CES Inc. closes Springfield office

Cutting Edge Solutions Inc., a Kansas City-based provider of document management systems, closed its Springfield office late last month in an effort to cut expenses and streamline operations.

"Anywhere we can trim expenses we are, and that's what happened in Springfield," said Jack Roberts, CES co-founder and vice president. "Our ability to go paperless allows our employees to do what they need to do and be home with their families."

CES had two employees working in the Springfield location, but Kim Inman, former CES account manager and team lead, left the company in December and now works as national sales manager at Springfield advertising firm Noble.

CES continues to serve local clients with Senior Systems Analyst Chris Bice on the ground.

CES, which was founded in 2001 and operates a regional office in Omaha, Neb., encourages companies to go paperless with its custom document management software. For instance, the company can help automate accounts payable departments so that clients' employees can keep a more accurate record of business transactions.

The software puts controls on documents so only those assigned to a job can see the related paperwork, and managers can set up virtual fingerprints on documents so they can see who has viewed them. These features work well for human resources managers and accountants who need to keep tight controls of documents for privacy reasons, CES officials say.

"This way, no one can walk into your office and see a sensitive file or dump your files accidentally," Roberts said.

The company's clients include Boeing, BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona, Hallmark, the city of Lawrence, Kan., Kansas City Board of Public Utilities, U.S Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Census Bureau, according to www.ces-inc.com. Locally, Johnston Industrial Supply Inc. has been a client since 2007.

"We needed document imaging," said Michael Smith, Johnston's director of operations. "We used to have a lot of paperwork files, and this solution lets us keep all of our records electronically, which eliminates a lot of manual labor."

Last October, CES entered a joint venture with Evado Solutions, a Denver-based document management company, that will allow CES to expand into the Denver market and utilize Evado's sales and marketing expertise, Roberts said.

Despite the country's economic downturn, Roberts said he is eager to build business in Springfield, and he said companies dealing with compliance issues and disaster recovery are key areas of growth.

"We are optimistic that people are needing to invest in their processes," Roberts said. "(Information technology) staffs are being stretched, and companies have to do the same amount of work with less people."