Insights from 25 Years in Business

Since 1983, Crown has been serving the needs of Records Management professionals around the world. Today, Crown manages business records across 50 countries, operating from over 200 Management Centers. Having grown to become the number one private company in this field, Crown manages over 20 million cubic feet of cartons. If these cartons were set down in a line, end to end, there would be a line of cartons over 4,000 miles long—that’s longer than the Great Wall of China.

A Bit of History...

Crown Records Management is a division of the Crown Worldwide Group which was established in Japan by a young American named Jim Thompson. It was in 1965 and Mr. Thompson, with a US $1,000 investment, was determined to give the company a name that was easily recognizable, elegant and classy. He eventually decided on Crown Pacific. Over the years, Crown prospered through hard work and a focus on quality service and in line with the growth, by the mid 1990s, was known as Crown Worldwide.

The original colors of Crown Pacific were red and black. Crown has kept these colors but, over time, placed more emphasis on the red and eventually dropped the black. The logo always features the crown symbol with twenty dots. Why twenty dots? That is still a mystery today and one that Jim Thompson, chairman of the Crown Worldwide Group, can reveal.

Expanding into Records Management...

In 1983, when Crown realized there was a profound need for a company to help manage the explosion of physical and electronic business information, it used its experience in secure storage, on-time delivery and tracking technology to offer traditional records management services including storage, indexing and destruction of records. The new division was named Crown Records Management.

Throughout its history, the records management industry has experienced the effects of external influences. From new technologies, an abundance of regulations, the emergence of data privacy issues, a shrinking world and most recently, environmental causes, the industry and Crown Records Management have continued to adapt and adjust.

The Rise of Records Regulations...

While government, legal and healthcare entities have traditionally maintained a disciplined approached to records management, most other industries were less regimented. In 2001, the Enron/Anderson scandal triggered increased interest among corporations to take records management more seriously. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 established new and enhanced standards for U.S. companies to strengthen corporate accounting controls and established criminal penalties for manipulation, destruction or alteration of financial records—all of which required more standardization of records management practices within an organization.

With the media spotlight on the industry, records management experienced an abrupt change. Managing information shifted from what many perceived to be a very low administrative task to a critical function affecting the entire staff with accountability designated to the most senior levels of the organization. The need to access business information in real-time grew in line with the emphasis on regulation. Businesses looked to information management suppliers like Crown for consultancy services, retention policy counseling, offsite storage solutions, escrow services and destruction policies.

Data Privacy...

The increased use of the Internet and the resulting prevalence of identity theft resulted in the Data Privacy Act (DPA) of 1998, with the European Union acting on the need for enforceable data privacy laws. A set of rules were created to govern how personally identifiable information is stored and used, and was adapted in many other countries, including the United States. This option created a “Safe Harbor” for those U.S. organizations that wanted to exchange data with E.U. countries freely. With Safe Harbor, any organization that was certified as having complied with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s provisions of data privacy were deemed to have Safe Harbor with the E.U. data privacy directive. When an organization voluntarily certifies itself to Safe Harbor, it has agreed to follow the provisions of information handling and held responsible for adhering to those principles.

Data Privacy also became an issue of interest for records management professionals. Their role had traditionally been primarily to protect an organization’s records but the growing need to ensure that individual’s information was maintained and destroyed appropriately, brought a greater focus to retention schedules and destruction policies.

In 2004, as a result of these changes, Crown became a member of Safe Harbor. The staff members of the Crown Worldwide Group, including Crown Records Management, manage confidentially according to the customers’ requests and in accordance with the rules specified by Safe Harbor.

A Global Economy Emerges...

The global economy has been growing at a rapid pace, opening up foreign investments and double digit growth in developing markets around the world. India and China led the way, followed by the flourishing markets of Brazil, Russia and Vietnam. The Middle East is thriving and foreign direct investment is having a direct impact on the economies of Africa. All of this growth has shifted the way organizations are looking at how they manage their business information.

The investment records management professionals are making in standardized processes in their American, European or Asian Headquarters are being rolled out into the developing countries. Similar to many other industries, they are seeing the value in developing global and regional processes and relying on global and regional records management providers to help them educate and implement their policies around the world. Crown has been leveraging its already established network to meet the needs of its global clients, and is currently evaluating the value of reward and loyalty programs.

The Myth of the Paperless Office...

No one knows the exact origin of the term “paperless office” but it was recorded in a copy of the U.S. magazine Business Week in 1975–32 years ago. At that time it was predicted that the advent of the computer would mean that paper would no longer be used in business. That prediction has certainly not come true. People still want to print out–quickly, flawlessly and in vibrant color. In a world of multiple vendors with incompatible systems and an influx of new regulatory requirements, hard copies are the reality.

In line with stringent regulatory requirements, having real-time access to the information that’s embedded in hard copies is imperative. Records management professionals became aware that despite the hype, they would have to find solutions to transform their hard copies into electronic data. Companies like Crown developed solutions using new technologies such as scanning, imaging, data conversion and data hosting, to help their clients manage, access, protect and archive both their hard copies and their electronic business information.

Responding to A Responsible World...

Today, the world is eagerly responding to a global call for conservation. Crown has earned the ISO 14000 environmental management standards certification in its larger regions. The certification exists to help organizations minimize how their operations negatively affect the environment, cause adverse changes to air, water, or land and also to comply with local laws and regulations. Additional Crown offices are in the process of earning this certification.

As part of its contribution towards a cleaner, greener environment and reducing its carbon footprint, Crown London has taken delivery of its first ever electric vehicle. The design has been adapted mechanically to run using battery power only, lending itself to zero carbon emissions, noise and exhaust pollution, and all its components can be recycled. Crown has also started using motorcycles to deliver smaller records to its clients, which also helps reduce its carbon emissions.

Charity in Motion...

In 2008, Crown joined forces with Standard Chartered Bank’s Living with HIV programme. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is a global challenge, particularly in regions such as Africa, India and China. Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd., like Crown, has a presence in these markets and many other developing countries of the world, where there are increasing HIV infection rates. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is making a significant impact on these operations and the communities where both Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. and Crown operate.

Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. has responded to this challenge through their “Living with HIV programme” a global policy aimed at educating one million people about HIV/AIDS by 2010. They have developed a workplace education model that has been rolled out to their employees, customers and suppliers, and they have invited Crown to become involved in their efforts. A dozen Crown employees have already been trained as HIV/AIDS Awareness Champions and several "Living with HIV Workshops" have been organized.

As all of these changes have occurred in the industry, Crown has maintained its commitment to delivering personal customer service while delivering global, regional and local solutions. Crown has adapted and continues to expand its services, enhance its customized technologies and its global presence. Crown intends to be where its clients need them to be, serving both large and small corporations around the world. Crown provides all the traditional services such as storage of hard copies and electronic information, scanning, imaging, data conversion, data hosting, escrow and destruction services but equally important, provides consultative services and retention policy counseling to help its clients adapt to an ever changing world.

Crown will continue to keep the Crown moving forward.