Document management specialist celebrates fifth anniversary of working with The Portsmouth International Port

Innovative tech company, Filestream, is celebrating its fifth anniversary of working with The Portsmouth International Port – the country’s biggest municipal seaport.

The Berkshire-based company started working with the team in Portsmouth in 2019 when it was decided that their historic document management system was not fit for purpose.

Paperwork for a port which deals with cargo and passengers every single year is vital for its smooth operation – yet managing that paperwork, even online, can be a challenge.

“We had a system in place for more than a decade and increasingly it didn’t meet our needs,” said Julie Shotbolt, finance and commercial specialist for the port.

“It had basically become an electronic filing cabinet which was clunky and we just didn’t have ‘buy-in’ from staff because of that. We found that while some of our team – admin, finance etc – would use the system, other members would not because it was not user-friendly. Therefore they would either print physical copies or ask someone else to manage it for them. That was becoming increasingly time-consuming and, frankly, inefficient.”

Filestream submitted a tender for the document management project and were the successful bidder. Their software has since supported the port and its various teams in keeping paperwork online, safe, secure and easily accessible. Julie brought in a specialist to work with the port and its contractors to implement the system across all areas of business.

Paul Day, technical director, said: “It’s been an honour to work with Julie and team to install our system and then flex it to the port’s very specific needs. While the pandemic did slow things up for all of us, we soon got back on track and we now work in partnership to ensure that much of the vital back office paperwork is managed in a compliant and efficient manner.”

There have been several benefits for the port which have emerged over the last five years.

Julie said: “We know with confidence that our documents are better protected both from cyber risks and in being compliant with GDPR. We also have a vital automatic retention schedule which allows us to keep essential documents for a specific period and safely deletes documents that are no longer required.

“The workflow is much better and that has meant we’ve got rid of silly delays which had become endemic previously around things like ‘approval’ and other matters. This saves time and is more efficient.”

The Berkshire-based firm with companies up and down the UK and last year won the Low Code/No Code award for its product, Filestream 5 at the prestigious Document Manager Awards. It is the third time Filestream has seen success at the awards and the second win for its software which is a Cloud-based system that enables businesses to effectively manage documentation in the most efficient and secure way possible, saving time and money and enabling paper-free working.

Filestream as a company has evolved significantly since it was established as one department of an office equipment company in 2003 and now supports many larger international firms including worldwide cruise companies, Scania and logistics giant, Culina Group.