So you've heard all of the cliches about office technology. You're absolutely fed up with talk about the "technological revolution," and the "information superhighway." Your office has computers--and your employees can produce some very nice reports on them. Besides, things become obsolete so fast that there seems little incentive to adapt.
You've seen all of the commercials touting the latest gadgets. But these advances are happening right now in New Hampshire. Businesses, maybe your competitors, are utilizing technology that is making them faster, more efficient and more informed. Here are some more cliches, but here, too, are some New Hampshire businesses that are making those cliches a reality.
In today's marketplace, can you afford to take the time to wade through mountains of information? Can you afford to pay someone to do it for you? What if all of the information about your company, your suppliers and clients, even your competitors, were at the fingertips of everyone in your office? Right now, New Hampshire companies are getting that information.
Is your idea of communications calling someone to tell them that an overnight package is on its way? Today's technology turns the office across the Atlantic into the office next door. What if face-to-face meetings with clients could take place in your office, even when your client is in Colebrook? Right now, New Hampshire companies are meeting with those clients.
Time is one asset that cannot be replaced. But what if you could receive orders, transfer funds and make better use of your assets while sitting at your desk? There would be no lag time to file paperwork. There would be no lost time due to travel. Assets would never sit idle and clients would never be left waiting. Right now, New Hampshire companies are becoming more efficient, making more sales and saving more money.
But you've been burned before. Most of the features on your current computer system are never used. Promises of technological wonders only dissolved into hefty manuals and expensive training seminars. But times have changed.
Today's technology is simpler and easier to use. The bulky computer systems that seemed only to complicate things a decade ago have been replaced by smaller, faster models utilizing point and click technology. While ten years ago the most useful thing a desktop computer did was word processing, today's desktop models provide a link to unlimited resources of knowledge and information.
So let's dispense with the cliches. Here are four examples of New Hampshire businesses getting their money's worth from the technology that's out there. Maybe these companies are similar to yours. Maybe they're your competitors. Either way, the technological revolution is here. Can you afford to be left behind?
NO PAPER
One business on the cutting edge of the technological revolution is Unitil Corp. in Hampton. With its so-called paperless office, Unitil is putting power into the hands of its employees.
"Employees used to say 'if I had a bigger computer, I could do this,' or 'if I had a scanner, I could do this," says Tom Smith, Unitil's assistant vice president of technology services. "You're empowering them to do it for themselves by bringing power to the desktop." adds Mark Collin, vice president of finance and administration.
Every desktop at Unitil is equipped with a computer containing at least a 100 megabyte Pentium processor with a gigabit of disk space. Each system includes an internal fax, a document scanner, e-mail, Internet and intranet access, imaging software and advanced word processing and spreadsheet programs. Every computer is upgraded or replaced every three years.
When a piece of mail comes into the Unitil office, it is immediately scanned onto a computer. It can then be instantaneously forwarded to anyone at Unitil's central office in Hampton or any of their other locations in Concord, Kensington or Fitchburg, Mass. Faxes are received directly into the computers, eliminating the need for paper. Routing slips are obsolete. Phone calls and voice mail can be screened and forwarded by clicking an icon on a computer screen.
The same technology that enables employees to work independently at their desks also brings them closer together through teamwork. In every conference room at Unitil, motorized shades provide darkness as a PC screen is projected onto a large movie screen at the head of the table. A built-in system provides the necessary hardware for teleconferencing, with an operating site in Concord or with a vice president at the other end of the office.
Unitil has also taken full advantage of the information superhighway. The company has its own Internet server, making connections with the web lightning fast. They also maintain the UniNET intranet, putting all of the essential information about the company at the fingertips of every employee. Someone working in the financial division can easily call up energy resources data that might be useful in dealing with a client.
When the company moved into new offices in Hampton, Unitil seized the opportunity to custom-design a work environment that makes full use of technology. The building has maximum energy efficiency, from the climate controls to the computer-friendly indirect lighting system. Wiring in the office is high-speed fiber optic cable, and each work area is equipped with the necessary ports to access the entire system.
The employees at Unitil have embraced the new system. "There has been a great deal of enthusiasm," says Smith. "Very few people are afraid of technology. Back a few years ago there was talk that employees were threatened by technology. Now employees are accustomed to change and see technology as a solution. The technology now is so much more embraceable than ten years ago."
Like every change at Unitil, moving towards a paperless office started at the top. "This takes constant attention from the top down. The commitment comes from the CEO," says Collin. When the company moved, paperwork in more than 100 file cabinets was consolidated into 30. Vice presidents were told: "You're not going to allow any paper to come into your office."
Savings from the system are not easily quantifiable. "If you start concentrating on 'we've used less paper,' you've missed the point," says Smith. "One of the mistakes is overanalyzing savings due to technology. We are empowering employees with more efficient technology. We are making each employee more productive, and that is difficult to measure. Now they can do in one day what they never dreamed of before."
"This system was designed to be able to serve customers better through technology," says Collin. "Our need in this environment is to keep costs down in order to offer lower rates. Technology is that foundation."
ON CAMERA
Hadco Corporation is a developer and supplier of electronic interconnect products and services for OEMs and contract assemblers in the computer, telecommunications, automotive, medical instrumentation and industrial automation sectors of the electronics industry.
With three plants in New Hampshire and 11 other facilities around the country and the world, Hadco became concerned several years ago about the wasted time and expense of flying senior managers and engineers from plant to plant. Their solution: put them on camera. Hadco made a "sizable investment" to install room-sized videoconferencing systems in five locations in New Hampshire, New York and California.
Two and a half months later the system had paid for itself.
"The cost of travel between large volume plants for senior staff and engineers far outweighed the cost of the equipment." says Bill Steele, Hadco's telecommunications administrator.
Videoconferencing provides instantaneous face-to-face communications between people in different locations, allowing them to work collaboratively by simultaneously viewing, annotating and exchanging information.
Steele says the typical Hadco videoconferencing session is a management meeting using slide presentations or other visuals, where senior staff in two or more locations "can review and discuss the same data real time. You can bring the engineers involved right to the table," and hold brainstorming sessions among several locations at once.
While Hadco's original systems were installed in conference rooms, the company is now installing desktop systems at its smaller sites, ideal for one-on-one sessions. Videoconferencing is also becoming more common with Hadco's vendors and customers, Steele says.
"Videoconferencing is just on the edge of exploding. It's where the Internet was five years ago," says George Wiley of Viewcom, Inc. of Londonderry, which offers videoconferencing systems integration. "Now people are saying 'why would I want to do that?'" In a few years, not having videoconferencing capabilities will be like not having a fax number, he says.
Systems range from $500 (for a slow one-on-one system "suitable for two college kids who want to be able to see each other") to $250,000 for a "very very large corporate boardroom, equipped with special acoustics and lighting systems, specially placed monitors and cameras, all remotely controlled," Wiley says.
"Everyone will have this eventually," Wiley believes. "It will be to the point where you will be at a strategic disadvantage if you don't."
ON THE ROAD
A sales force that spends most of its time on the road can lose clients and accounts if it's not well connected to the home office. Central Paper Co. of Manchester needed to keep its sales force informed of changes in the marketplace, and the salespeople needed a way to file their orders from the road. The solution: each member of the sales force is equipped with a laptop computer.
When Central Paper's sales reps are on the road, they stay in contact with the office by modem. The central office is able to relay up-to-the-minute sales and customer information, such as accounts receivable, customer history and inventory to the sales team while they're on the road. Salespeople go into meetings with prospective clients fully informed of product availability, shipping dates and pricing information.
After the sale is made, the salesperson files the order electronically. There is no delay for travel time back to the office or tedious paperwork. As the sales rep moves on to his next prospect, his last customer is assured that the order has been placed.
Central Paper was the first company in the paper distribution industry to utilize laptop computers to stay in touch with its sales team. The system was established more than four years ago, and it has been a tremendous success. "We wanted to have our sales force more informed and assist our customers with more information," says Fred Kfoury Jr., president and chief executive officer of Central Paper. "Use of laptops makes the whole process more efficient."
Central Paper is currently replacing the laptops used by their sales force. "We're in the process of going to the newest generation of technology--we're replacing all of our current computers," says Kfoury. "We're constantly looking for ways to better our process." The biggest problem with staying on the cutting edge is waiting for everyone else to catch up. One missing link in the chain of business can slow down the entire system.
ASSET MANAGEMENT
Meggitt-USA, Inc. in Manchester is a holding company for six major manufacturing corporations around the world, including Meggitt Avionics in Manchester. For its operations, Meggitt needed to utilize electronic banking to maintain a zero-sum account and transfer assets worldwide at the touch of a button. Because it is owned by a company in the United Kingdom, Meggitt also needed a system that would respond to and take advantage of the difference in time zones between Manchester and Europe.
One of the pitfalls of working in an international environment is dealing with all of the different regulations and tax laws in each country. Meggitt needed a sophisticated system to transfer financial information worldwide. "We're required to report information to the U.K. and to the U.S. for tax purposes," says Meggit treasurer Robert Soukup. "The transmission of data is important because offices shut down. The UK office shuts down at noon our time and we shut down at five o'clock California time."
Fleet Bank's Treasury Express account enables Meggitt to remain ahead in international asset management. Treasury Express allows companies to perform banking transactions through a PC via a secure system and integrates a wide variety of banking services. Individual access passwords and multiple levels of security allow users to control the access of individual system users to services and accounts.
This system allows Meggitt to report cash to the U.K. on a regular basis, make overnight investments and maintain a zero balance account--all electronically. "It gives us the opportunity to invest our money in a timely fashion," says Soukup. "We can concentrate our cash into one account and have that account swept at the end of the day." There is no costly delay for transactions, and assets never sit idle.
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