Insurance
FormScan and the Insurance Industry
American Family Insurance of Madison, Wisconsin, has automated its policy writing and
printing process through the form scanning, data dictionary and mainframe screen capture
facilities of FormScan by Graphics Development International (GDI). More than 2,000 forms
are now processed electronically. By entering a policy number and a form name, a user can
enter, retrieve or print a policy on any number of pages, printed double-sided, with
multipart copies. American Family is now printing 100,000 policies a month with this
electronic forms, which makes around 1 million pages a month.
The system was developed with FormScan, GDI's data dictionary and mainframe
capture system. Paper forms are scanned into the computer; then a template is made which
links the form to a data file on the mainframe. The data dictionary manages an average of
6,000 fields. As the user types policy information on the screen, data files are
automatically updated, and the information is printed directly onto the form. The paper
forms and the computer data files are thus managed in a single operation. Information
stored in the computer, such as agent name or the address of the insured, is filled in
automatically when the user selects a record key.
The FormScan Spooler prints all the forms with Lasermaster boards and HP
LaserJet II D printers on print servers connected to the file server. The 2,000 forms
occupy 250 megabytes of space on each print server.
Accounting Equipment of Madison, WI, supplies and services hardware for American
Family. They installed FormScan and three Novell networks of 150 users connected to
American Family's IBM mainframe with Attachmate 3270 boards. Scanned forms are linked to
data files and then made available to users for one-step form filling, data file update,
and forms printing. "We have chosen GDI among several vendors, including IBM, Wang,
and Lanier. The capabilities of FormScan and its portability made it the product of
choice," said Kay Gritzmacker, project manager. "A number of departments are
already planning to use FormScan for other applications."
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