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DMV transforms scanning operation from sad to glad with Kodak i1860 Scanners

Kathy Sharpe and her scanner operators at the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles talk about “before” and “after”. That’s before and after the arrival of their six Kodak i1860 Scanners. ““After” is much better,” notes Sharpe, the Imaging Unit Manager for the SC DMV.

But back in the “before” days—when the department was using scanners from another manufacturer—productivity was significantly less, image quality suffered, and service calls were far more frequent. The DMV central scanning operation in Blythewood, SC—about 20 minutes from state capital Columbia—scans about 1.3 million documents per month, received from their 68 field offices around the state.

Everything from titles to tickets gets captured and put into the system. The scanning operation receives paperwork from the many statewide offices via mail, then sorts documents by type prior to imaging. Using Kofax Ascent Capture 9, many documents are indexed via bar code lookup, while tickets are scanned and manually indexed into another program. So working with scanners that offer reliability, fast throughput, exceptional image quality, and overall savings are critical for the DMV’s imaging operations.

Experiencing the quality of Kodak i1860 Scanners firsthand
Shawn Powers, Director of Resource Management for SC DMV, and Sharpe researched and saw demos of various scanners as part of their fact finding once they received authorization to purchase new scanners. They spent a full day at Advanced Imaging Services (AIS) in Pineville, SC, an Authorized Reseller of Kodak Document Imaging Products that holds a state contract for imaging services. “We saw the speed of the Kodak i1860 Scanners and the image quality that could be automatically obtained,” says Powers. “And those were two key factors that sold us on the machines from Kodak.”

Back in the “before” days, the DMV was spending $15,000 every three months on service and consumables for their old scanners. The machines were slow, very difficult to move, not ergonomically friendly, created a great deal of downtime, and caused a great deal of frustration for management and the operators.

Discovering a new world of productivity and savings

Once the Kodak i1860 Scanners were up and running, the outlook of everyone began to brighten. “Learning to operate the i1860 Scanners was quite easy for everyone,” Sharpe recalls. “The interface is quite intuitive and all of our operators took to them quickly. We run four scanners all day long, and the other two half of the day with eight different operators who do our scanning.”

Along with operator delight, Sharpe and Powers call out numerous other advantages with the Kodak Scanners—

• Much easier access and replacement of user replaceable parts
• Greatly increased accuracy levels
• Far superior image quality (“We asked the last manufacturer if this was the best quality we could get,” says Sharpe. “They basically told us, ‘Yes, that’s as good as it gets!’”)
• Significantly less money and time spent on consumables and operator interaction, with one extra large feeder kit lasting six months, for example

“In the past, our old scanners made a great many errors reading bar codes, resulting in mistakes in VIN and title numbers, names and other really important information,” says Sharpe. “The Kodak Scanners read bar codes and translate the information almost flawlessly so we gather very accurate index data. You can imagine how much frustration and rescanning that takes out of our operation.”

Scanners that make everyone happier

Powers began working with Sharpe in imaging about six months prior to the introduction of the i1860 Scanners at the DMV, and says that the entire operation runs much more smoothly today. “There’s far less downtime, and because of the reliability and productivity gains, we’ve been able to now do the same work with nine people instead of 18,” says Powers. “We simply haven’t replaced employees that have left the department because we don’t need to. That translates to significant savings and, like all government agencies, cutting costs without losing performance is one of our key mandates. I’d say we’ve reduced downtime significantly and saved about $200,000 per year.”

Customer service is also enhanced with the DMV call and customer service centers now sending out hard copies of documents within 48 hours of a request, compared to a three-to-four day turnaround prior to the i1860 Scanners.

For operators, the ergonomic advantages of the i1860 Scanners allow each unit to be moved up and down on the pedestal to an ideal height, accommodating shorter and taller operators with ease, compared to the static, tabled position of the previous scanners.

“All the operators love the Kodak Scanners and we truly appreciate the reliability and image quality,” Sharpe praises. “We’ve slashed the number of rescans, greatly reduced the frustration level, and saved money. When you can make your employees, customers, and management happy—all at the same time—you’re doing something right!”