Business Overview

Bricon Associates Pte Ltd is a local insurance agency that offers a complete range of tailor made insurance solutions and services ranging from motor vehicle, homeowners, personal accident, travel, corporate businesses, marine and property to several specialized financial lines of insurance.  Founded and run by veteran Insurance manager with over 30 years of industry experience, Ms. Elizabeth Lee, Bricon Associates Pte Ltd is a home based business with some over 10 staff manning the business since 1985. As a general insurance agency representing various products from various insurance companies, Bricon Associates invest a great deal of time getting to know its clientele individually  so that an insurance program that will effectively match their clients’ needs is identified.  This means it is essential that its database and records management are accurate and updated constantly.

The Challenge

The old customized software system costing close to SGD45,000 Elizabeth procured 2 years ago could not keep up with the firm’s rapid expansion for the past years. As Bricon Associates grew rapidly, the old system slowed down turnaround time of critical documents due to the built up of paperwork. Staff members spent a lot of time manually keying in relevant data and this required extreme accuracy on their part. Reconciling all the changes and ensuring accurate data became an uphill task. Elizabeth, saddled with a pile of backlog documents and a new outsourced HR project to digitize 250 staff for a MNC, found herself left with no technical help to support the flagging system.  She knew by then she needed to make a drastic change to the way things functioned and decided to find a system which will reduce the burden from manual data entry, upkeep maintenance and eliminating problems of staff having to view different versions. To do this, a streamlined, easy-to-use accurate system for archiving contracts, agreements and claims is needed. When Pericom Imaging (S) Pte Ltd introduced Avision AV385 SU document scanner to Elizabeth , she knew right away that it was just what she was looking for.  

The Solution

Using Avision AV3850SU document scanner, staff members at Bricon Associates scanned their insurance documents in duplex mode at 100 images per minute. The Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) of the scanner allows batch scanning of various types of documents of different sizes and thickness which was a breeze compared to the former system. The variety of scanning options offered by the scanner software (Adobe Acrobat) permits staff members to create image files best suited to their needs. Staff members also find that the image files can be read easily and the legibility of document images even with light shades in pencil or faint writing is drastically improved. This means all essential information is accurately and completely captured. Backlog files, HR project data, customer folders especially expired insurance files, are captured accurately within minutes instead of days. Now, with the Avision AV3850SU scanner scanning at almost 4 times the old system volume, employees may divert their time to more productive tasks. Even female staff who work out of their own homes are assured of timely access to the scanned documents. Checking, verifying customer  enquiries, as well as all the customer insurance claims are now processed instantaneously.  The new system proved to be so successful and user-friendly that it extends to her family life too. Elizabeth’s 19-year-old son is now trained to handle the document imaging system and helps to scan all expired insurance accounts and claims while playing with the family dog, a lovely 1 year old golden retriever, at the same time. “The Avision AV3850SU document scanner’s overall excellent paper handling and great reliability makes it an exceptional asset,” said Elizabeth Lee, Founder of Bricon Associates Pte Ltd, “ it is definitely the best purchase I have ever made. “

 The Results

• Eliminate manual data entry completely
• Prompt processing and updating of all insurance claims handling
• Reduce the turnaround time of critical, time-sensitive documents
• Improve customer services
• Automate the insurance records and filing system
• Clear up backlog document files
• Reduce storage space
• Improve productivity for staff
• 100% accuracy in document capture
• 100% improvement in filing, locating  and retrieval process
• Streamline scanning-indexing-sorting process
• Female staff who work from home have access to timely filed documents

 “ We are pleased with the way Avision AV3850SU scanner has helped to turn around the backlog of document situation for Bricon Associates Pte Ltd.” said Mr. Derek Lee, CEO of Pericom Imaging (S)  Pte Ltd and Pericom Group of Companies, “ it goes to show how important efficiency in handling of document imaging is in any paper-intensive industry.”