More than a year ago, the state Department of Agriculture's Plant Industry and Consumer Services division was up to its limit in paperwork, and the piles were only continuing to grow.

Employees would spend days searching for archived applications and investigations in a division where consumer protection is of utmost importance. But now, all of their files are at the tips of their fingers, taking seconds to find.

With the help of Edmond-based Business Imaging Systems, the division has become almost completely digital, scanning in all the paperwork and then shredding the overload.

Division Director Sancho Dickinson said the technology to digitize the paper-collecting process has been available for years, but budget restrictions kept him from using the company until April 2004.

Though the upgrades have cost almost $100,000, Dickinson said, in the long run, the division will save that amount and more in manpower alone, in addition to saving on paper costs.

He estimates that having the paperwork in a digital format allows his employees to place entire files onto a compact disk when the information is requested by outside parties, saving the department between $400 and $500 per box of copies.

Dickinson said he hopes to be able to continue the project so that license forms can be web-based, allowing consumers more access to a company's profile and giving companies an easier way to apply and pay for licenses.

"We would like to tie all these things together all across the board," he said.

Before the upgrades, different licenses held by one company were stored separately, but now the information is cross-referenced to provide employees and consumers with additional facts.

Tony Lugafet, Business Imaging Systems vice president, said many state agencies have adopted similar content management systems.