-Drastic Efficiency Improvement by immediate data access and focusing on more mission-critical tasks -Integration with current ERP to continue capitalizing on technology investments and work alongside processes

1. The Challenge
Cornwell Quality Tools has been manufacturing and distributing
tools since 1919, but the company has experienced rapid growth in
the last several years like it has never seen before. Providing tools to
franchisees throughout the continental U.S. and managing borrowers’
payments through the company’s Tech Credit department used to
mean filing and managing thousands of paper documents a month.
When Cornwell’s borrower portfolio doubled in size from 2011 to 2016,
it could have led to huge overhead costs just to pay for the staff to
file all that paper.
Luckily, Cornwell’s leadership deployed OnBase in 2012, so staff could
manage information without missing a beat.
“We’re on our sixth or seventh year of record growth. Having OnBase
makes growth possible without adding substantially to our head count.
We can do more with the same number of people.”
– Mickey Charlton, IT director
The Solution
With more than 40,000 loans involving 20,000 borrowers through 600
franchisees around the country, the sheer volume of documentation
that the company handled prior to implementing OnBase – from sales
contracts coming in through the mail to invoices arriving via email or
fax – required a system that could handle not just a lot of content, but
different types. Four years after getting its financing arm - the Tech
Credit department - off the ground, Cornwell implemented OnBase to
manage sensitive documentation like legal retention documents and
credit applications.
CUSTOMER
Cornwell Quality Tools
INDUSTRY
Manufacturing and distributing
SIZE
600 franchisees in 49 states
LOCATION
Headquartered in Wadsworth, Ohio
ONBASE INTEGRATIONS
MAS500 ERP application
Microsoft Outlook
DEPARTMENTS USING ONBASE
Tech Credit
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Customer Success Story | Manufacturer and distributor
Cornwell Quality Tools
Creating efficiencies and eliminating paper to keep up
with record growth

2. It didn’t take long for Accounts Receivable to benefit
from going paperless. The company used to send
weekly paper statements to dealers along with
associated invoices. Now, by integrating OnBase with
Cornwell’s existing ERP system, staff automatically
index statements into designated folders in OnBase.
They have eliminated the printing of those statements,
along with the manual filing process.
The Difference
Saves staff time: In five years, Cornwell’s portfolio of
active borrowers went from approximately 8,000 to
13,000. Not only can Tech Credit staff easily keep up
with the additional business, but leadership hasn’t
had to add to headcount. “It’s a better use of time for
our associates. They have instant information at their
fingertips when talking to borrowers,” said Nolan.
Creates efficiencies in everyday processes: Getting paper
from dealers and borrowers, filing it and making
information available to Tech Credit associates who
need to inquire about missed payments or answer
a question about a contract used to mean shuffling
through a lot of paper just to complete everyday
processes. “We used to have to say ‘We’ll find your file
and get back to you.’ Now, we have information right
here and now,” said Charlton.
Offers flexibility and future-proofing: Cornwell’s Human
Resources and Marketing departments will soon
implement OnBase to manage employee and benefits
documents and archive vendor information. Payroll
and Purchasing and Receiving will use OnBase to
eliminate manual, paper-based communication
between departments and streamline processes.
Learn more at OnBase.com »
“The paper handling was getting to be significant,
so we decided to look at an automated document
management system to get rid of all that paper,” said
Larry Nolan, manager of Tech Credit. “OnBase had
been in business for 20 years and could concentrate
on meeting our document management needs.”
Before OnBase, if a borrower called with a question
about a contract, staff would have to dig through
filing cabinets and sort through potentially several
years’ worth of contracts in order to find the
information they were looking for. Now, with a
few clicks, they can pull up all of that customer’s
documentation in a matter of seconds, which leads to
faster dispute resolution.
“When a borrower disputes something, we used to
have to copy all of his statements and then scan or
mail them out. Now, we just click on them and email
them over,” said Nolan.
After using OnBase in Tech Credit for a year, Cornwell
leadership saw the opportunity to transform the
paper-intensive Accounts Payable department.
Handling about 13,000 to 14,000 invoices per month,
AP receives these documents through their EDI, email
and regular mail. With the EDI and email, invoices are
pulled into the OnBase system – no printing required
– and any snail mail is scanned in.
“The efficiency alone and the savings from not having
to print all those invoices has been wonderful,”
said David Nist, treasurer. “We had a person in AP
who was spending half her time filing. Now she’s
doing other things that are more analytic and more
productive and of more benefit to the company.”
©2016 Hyland Software, Inc. All rights reserved. 2582-16
“Staff can spend time on vendor or dealer issues and have all
the information right there on their computer screens, so they
don’t have to chase that paper.”
– Mickey Charlton, IT director