CLS: Release the Shackles of Data and Document Administration

Clark Land Surveyors is a surveying and land development consultancy, based in Christchurch, New Zealand. The company undertakes a range of work, from subdivisions to commercial construction projects. Its team includes three licensed surveyors and two survey technicians.

Release the Shackles of Data and Document Administration

Since the devastating earthquake in Christchurch in 2011, there has been a rush of building work as well as new laws governing construction projects. This has created a lot more paperwork and compliance requirements for construction and development related industries.

Clark Land Surveyors was already drowning in document administration and maxing out its existing storage.

“The increased volume of work, and the changes to laws such as the Health and Safety Act, meant that a lot more paperwork was being generated. All of it has to be stored somewhere because you may need to produce it at some point in the future. Storage space was one of the biggest things we were struggling with,” – Jeff Irving, Director, Clark Land Surveyors.

The amount of paper was also leading to a cluttered and inefficient work environment. With the archives taking up all the space, there was no room for things such as stationary or active files.

The Solution

IT service provider ServerWorks had recently created a document digitisation solution, which was affordable, and also kept digital documents in an accessible, non-proprietary PDF format.

Having the entire archive in digital format was great, but Jeff wondered if it was possible to take it one step further. Clark Land Surveyors were already using 12d Synergy to manage project documents and email management.

Since installation of 12d Synergy, Clark Land Surveyors have stored all its templates and working jobs in there. It made great sense to add the digital file archive in there as well.

Outcomes

Single Source of Truth for Project Data

Storing digitised documents in 12d Synergy means that all data is searchable and instantly retrievable.  Lightning fast search capabilities means that contents of a wide range of documents can be searched, from PDFs and Emails to CAD drawings.

Secure, Off-site Back Ups

Using 12d Synergy to manage digital files enables easy and secure backups, off-site and on-site.  It’s a much better DR (disaster recovery) strategy than relying on physical files.

Save Time and Money

Having all data digitised and filed in 12d Synergy can save a huge amount on storage costs, as well as the time taken to retrieve and return files from an archive.  Regulatory and compliance changes don’t changes don’t add additional storage costs down the track.