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Government organisation UWV sorts out citizen experience with just-in-time processing
Customer Success Stories
With around 22,000 staff, Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen (UWV) collaborates closely with municipalities, employers and other organisations throughout the Netherlands to promote employment and reduce reliance on social security benefits.
Industry
Government agency
Challenge
Based in the Netherlands, UWV government department was seeking a cost-effective way to unify inhouse and external document archiving while maintaining strict privacy and regulatory compliance.
Solution
Iron Mountain® records management service including document prioritisation, collection, indexing, packaging, secure off-site storage and retrieval.
Value
- Faster processing of benefit claims and payments.
- 20% to 30% cost saving.
- Several archivists redeployed to more fulfilling roles.
- Less risk of information over-retention.
- Assured continuity of governance and compliance.
Helping citizens get back on their feet
With around 22,000 staff, Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen (UWV) collaborates closely with municipalities, employers and other organisations throughout the Netherlands to promote employment and reduce reliance on social security benefits. A role that proactively helps job seekers transition back into the workplace through placement support and retraining programmes.
Efficient records management is crucial to achieving these goals. Over the course of the year UWV manages several million sensitive documents related to work histories, health status, previous claims, welfare services and other factors.
Blended physical and digital records strategy
Good progress with scanning projects had seen UWV digitise some 2.5 million documents over the previous 12 months.
However, because the agency is legally required to retain many physical files, daily operations are unlikely to ever be completely paperless. Previously, those paper files were distributed across different UWV buildings and external storage partner facilities, resulting in limited access and delays retrieving records.
With paper volumes constantly growing and archiving space fast diminishing, the agency launched a rigorous competitive tender process. The proposal from Iron Mountain® was chosen based on invaluable criteria.
Jennifer Kortzorg, Contracts and Supplier Manager at UWV, explained, “Along with a proven track record Iron Mountain scored highest in the areas that mattered most, such as quality, price, and compliance and security certifications. Subsequent meetings were positive, and they clearly listened to and understood our requirements.”
Along with a proven track record Iron Mountain scored highest in the areas that mattered most, such as quality, price, and compliance and security certifications.
Taking care of all the heavy lifting
As part of an outsourced records management service, Iron Mountain specialists oversee around 340,000 boxes holding 6.8 million paper files, 1.55 million of which are due to be destroyed after audit.
“They took care of everything, dealing with transfers from another vendor and expertly indexing our archived records,” said Herman de Vries, Business Controller at UWV. “Now, using the Iron Mountain Connect hub, we can run detailed reports within few clicks, or request a file and it’s delivered within 24 hours.”
Document tracking has been one of the biggest transformations. Unlike before, administrators can clearly see which files have been recalled, by whom and for how long. That person can then be contacted to act and return the documents to archive, enabling information to be more easily shared across other agencies and UWV departments.
“We see the need to retrieve files reducing over time with digitisation,” added Kortzorg. “And the 20% to 30% financial saving we’ve achieved by consolidating with Iron Mountain can be used to accelerate future scanning projects.”
Fast, accurate and secure operations
Almost 1.2 million Dutch citizens depend on the agency for their income. They can rest assured knowing all employment and benefits records are correctly categorised, registered and safely stored in one place. In turn, reducing delays in retrieving, reviewing and updating documents.
“It’s vital that staff are able to quickly locate the correct information, enabling timely application processing, decision- making and service delivery,” said De Vries. “Especially when dealing with sensitive cases, or handling appeals and disputes. That’s exactly what Iron Mountain gives us.”
Another success of the project was redeploying several UWV archiving staff to more fulfilling roles. In addition, the agency has reduced the cost and risk of over-retaining documents that could be destroyed. Similarly, it is better able to scale storage needs, while assuring information governance as well as full compliance with GDPR and other regulations.
“Efficient document management means citizen inquiries can be answered more quickly and accurately,” concluded De Vries. “Our staff can view relevant paperwork easily, which improves response times and enhances the overall citizen experience.”
It’s vital that staff can quickly locate the correct information, enabling timely application processing, decision-making and service delivery. Especially when dealing with sensitive cases, or handling appeals and disputes. That’s exactly what Iron Mountain gives us.