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Office of Agricultural Economics of Thailand Processes Vital Statistical Data with ABBYY FormReader

Office of Agricultural Economics of Thailand

Industry trends, economic development information and other current data are being readily accessed thanks to ABBYY’s form processing solution

Background

Thailand is one of the top worldwide exporters of agricultural goods. Rice is the country’s most important crop, while fish and fishery products, tapioca, rubber, grain, and sugar also contribute significantly to the country’s income.

Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) is the principal organization for collecting vital statistical data and conducting research studies related to the economic situation of Thai agriculture. The Office generates the following information: statistics on production and marketing of crops, livestock and fisheries; it collects data on factors that would potentially affect crop, such as climate, ecology, irrigation, etc. This data is vital in a sense that it is used to recommend the most effective development plans in the context of global market competition and consistent with wise and sustainable uses of natural resources.

Data collection is being done through surveys. OAE has 6 divisions throughout the country, with each division responsible for continuously conducting surveys related to different products. At times such as the season of crop, there can be over a million of pages with statistical data. All the information has to be shared among the 6 divisions, as well as other organizations, via a networked database.

Problem

Up until recently, OAE was using manual key-in to save all the survey data into their network. This approach did not only prolong delivery time, but also undermined the accuracy of input data and was labor-intensive, whereas it is essential for OAE to have access to the most current & highly accurate data for their decision-making. Hence, the choice was clear: manual data processing had to be upgraded to automation.

Solution

SDB Thailand, ABBYY’s partner in South-East Asia stepped in and proposed a solution to OAE: ABBYY FormReader – form processing software that had won numerous accolades worldwide for having delivered reliability, cost savings and significant cuts in data processing time. ABBYY FormReader 6.5 Enterprise Edition was proposed to be used in scanning, recognition, verification and export of data. Volume-wise, the OAE was looking at the capacity of processing 1.5 million pages per month.

The survey data was collected on several types of forms. As per SDB’s recommendation, ABBYY FormDesigner was used to design structured survey forms so that every image is mapped to the right template upon processing.

Hence, everyday, over 2,000 survey forms (4 to 5 pages each) are processed at each of the 6 divisions. Scanning is taking place remotely at each office, and then, the image files are transferred to the OAE Head Office in Bangkok for recognition, verification and export with ABBYY FormReader. SDB had recommended Bowe Bell+Howell Sidekick 1200 scanners (2 scanners per office). OAE is also taking advantage of the image enhancement technology, VRS (Virtual Rescan Software 4.0).

At the end of the processing cycle, the results are saved by FormReader to .CSV format files and then transferred to an Oracle database, where it is accessed by OAE executives. Additionally, the images are also being indexed by FormReader, and along with captured data, ultimately saved in Oracle.

Summary

After implementing the new solution, OAE achieved multiple efficiencies. First, it improved their employees’ working performance with reduction of tasks involving manual work. Furthermore, vital data is made available for OAE executives with minimal latency and maximum validity. With most up-to-date and accurate statistics at hand, OAE is able to forecast agricultural production, prices, assess impacts of natural calamities, and make other fundamental decisions benefiting the agricultural industry of Thailand.

Ratchapol Yoopraphat, Business Development Manager of Scientific Digital Business (Thailand) Ltd. thus summarized the success of this project and uniqueness of FormReader, "We were able to win the deal amongst other competitors because the performance of FormReader is incredible. ABBYY FormReader is the ultimate solution which well-suited all the requirements from OAE. ABBYY's solution applies built-in business rules for additional validation of statistical data, which is very advantageous for time-sensitive and voluminous projects."

About Office of Agricultural Economics of Thailand (OAE)
The mission of OAE is to be a principal organization in undertaking economic and social research and other studies including monitoring and evaluation for the purposes of agricultural policy recommendations, and agricultural development planning in the context of world market competition, consistent with wise and sustainable uses of natural resources; and also in collecting and efficiently disseminating accurate and up-to-date statistical information. For more information visit http://www.oae.go.th/

Scientific Digital Business (SDB) a leading provider of the best of the breeds Technology-based products, services and solutions in the DOCUMENT IMAGING and STORAGE arena since 1989.We are currently the only Independent Document Imaging and Storage Connectivity Provider in Asia. We offer quality technology coupled with utmost integrity in our dealing with our customers and the manufacturers we represent.