Case Study: Alternatives in Engineering achieves efficient invoice processing and client growth with DocuWare

DocuWare Fuels Efficient Invoice Processing and Client Growth for Alternatives in Engineering

Alternatives in Engineering (AIE), a woman‑owned fire protection design, inspection and repair firm in Defiance, Missouri, handles over 23,000 support calls a year and was overwhelmed by paper: an average of 4–6 pages per call, 50,000 contractor invoices annually, frequent misfiling and manual packet routing that wasted staff time and required huge physical storage under a six‑year retention rule.

Working with DocuWare and partner Miken Technologies, AIE digitized and automated invoice processing — contractors email invoices, staff index them into DocuWare and an automated workflow routes review, payment and client invoicing. The company now stores about 3 million documents (roughly 588 four‑drawer file cabinets), finds records in seconds from office or remote locations, avoids lost files, saves significant time, has maintained a small skilled staff while growing client work, and is expanding DocuWare use across licensing, inspections and HR.

Alternatives in Engineering

Kati Smith

President