As U.S. Census Kicks Off, ibml Document Scanning Technology Plays Integral Role In Capturing Data

As the Census Bureau kicks off its $300 million campaign to coax the nation's residents to fill out their once-a-decade census forms, ibml technology will play an integral role in the complex task of accurately and efficiently scanning the returned forms.

The Constitution requires a national head count every 10 years to draw congressional districts and to distribute Electoral College votes to the states. Congress uses the count to distribute more than $400 billion each year in federal aid to state, local and tribal governments. Census data is also used by government agencies and private companies to locate pools of skilled workers, determine where schools and hospitals should be placed and to trace victims of disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"The demographic information the census gathers has a tremendous impact on the allotment of national financial resources and political representation," said ibml President Derrick Murphy. "Not surprisingly, it is a tremendous undertaking with no margin for error."

The census generates more than 90 million forms, all of which must be processed within 90 days of receipt. Census forms consist of an 8.5" x 11" booklet and 11.5" x 25" short forms. Once gathered, all of the forms must be scanned so the information can be analyzed, applied and archived. The information must be handled carefully to ensure no errors result from mis-feeds, double-feeds, creasing or other problems. If data is misread or illegible, census results could be skewed.

Ensuring that all census data collection, processing and analysis is done accurately is the job of the Decennial Response Integration System (DRIS) program led by Lockheed Martin. Guided by its uncompromising requirements for accuracy, throughput and image quality, Lockheed Martin conducted an extensive evaluation of document scanning solutions that could meet stringent standards and easily integrate into Lockheed Martin's system architecture for the DRIS program.

Lockheed Martin's evaluation included a four-month test that duplicated real-world operations, using actual operators and the types of forms and volumes the scanners would process for the census.

During the rigorous testing, ibml's scanners outperformed the competition, coming in first in each of the categories that Lockheed Martin evaluated: operational issues, image quality, technical features and business considerations. ibml scanners stood apart for their visual representation, automated recognition, consistency and double-feed prevention and detection. What's more, ibml's scanners scored well for their ability to handle and transport paper without damage or marking, both of which can make it harder for downstream systems to interpret data on the documents.

"With the Census Bureau spending over $300 million to convince the nation's residents to fill out their census forms, and so much riding on the information the census turns up, accurately capturing the data from the returned forms is imperative. It must be done right the first time," Murphy said.

"While few business applications can match the scope or schedule of the census, every business can benefit from the image quality and operational efficiencies provided by ibml document scanning solutions," he concluded.

About ibml
ibml provides intelligent scanning and document capture solutions that drive business process improvements from the point of capture—whether it's a high-volume centralized operation or a remote office. Combining hardware, software and services, ibml's comprehensive solutions automate the most demanding document applications in banking, financial services, healthcare, government services, outsourcing and more. Every day, hundreds of ibml customers across 39 countries use our technology to capture millions of document images.

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