How they digitalize the requests?

Purchased empty car dealerships, long delivery times for the cars and a huge paper mountain. The environmental bonus of the federal government has not only the car market revived, but at the same time, the responsible Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) is before a major challenge. How can hundreds of thousands of applications quickly and smoothly handle? The solution comes from the Deutsche Post: It digitizes all incoming application documents with InoTec high-performance scanners and shall make this available electronically the Authority. "We scan 6:00 to 16:00 clock and 5 days a week," explains Holger Schattke, the head of the Business Digital Inbox Service (DIPS)of Deutsche Post. The effort is worthwhile: to shorten processing times, increased service quality and reduced process costs.

Digitizing station, Frankfurt am Main - container vessel to arrive - all brimming with items for scrapping bonus. Thanks to direct recipient zip code, the applications going directly into the digital station of the Deutsche Post - average about 10,000 per day. Play begins and for the staff a battle against the clock, because at the end of the workday, all documents are properly recorded and electronically retrievable for the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA).

Huge volumes of paper
It all began on 27 January 2009, the official starting gun for the application of environmental bonus. 2,500 euros each Federal waving citizens, be at least nine years old car and disposed of to ensure a new vehicle. A total of 1.5 billion euros, the Federal Government as a first step for the economic activity registered an increase, however, is already decided.
Responsible for the settlement, the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA). They threatened a gigantic flood of paper. Each operation includes all the necessary documents, including 10-12 pages. For computationally 600,000 applications in the first phase would be about 6 million sheets of paper in the BAFA mail room stacked.
"Our own capacity could such a large project in such a short time is difficult to manage," commented Joachim Niebling, organization staff in BAFA.

Modern digitization infrastructure
For all questions relating to the inbox processing therefore requires the Authority since 2006 on the Deutsche Post. As part of the system solution business letter, the Deutsche Post group offers a service to digitize input programs and documents.
  "We are capable of in the shortest time even very large mail volumes to convert in electronic documents", explains Holger Schattke. To stop the service promise, the company provides in Germany a network of digital stations that are equipped with InoTec scanners and the latest detection technology.
Deutsche Post is working with the BAFA during the digitization of grant applications for renewable energies together successfully. This partnership has now expanded the environmental bonus.
Joachim Niebling of BAFA sees several advantages: "By cooperating with Deutsche Post ease our post office receipt of the high volume and we have no need to worry as much applications of the date received. That takes care of the partners. And works very reliably." Simultaneously, the BAFA a shorter treatment duration realize, because the early data are available electronically.

High scan requirements
Meanwhile, the employees of digitizing station register the tanks on the PC, open the envelops and prepared the applications for the scanning, unstapled, sort and prepare the batch.
The application form contains two barcodes. The one used for the separation of the individual applications, the other to identify, i.e. to what applications are involved: the environment or renewable energy bonus. The individual batches, each with about 50 items will be in the next step in the scan-jobs over the heart of the digitization infrastructure. They are equipped with InoTec high-performance scanners the 4xx series.

The scan requirements are very high. The scanner must be capable of heterogeneous paper - from the response cards to carbonless paper - safe, fast and reliable way. Another important criterion is the use of the robustness of the scanner. "Flexibility is our top priority, so we also can mitigate power peaks. In practical operation, it is therefore time to time and again, the scanner from one location to another to transport, since it helps that the InoTec models are solid processed," explains Holger Schattke.
As a further plus point he describes the easy operation and maintenance of the scanner. "The team lead basic services such as the swapping of roles and bands by themselves. This increases the operating time and saves money", Holger Schattke added.

Fast and efficient
Today, the paper volume is very high, all four scanner digitalize at full speed. Stack of the applications will disappear in the feeder system of the scanner and will be fast - over 100 pages per minute – transformed in an electronic format.
Is scanned in black and white at 200 dpi resolution. Each document in the scanner is gets a stamp from the integrated endroser, indicating the date and location as well as a document ID. This stamp will be shown at each scanned image. In this way, the documents clearly assigned and, if necessary, be found quickly. The images then go through a quality control on the screen.

The entire digitization process runs quickly and efficiently, so the BAFA gets the electronic documents on the same day. The BAFA takes the images directly into their document management system, the processing of applications begins immediately, the business is leaner and faster. Another positive side effect: the BAFA is timely to citizens on its own website at www.bafa.de on the number of requests received for information. The original documents are provided by the Deutsche Post and temporarily released by the BAFA destroyed.

Well prepared
Holger Schattke can work with the digitization of the teams very satisfied. Until the closing of the old procedure on 31 March for the BAFA 435,544 digitized applications. At the peak there were 25,000 in one day, said a BAFA spokesman to the media.
An digitization work will enable the employees in the coming months does not suffice. The federal government has already announced the scrapping and extend until the end of the year. And the new online procedure is also not a big reduction in the volume of paper. Because the vast majority of the documents must remain in paper form.
"We are well prepared for the future" after the visit to the digitizing station is the optimism of Holger Schattke very well.