A LOOK BACK
Knight Archer : A Look Back
By Carol Fisher
Knight Archer Insurance started as a small family insurance business some thirty years ago . At that time , there were only two employees . In 2006 when I started with the company , there were well over forty employees . Back then , Knight Archer already had a penchant for purchasing agencies . Three agencies had joined our insurance group before 2006 : Qu ’ Appelle Agencies , Quality Agencies , and Cottonwood Agencies . There were whispers of more expansion on the horizon .
In the meantime , we had lots of work to do . The computer system we used for policies was relatively new , and there were many kinks to work out , along with instructions to be prepared for each area of the system . Staff members had to deal with lots of growing pains , sometimes locking out their co-workers , causing tons of frustration .
And as a result of purchasing those three agencies , we experienced a backlog of policy documents that needed to be scanned into our computer system . It took a while but eventually got done and was worth the time and effort . Little did we know that our scanning days were far from over .
Changes were coming from our management team as well as SGI
Canada ’ s management team . Knight Archer was seeking a paperless system while SGI Canada was seeking a similar goal of having each of its policies available through its computer network . So all of our SGI commercial files needed to be scanned since retention of all policy documents is a requirement for the insurance industry .
As the scanning was coming to an end , or so I thought , lo and behold , Knight Archer purchased two more agencies ! This resulted in more scanning of policies , of course , and lots of additional work for everyone . More clients , more work . Knight Archer ’ s trend of purchasing and merging with other agencies continued , and now there are thirteen Knight Archer agencies throughout the province as well as an agency in Winnipeg . Our staff now comprise a team of approximately 160 persons , both brokers and motor licensing issuers , with each team member diligently performing his or her job , looking after our many clients .
SGI ’ s motor licensing department was going through its own transformation as its system , too , was in its infancy stage . The initial system had basic Windows applications that were easy to work with but had a few glitches . There were times when overloaded computers would crash or inefficient processes would cause frustration for clients as well as for motor licensing issuers . We all attended issuer training sessions regularly as new functionalities were added to the system .
There were two major updates to the SGI system that further stressed motor licence issuers . Oh , the long forms that had to be processed during these updates ! Customers needed to get plates and have their drivers licences processed even though the software system was not available . Long delays ensued , but finally , the required information was gathered , entered , and balanced .
Now , motor licensing runs quite smoothly . Licensing now occurs through the Internet , over the phone , and of course , in person at the counter . The current SGI system is quite a change from the “ olden days ” when everyone had to complete a four-part form and then send it off to the main office for processing . The registrations were done in the same way , but they were completed annually , unlike the one-month registrations that we can now do . Back then , we needed patience if we wanted to drive !
What will be the next mergers or purchases for Knight Archer Insurance ? Who knows ?
As for SGI , well , technology has come a long way . What ’ s around the bend , only time will tell . +
8