BLUE ASH - As business information gathering and storage inches toward a paperless trail, two local document management companies are combining skills to stay ahead of the technology curve.
In February, ProSource, which began business 25 years ago as Cincinnati Copiers, merged with docuVision, a company that specializes in software development and electronic workflow solutions.
DocuVision is now a division of ProSource, which hired all 10 docuVision employees and incorporated them into the company's Blue Ash headquarters, where 140 more people work. By uniting, the companies take advantage of each other's strengths, ProSource president Ben Russert says.
ProSource is one of the region's largest document imaging and information services companies, supplying multi-function scanning and copying equipment to more than 5,000 clients in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. DocuVision's expertise in developing software to manage e-documents will enable ProSource to increase business in that area, while docuVision gains access to the extensive equipment supply of ProSource.
"Now there are more electronic documents than ever," said Terry Wright, president of docuVision, which he helped found in 1994 using his background in computer networking. "Storing digital documents and paper in one place is the way of the future."
Bill Wilson, manager of information systems for the Wright-Patt Credit Union in Fairborn near Dayton, says the companies' combined services will help his business branches manage documents more efficiently.
"We will be able to scan documents and then have them directly indexed to our electronic archival system," says Wilson, a ProSource customer for several years. "A branch office can scan something on paper, and it will go to our central archival system (through docuVision's software)."
Russert, whose father David Russert was a founder of Cincinnati Copiers, declined to reveal revenue figures, but he says ProSource maintained steady sales even during the economic slump.
"We've had double-digit growth over the last five years," he says. He credits investment in marketing and training for employees.
"We keep a close eye on expenses," Russert adds. "We did some streamlining, but we did not let go of employees."
Growth will come as new digital technology helps companies secure vital records and comply with government regulations, Russert says.
He expects that docuVision will generate at least 20 percent of total company revenues in the next three years, compared to 10 percent today. By year's end, he expects to add four or five sales and technical jobs.
Eventually, Russert says, ProSource aims to expand out of Greater Cincinnati into more of the Midwest and beyond.
"There is opportunity for growth in new areas of the country," he says. "Primarily we will focus on the Midwest at this point."
http://news.cincinnati.com/art...ws%7Ctext%7CBusiness
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