Earle M. Jorgensen Co.  
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In 1990, Earle M. Jorgensen Co. (EMJ), Brea, CA, was established by the merger of Jorgensen Steel and Aluminum with Kilsby-Roberts, and became the nation’s largest independent distributor of steel, with yearly sales of $1-billion. Service is their value-addition to the commodities they sell. EMJ processes about 8,000 sales transactions per day, has over 42 locations (25 of which are ISO-approved) throughout the world and over 2,700 employees; the company holds close to $200 million in inventory, has 400 suppliers, a 300-truck fleet and over 50,000 customers worldwide. Performing the entire spectrum of metal processing, EMJ operates a depot-style distribution network. In North America, EMJ is segmented into four regions: West, South (including Mexico), Midwest, and East (including Canada). Information technology is centralized in Brea, and certain sales support services such as credit analysis are centralized at the regional level.

THE PROBLEM

After the merger, a new computer infrastructure replaced two separate and incompatible systems that were already in place. The new system links all of EMJ’s operations, procedures and information, including sales, manufacturing, purchasing, inventory, warehousing, transportation, accounts payable, accounts receivable, material pricing, test reports, operational reporting, management planning/reporting, sales and gross profit analysis, financial information systems, human resources, and fixed assets.

THE SOLUTION

Integrated into this new system was a 33-location IMAGE-X optical imaging system for that has ten optical jukeboxes for storing scanned images at ten regional facilities. The system supports 1500 users who can print and fax documents from any jukebox to any of their locations in the US and Canada. Image-X installed one Fujitsu scanner at each facility. Regional repositories each have high volume scanners. Each regional repository also has a Hewlett-Packard 40FX optical storage jukebox to store all of the images. These jukeboxes are managed by Tracer Technologies storage management software. The core software integration for scanning and retrieving documents was accomplished with two products developed by Image-X. MINDS (Managed Information Data Services) software allows documents to be retrieved from anywhere in the country. This is accomplished through integration with EMJ’s WIN software that connects every site. Image-X ImageMate software is used to capture and index scanned documents.

The first application of this project focused on mill test reports. About 35% of bar orders and nearly half of all tubing orders require mill test reports, to certify the hardness of the steel. The ability to provide these reports is critical. If they cannot be provided upon delivery, the safety of the steel cannot be certified. Delays in providing the reports—not infrequently up to one business day—could and did cost sales: an estimated $12,000 per facility per month in sales were lost because the mill reports simply could not be provided in the time frame that the customer required delivery. The Image-X Document Imaging System allows the distributor to scan, store, retrieve and print or fax mill test reports almost instantaneously. Paperwork is eliminated; manual filing and storage are drastically reduced. In addition to the gain of previously lost sales, Jorgensen is now saving over $100,000 per year in data entry costs.

Phase two of the project was the automated scanning and indexing of signed delivery receipts to speed up cash flow. Jorgensen wanted to address cash flow issues related to customers who delivered a copy of a signed delivery receipt before they would issue payment. With thousands of orders being delivered all over the United States and Canada, the benefit of digital records was obvious. With their nationwide imaging system in place, an auto-indexing scheme was the key to processing so many documents on a daily basis. Now bar codes are printed on the delivery documents. The signature page is then run through a high-speed Fujitsu scanner at the end of the day. Proof of delivery documents automatically indexed against the company line of business application is ready for retrieval, faxing and printing the next business day. Now the customer service and collection process is dramatically improved with real-time response to customer issues.