It’s fair to say that Eric Haas, president and CEO of Automated Records Management Systems (A.R.M.S.), De Pere, Wis., shares the philosophy of Lou Holtz, the famed college football coach, who said: “In this world you’re either growing or you’re dying, so get in motion and grow.”
When Haas, who formerly worked in various roles with The Newark Group, an integrated producer of 100-percent-recycled paperboard and paperboard products, bought A.R.M.S. from his uncle in 2008, the company’s yearly revenue was less than $1 million. Seven years later, Haas says he has grown A.R.M.S. “significantly,” adding services, sometimes through acquisitions, that have helped to contribute to the company’s bottom line.
Customer Cues
Haas looks to his clients to determine the services his company offers. “Providing the services our clients need and want is a driving force in deciding what services we provide,” he says. “At A.R.M.S. we offer customized solutions for any business or organization in managing information.”
The company serves small businesses to Fortune 500 firms, Haas says, including clients in the banking and financial, legal, health care, engineering, insurance, communications, education, real estate, retail, manufacturing and government sectors.
“For our clients, their main focus is not records management but having organized and accurate business information,” he says. “Our information management and protection services allow our clients to focus on day-to-day business operations and revenue-generating activities instead of concentrating on what to do and how to manage their information.”
Among the services A.R.M.S. offers are records storage and management, National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) AAA certified on-site records destruction, data protection and vaulting and service bureau scanning and document management. Haas says records management accounts for 35 percent of the company’s overall business, while imaging, data vaulting and shredding each represent roughly 22 percent of the business.
A.R.M.S. has upwards of 1 million boxes in storage at its De Pere records management facility and serves roughly 3,000 clients, Haas says. However, with the proliferation of electronic information, data protection and vaulting services also are an important component of the company’s services. “Critical business information is dependent on electronic systems, and A.R.M.S. takes an active approach to protecting, controlling and managing electronics information for businesses so they can function in day-to-day operations,” Haas says. “A.R.M.S. provides off-site managed solutions for backup of electronic media and to facilitate disaster recovery services for businesses to ensure quick recovery and ongoing security.”
The company’s service bureau scanning and document management services also have grown in recent years. “A.R.M.S. operates an expansive document service bureau,” Haas says. “Facilitating integrated document management solutions such as daily mail room functions to large back-scanning projects, the team at A.R.M.S. has the infrastructure to handle processing of over a million images per day.”
Haas says the company’s tactic with scanning involves understanding its clients’ needs and the most cost-effective applicable approach.
With A.R.M.S.’ emphasis on providing “information management from inception through destruction,” the company naturally offers secure destruction services. These services are provided on site using a fleet of six shred trucks, Haas says. The company can destroy paper documents, microfilm and microfiche, diskettes, magnetic tape and X-rays, disposing of the material in a secure and environmentally friendly manner, he adds.
Group Effort Eric Haas, president and CEO of Automated Records Management Services (A.R.M.S.), De Pere, Wis., says trying to juggle the many responsibilities of being an entrepreneur can be challenging. “From working on the business while needing to work in the business to financing and expanding, there is always a balancing act,” he says. “I try to focus on the things that are needed for the business to grow and succeed and rely on our outstanding company leaders who work together to get the job done for our customers.” Haas says he is most proud of the continual growth of his company and its associates as well as the many thanks A.R.M.S. receives from its customers. He adds that the company has a low attrition rate, with members of the management team having an average tenure of 13 years, while hourly employees have an average tenure of seven years. Haas attributes this longevity to A.R.M.S.’ interview process and employee training programs. |
Haas says he has focused on offering on-site destruction services to avoid destroying information in his storage facility because of the potential for fire. “It made the most sense for our clientele and the company’s mission,” he adds.
To grow its presence in the destruction sector, A.R.M.S. acquired K-tech Kleening Systems Inc. of Weston, Wis., in 2011 and Security Shredders Inc., Seymour, Wis., in 2010.
Haas says mobile shredding allows a client’s representative to view the destruction of his or her company’s documents and shortens the chain of custody. “The opportunity for a breach is lessened,” he says. “The more you can mitigate risk for a client, the better off your client is in the end.”
A.R.M.S. sells its shredded paper direct to a local paper mill.
Haas says he sees growth opportunities across all of the services A.R.M.S. offers. “There is plenty of untapped potential for all information management services. It all comes down to uncovering opportunities.”
He adds that such opportunities exist with vended and unvended customers alike. “It comes down to what you have to offer a potential client, price notwithstanding,” Haas says. “Service is something that people desire. Lowest price isn’t necessarily lowest cost.”
Opportunities and Issues
Haas says he is certain the generation of paper records is declining; however, he’s less certain about how far or fast the decline will be. Nonetheless, this trend presents opportunities in digital information management that A.R.M.S. is positioning itself to take advantage of. “It’s important that you look at all sources of potential opportunities within a business,” he says. “If you’re not growing, you’re shrinking. Things evolve, and you need to be astute enough to keep yourself moving forward,” Haas adds.
Despite this evolution, the best opportunities for provider and client alike may be in older, tried-and-true digital storage methods. “People like to talk about the cloud, but the tried and true is still meaningful,” Haas says of tape storage, which he describes as a “reliable and inexpensive” form of backup.
Haas does see opportunities related to digital imaging, however, particularly by offering services that help clients process information more quickly, contributing to their efficiency. A.R.M.S. works with its clients’ accounts payable departments, for instance, to facilitate the processing of invoices, which helps its clients take advantage of discounts for timely payments.
Haas says the key to addressing clients’ or prospects’ issues related to business information lies in asking questions. He says A.R.M.S. takes a consultative approach to sales and works closely with customers’ human resources, accounts receivable and accounts payable departments to determine their pain points during the normal course of business.
Numerous solutions often present themselves, he says, adding that it is important to determine how the clients’ dollars can be spent most effectively.
Regulatory compliance also has become a normal part of business for A.R.M.S. and many of the clients the company serves. Haas says, “We see that continued compliance issues are at the forefront of the industry and it is upon us to help educate our customers as to what they should be doing to ensure they are compliant going forward.”
He stresses the importance of a signed business associate agreement (BAA) as it pertains to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), saying it is in a records and information management firm’s best interest to have a proper BAA in place. Haas says A.R.M.S. was asked to sign a number of BAAs that placed a level of liability on the company that was not acceptable nor required by HIPAA. In such cases, he says, A.R.M.S. refused to sign the BAA and worked to draft an acceptable agreement with its customers and legal counsel. “There was some education that needed to happen,” he adds.
New Normal
Haas says business conditions are competitive throughout the various vertical services within A.R.M.S.’ business portfolio. The recovering economy, changing regulatory landscape and evolution of information combine to create what he terms the “new normal” for the information management sector.
“You have to make calls and find opportunities,” Haas says. “That is no different when the economy is good or bad.
“As a result of the recession, business cut back for a while,” he continues. “But now that the economy is picking back up, businesses are once again seeing the value of investing in their business practices.”
Haas adds, “Throughout the recession, we continued to reach out to our customers and perspective clients to provide them information and services and worked with them to help them through the downturn. That is paying off as the economy recovers and they turn to us for additional services.”
He says A.R.M.S. will work to stay on top of regulations and emerging trends within the records and information management industry. “A.R.M.S. will continue to add services and technology to better meet the needs of existing and new customers. We also continue to look at acquisitions for growth as we have done in three of the past five years and we see every one of them as a positive experience.”
The author is editor of Storage & Destruction Business magazine and can be contacted at dtoto@gie.net.
Photos: Kiar Olson
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