Canal Barge Automates 60,000+ Invoices Without Adding Staff
Canal Barge
Canal Barge Company is a privately owned marine transportation provider founded in 1933 and headquartered in New Orleans. Serving global energy, industrial, and government organizations, the company is known for operational excellence, long-term partnerships, and a strong commitment to safety.
Industry
Marine Transportation
Challenge
Accounts Payable generated 300,000 to 500,000 paper documents a year, with limited visibility into invoice status and growing storage demands.
Results
Hyland OnBase automated invoice processing, giving real-time visibility and supporting 20% billing growth without adding administrative staff.
Solutions
Outcomes
60,000+
Invoices processed automatically each year
20%
Billing growth supported with no added AP staff
Overview
As Canal Barge expanded, Accounts Payable generated between 300,000 and 500,000 paper documents annually, creating inefficiencies, storage concerns, and limited visibility into invoice processing. DataBank implemented a digital document management and workflow solution using Hyland OnBase, helping Canal Barge automate invoice processing, improve reporting and accessibility, and support continued business growth without increasing administrative resources.
Challenges
Processing 300,000–500,000 paper documents annually across financial operations
Limited visibility into invoice status and approval workflows
Manual routing slowed processing and increased administrative burden
Growing document storage requirements created facility expansion concerns
Needed scalable processes to support continued business growth
Implementation
Assess Existing Processes
DataBank evaluated Accounts Payable workflows, document volumes, approval processes, and integration requirements to identify automation opportunities and scalability needs.
Implement OnBase Platform
The team deployed Hyland OnBase to centralize document management, automate invoice capture, and eliminate paper-dependent approval workflows.
Integrate Business Systems
DataBank integrated OnBase with Lawson Financials, enabling automated vendor validation, invoice indexing, and streamlined approval processing.
Enable Reporting and Access
Stakeholders gained real-time visibility through dashboards, reporting tools, and secure access from desktop, web, and mobile devices.
Support Long-Term Adoption
Following the six-month implementation, DataBank continued supporting expansion into additional departments and document management use cases.
Key Takeaways
What started as an Accounts Payable project became a decade-long digital transformation, and the AP team never grew.
Paper Out Of Finance
Between 300,000 and 500,000 documents a year moved off paper and into OnBase
Visibility On Demand
Dashboards and mobile access replaced chasing approval status by phone and email
Growth Without Headcount
20% more billing absorbed by the same Accounts Payable team
Expansion Avoided
Digital storage removed the need for costly facility expansion
Results
Client Experience
“From the very beginning, DataBank helped us create these solutions. It was a new area for us, imaging and workflow concept was completely new, so they were very helpful in helping us map out our processes in the beginning and understand really what are we dealing with and what are we trying to do.”
Ada Boutchard
Controller, Canal Barge
View Full Case Study
Learn how Canal Barge partnered with DataBank to address a critical challenge and deliver measurable results. This case study provides a clear overview of the problem, the solution, and result.
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