Company Delivers Documents that it Stores

Waterbury Republican-American
Sunday, September 05, 1999
By Joe Coombs

WATERTOWN- To the casual observer, a warehouse full of boxed paperwork doesn't spark a lot of interest. Just don't tell that to A.J. Wasserstein. "This is really a beautiful record center," said Wasserstein, as he walked through a storage area at ArchivesOne in Watertown. "From a business perspective, this is the way we like it. It's clean, quiet and boring."

Craig Ambrosio Republican American A.J. Wasserstein of ArchivesOne stands among a massive collection of boxes stored in the company's new building.

The name ArchivesOne tells you almost all you need to know about the business - it stores files, legal documents, medical records and contracts for companies with a penchant for piling up the paper.

Boring work? Maybe for some. But as company president, Wasserstein probably finds nothing dull about handling 500 clients and $2.6 million in annual sales.

"We basically hold the documents, and when the companies want them, we deliver them," said Wasserstein, 32. "Typically, the relationship lasts for a long time. Most of these companies, whether they're law firms, hospitals or insurance agencies, generate literally hundreds of thousands of records. And some just don't have the space to keep them on site."

That's OK, because ArchivesOne is in the business of making space. Within the next two weeks, a 40,000-square-foot addition to the company's 50,000-square-foot warehouse on Commercial Street in Watertown will be complete.

Wasserstein estimated that since sales have jumped 20 to 25 percent annually, the 40-foot high warehouse addition could be filled with stock in a short time.

"We think this is a four-year building," Wasserstein said. "That means, within four years, it will be 80 percent full. At that point, that leaves us about one year to think about what we'll do next."

Based on the company's rapid rate of growth, it might already be time to check the crystal ball. ArchivesOne started in a small building in Oxford in 1991, and within months, Wasserstein bought the Brown Place warehouse in Waterbury. Accounts kept coming in, and the company grabbed the Watertown property in 1997.

Craig Ambrosio Republican American Construction continues on a 40,000 square foot addition to the company's Watertown warehouse.

And the secret behind ArchivesOne isn't its massive storage space, but the delivery of the products inside. A fleet of eight vans makes about 50 trips a day to drop off medical records at hospitals, policies at insurance agencies and contracts at law offices.

When requests for paperwork come in from companies, orders are placed at one of ArchivesOne's warehouses. Those orders are programmed into hand-held scanners, which drivers keep in order to remember their itinerary for the day. Before they head out on the road, delivery workers scan the devices in front of bar codes located on the sides of boxes in the warehouse.

"That way, they know exactly what's on the delivery run," said Jim Kallipolites, vice president of operations. "They also have printers that can print receipts with activity records for each document, so they know exactly where the paperwork has been. Efficiency is really the key."

The hand-held scanners cost about $2,000 each, and the printers are $1,000 each. ArchivesOne has probably spent about $80,000 in the past four years on new technology to improve the business, Kallipolites said.

The company's high-tech equipment was cited for a silver Connecticut Innovation Prize, an honor bestowed annually at the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards. The scanner/printer combination was selected for improving accuracy and efficiency, and this year's award ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 6 at the Southbury Hilton.

More importantly in the delivery department, Kallipolites said, is that at least one driver is available 24 hours a day, and most local deliveries can be made within a half hour. "A lot of them won't need it until the next day, but we're here to serve them. If they're open at 3 a.m., so are we."

As one of ArchivesOne's first clients, Waterbury Hospital through the years has stored "a huge amount" of records with the firm, said Erik Wexler, the hospital's vice president of business development.

"They are a great convenience," Wexler said. "The best part is how quick they can retrieve the papers for our review. I'm sure that we interact with them in some fashion several times a day."

ArchivesOne's speedy and courteous service is a reflection of a satisfied workplace, Wasserstein said. The work force of 30 employees gets bonuses every six months, everyone is eligible for a $300 company contribution toward a computer purchase and workers are treated to congratulatory notes on their birthdays and company anniversaries.

"We hope that sort of thing transmits externally," Wasserstein said. "I want that good feeling to pass on to our customers."

For the future, Wasserstein said that there is plenty of room for growth beyond Connecticut (most of the firm's customers are located between Springfield, Mass. and White Plains, N.Y.). Even the advent of computerized operations in the past 10 years hasn't scared a man whose business thrives on paper production.

"Will this business be here for my grandchildren? I don't know," Wasserstein said. "But we don't hate computers. They're actually our best friend. They encourage people to print things out."