Lucky's Trailer was struck by tragedy when hurricane Irene hit Vermont. The disaster caused Lucky's to lose all their paperwork – invoices, P.O.s, personnel records, receipts, everything – due to worst flooding in 83 years.
Headquartered right in the middle of Vermont, at the confluence of the White River and mountain tributaries, Lucky’s was ravaged by coursing floodwaters. The facility, with over 100 vehicles and trailers, was under three and a half feet of water. Down the road, the high school had water four feet high. The Perley-Severance Farm lost 25 cows and seven vehicles, including the farm tractor. The region was hit hard.
“For two weeks we were out of business,” said John Van Vught, Lucky’s financial and systems analyst. “Documents were gone – we had to pry them out of file cabinets. There was a huge dumpster for all the paper, damaged equipment, and sodden carpeting.”
Business had been good. In 1986, dairy farmer Russell “Lucky” Dimmick had begun to acquire a line of construction trailers. Sales rose quickly and within five years the family had hired a staff and outgrown its Randolph Center Farm. With more business and more trailers, the business moved to South Royalton, with a 10-acre lot and a log cabin for an office.
Business continued to flourish. Lucky and his family established a strong reputation for honest sales and service throughout Vermont. In 1997, the business expanded again. The family took on an adjacent lot and constructed their current headquarters – a beautiful spot close to the White River.
Disaster recovery is all about risk management. The cost of ignoring disasters can be very high, including total collapse of the enterprise. The recovery of critical business data in the wake of a disaster poses a major obstacle for most businesses. In a recent survey by Iron Mountain, 68% of sampled businesses saw disaster recovery as their biggest business challenge. Only 44% successfully recovered their information after a recent event.
Lucky’s had the original vision over 30 years ago: create a one-stop, full-service truck and trailer business to represent some of the greatest names in trucks, trailers, plows and attachments. Today, a simple glance of their line card will confirm their continued dedication to this principle of quality, durability and dependability.
"DocuPhase is very user-friendly. It took minutes, not hours, for our employees to learn how to use it. "
John Van Vught Financial and System Analyst
Lucky’s learned that DocuPhase Document Management is an easy- to-use yet highly robust browser-based system for accessing and managing critical documents and images. It would mean the end of vast files of paper. But more importantly, it would enable the folks in sales, service, operations and administration to gain great efficiency. The decision was carefully considered.
"We knew we did not want to get caught again," said Van Vught.
The DocuPhase system was quickly and easily set up - it's typically 75% faster than traditional solutions. Lucky's had two implementation options: store all their document in a local in-house server or as a Cloud Computing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). They chose the simplicity and reliability of the cloud technology.
“It’s very user-friendly,” Van Vught said. “It took minutes, not hours, for our employees to learn how to use it. The hardest part was getting over the natural reluctance to destroy all that paper. For years and years, we’d been chained to that paper cycle.”
But they quickly gained confidence as the collaborative value of the DocuPhase system became apparent.
New processes were easily implemented without any disruption. “Documents are accessed easier now. Daily routines are far more efficient. There is a significant productivity gain,” said Van Vught. “We’ve also found that auditors, with their requirements for lots of documents, are easily satisfied now.”
Just a few months after Vermont’s rare hurricane, Lucky’s Trailers has six sales and 15 administrators online with access to documents that were piled up on desks or buried in file cabinets. Soon, they’ll bring their second location, just up the highway in Colchester, online too.
You certainly wouldn’t feel fortunate if all your critical documents were destroyed by flooding, fire, tornados, hurricanes, theft – any disaster. Think of the lost business, the compliance issues, the legal risks. But consider the confidence you’d have if all your information assets were protected. You’d probably consider yourself very lucky.
Overview Lucky's Trailer was struck by tragedy when hurricane Irene hit Vermont. The ...
Overview Lucky's Trailer was struck by tragedy when hurricane Irene hit Vermont. The ...
Overview Lucky's Trailer was struck by tragedy when hurricane Irene hit Vermont. The ...
