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Internet Faxing: A Fabcon Case Study
August 31, 2007
The pace of business has increased exponentially in the past couple of decades. What used to take weeks to complete is now expected to be finished in days—or even hours. Many of these raised expectations are the result of the new technologies that enable a faster turnaround than was previously possible. And when the old world order clashes with the new—especially in a corporate setting—the result can be a huge bottleneck and a loss of efficiency.
The Customer:
This loss of workflow processes is the exact problem Fabcon, a national wall panel manufacturer, had experienced.
The Challenge:
Fabcon has four U.S.-based manufacturing plants and multiple sales offices—including locations in Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania—across the country. Having so many different sales offices and manufacturing plants would be a logistical challenge under any circumstance, but Fabcon's concerns are increased by the fact that they also provide custom installation for their customers.
The amount of paperwork Fabcon was generating for its specifications and drawings, work orders, bids, contracts and other business documents was overwhelming its employees. And moving these documents between various departments for review and action was even more daunting. Among the functional areas most affected were sales, project management, administration, contracts and executive management. Fabcon's worry was that their document inefficiencies would affect scheduling, job performance and ultimately customer satisfaction. The company needed an alternative that would bring this part of the business into the 21st century.
The Solution:
After some investigation, Fabcon executives thought the answer rested in Internet faxing—where documents are sent and received via e-mail or a secure server over a standard Internet connection rather than through conventional phone lines. They tried one service but began finding problems with it almost immediately.
"That service required us to download their software onto every computer in order to send and receive faxes," says marketing manager Scott Jenkins. "That was just impractical for the number of computers we wanted to outfit with an Internet fax service. In addition, the documents we received were in a proprietary format, so they couldn't be forwarded to someone who didn't have the software without being converted."
Their search for a new Internet fax service led the company no further than its own safety department, which was using MyFax. "When they received a fax via MyFax, it came in a PDF format," he says. "Everyone here can open those already without any extra effort, and without having to download special-use software."
Fabcon rolled MyFax to its computer desktops immediately.
The Results:
While Jenkins does not have hard numbers, the evidence suggests that the MyFax utilization has had a substantial impact on Fabcon's workflow processes.
"It's easy for paper to pile up on a desk, and for important documents to become buried under less significant ones," he says. "When you have a dozen faxes on your desk it's difficult to prioritize them. But when they're in an e-mail in-box with the ability to preview, you can run through the entire dozen quickly to determine what needs action now and what can wait until later."
Perhaps the most significant impact has been on the ability of busy employees to save time and manage important documents better. Fabcon's VP of Sales in particular is finding he is much more efficient now that Fabcon has a corporate MyFax account.
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine
This article is brought to you by Sales & Marketing Management, the leading authority for executives in the sales and marketing field.
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