Linfox Drives Process Efficiencies and Improves Document Security With the New Microsoft Office System

“The dollar saving didn’t drive Linfox is the largest privately owned supply chain solutions our decision to build this provider in the Asia Pacific region. Its customers include many of system. It was about the the largest companies in South East Asia and . process benefits and giving our However, problems with the internal process for approving staff the opportunity to stop contracts were wasting staff time in the legal department and in chasing paperwork and some cases causing loss of face when documents went missing. concentrate instead on high- By building a workflow system based on Microsoft SharePoint value work.” Portal Server 2003 and Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003, Linfox Stephen Carroll has slashed its approvals process from weeks to days and Commercial Services Manager gained the ability to see at any time the progress of a contract. Linfox The same technology will be used to remove paper flows from all parts of the organisation.

CUSTOMER PROFILE BUSINESS SITUATION SOLUTION BENEFITS Linfox is one of Australia’s The paper-based flow of A workflow system based on ƒ Contract approval process largest privately owned contracts for approval by Microsoft SharePoint Portal reduced from six or eight companies with more than appropriate officials and Server 2003 was implemented weeks to two or three days – 9,000 personnel providing departments was slow and to speed the process of depending on the availability supply chain management made it difficult to determine contract approvals at Linfox of people for sign-off. solutions to many of the largest the status and location of any and to make the current status ƒ Complete visibility of the organisations in South East particular contract. This was of each document readily process and current status of Asia and Australia. The sometimes leading to a loss of visible. individual contracts. company, based in , credibility with customers. ƒ More secure environment generates annual revenue that managed under Active exceeds $1.2 billion. Directory.

process. There were times when operational areas of the company became Linfox is an industry leader in the “SharePoint provides the ability frustrated as a result of delays to the provision of warehousing, transportation to build everything around signing of documents. At the end of the and supply chain management. Its reusable templates to make the process key fields summarising the customers include many of the largest documents were stored in the database. most of our investment of time organisations in South East Asia and “There were no synergies and it was a very and effort at each stage.” Australia. With about 9,000 personnel manual process,” says Carroll. Driss Toukhsati utilising more than 4,700 motorised units Technical Infrastructure and Service of equipment Linfox manages more than 1 Linfox had been using the original version Delivery Manager Linfox million square metres of warehousing of Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server for space. some time as the basis of an intranet system for document management. This In Australia, Linfox is structured into system had also been extended to provide industry streams servicing the retail, an extranet for use by selected customers. beverage, fast moving consumer goods, fulfillment, cash services, food services, “The more use it got, the more people freight forwarding, petro-chemical and wanted from it,” says Driss Toukhsati, building products sectors. The company’s Technical Infrastructure and Service strong presence in Asia covers China Delivery Manager at Linfox. (including ), , and . Linfox employs about 1,600 people throughout Asia.

One particular issue facing the company It was evident that Microsoft SharePoint was the time it was taking for contracts to Portal Server 2003 would do a better job work through an approval process that for Linfox, but the company chose to use involved five to ten geographically the legal department’s workflow system as dispersed individuals within different a pilot because it called for some specific departments. The paper-based workflow functions not directly supported by the new system consisted of a circulation list software. attached to the document and it was not unusual for six to eight weeks to elapse As part of the project, Linfox chose while a contract made its way to final Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 as a key approval. technology and began the process of upgrading to Microsoft Office System “There have been occasions when it has 2003, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and taken six to eight weeks to arrange for Microsoft Exchange 2003. execution,” says Commercial Services Manager Stephen Carroll. “The times when “We are positioning ourselves strategically we experienced longer delays were usually for bigger things,” says Toukhsati. due to unresolved issues with the contract, Integration between Microsoft SharePoint not the execution process. Now, using the Portal Server 2003 and Active Directory Microsoft system, the process can be as was important for the project, as it ensures short as one week.” that people can only see documents and Previously, the situation at Linfox also perform actions consistent with their roles. meant the legal department had restricted Other advantages of the newer software visibility into the current location of include good version control and rapid contracts that had gone to other execution. departments as part of the approval With the new system, users can using standard tools and technologies,” immediately see the status of a document. says Hobbs. If its progress has stalled, it is easy to find Future plans include using Microsoft out whether the person concerned is on SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to replace holiday or taking sick leave. an existing QMX document management Another advantage is that steps in the system. This will allow the storage of all approval process may, where appropriate, the company’s policies, procedures and be performed in parallel rather than in forms in a single repository. strict sequence. “It has raised the profile of the ‘paperless “Users of Office System 2003 “Fujitsu Australia did 99% of the project, office’ within the organisation,” says will be able to interact with working closely with key staff at Linfox to Carroll. “We may move to scanning all SharePoint directly from Word. design and validate the system,” says documents and keeping the images online. Those still using older versions Rodney Hobbs, Principal Consultant with The legal department is already scanning will use the web-based portal Fujitsu. existing contracts so all contracts will be interface. The integration with accessible from within the portal.” “We used the core functions of document Office System 2003 is fantastic. management and version control within Toukhsati says a degree of business It provides users with a familiar SharePoint, but the project also required process reengineering is involved as the environment, so less training is the creation of custom .NET web services company plans to extend the system to needed.” implemented in C# to provide a summary handle all document workflows from Rodney Hobbs report of the status of outstanding consignment notes to expenses forms. Principal Consultant documents and to manage the approval Fujitsu Australia “Standardisation on SharePoint, BizTalk, process. SQL, .NET and InfoPath is strategic for “Users of Office System 2003 will be able us,” he says. “InfoPath will be used for all to interact with SharePoint directly from forms, with intelligent routing and linkage Word. Those still using older versions will to other software via BizTalk, to avoid the use the web-based portal interface. need to re-key data for different applications. If it smells like a form, it’ll be “The integration with Office System 2003 done in InfoPath at some stage.” is fantastic. It provides users with a familiar environment, so less training is After the legal tracking system goes live, a needed.” project for the property group will be next, followed by the conversion of the existing The summary report provides a drill-down corporate portal to Microsoft SharePoint capability to examine the routing, add Portal Server 2003. Projects for the airports comments and accept or reject the and occupational health and safety groups document — as long as the user has the at Linfox are also planned. They should all appropriate access rights for that be completed within two months. document. The Active Directory integration takes advantage of security groups rather than identifying specific users, giving greater flexibility during individual absences we well as more robust As is often the case with enterprise handling of staff changes. applications, deploying programs from the “The pilot project validated our belief that Microsoft Office system is not just about the SharePoint environment provides saving money. enormous flexibility for businesses and the use of .NET allowed quick development

Process improvements “The dollar saving didn’t drive our decision to build this system,” says Carroll. Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 Microsoft Office System 2003 “It was about the process benefits and Microsoft SQL Server™ giving our staff the opportunity to stop Microsoft Visual Studio® chasing paperwork and concentrate instead Microsoft Exchange Server on high-value work.” Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003 When the system is fully deployed, it will Microsoft BizTalk® Server drastically reduce the time needed to complete the approval process. Hardware HP Compaq ProLiant ML350 G2 “Rather than taking six to eight weeks server under the old system, approval could be HP Compaq Evo 510 SFF PCs complete in two or three days, contingent HP Compaq Evo N1000c PCs on each reviewer’s availability and there IBM Thinkpad A21/A22 notebooks being no need for further negotiation,” Partner Carroll says. Fujitsu Australia Limited au.fujitsu.com/microsoft Ease of management Toukhsati says that keeping all documents IT department,” he says. “Similarly, the in a single repository simplifies the backup proposed use of Microsoft SharePoint and restoration process. Portal Server 2003 in place of QMX will “The use of Active Directory means that allow business units to add their own security matters can be delegated to the documents to the repository without the owner of each document, rather than it intervention of IT staff.” being the day to day responsibility of the

Software for the Agile Business

For more information in Australia, call the For more information about Fujitsu Australia © 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights Microsoft Information Centre on 13 20 58 Limited products and services, call (02) 9776 reserved. 4555 in NSW, (03) 9265 0200 in VIC or visit the This case study is for informational purposes Web site at: au.fujitsu.com/microsoft To access information using the World Wide only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, Web, go to: EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. www.microsoft.com/resources/casestudies Microsoft, Windows, SharePoint and InfoPath are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Date Published: October 2003