Experts in Historical Book Scanning
“You do realize no one else is doing anything like this…”
It was the first time Victoria Duncan, Digital Projects Coordinator for the Indianapolis Public Library, had visited CDS since we had installed three additional book scanning stations. The “this” to which she was referring was a huge 1920s scrapbook filled with nearly 600 fragile, deteriorated newspaper clippings glued in overlapping layers, sometimes a dozen or more per page.
Because of its condition and complexity, the book presented major challenges to the scanning team. However, CDS employee Holly Fruin was up to the task. She took the initiative to purchase a sheet of Plexiglass and had it cut into nearly invisible strips she could use to hold back each layer as she imaged what lay beneath it. The resulting high-resolution color scans—sometimes ten or more per page—preserve the appearance of the original scrapbook while allowing each article to be clearly read. The process was tedious and time-consuming, but the results are worth it.
The scrapbook is just one of the hundreds of historical books Crossroads Document Services is scanning as the partner for the Indianapolis Public Library for a project funded by the Lilly Endowment. Under this project, CDS will spend the next three years digitizing early records from the Indianapolis Public Schools, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, and the Indianapolis Firefighters, to create a major historical archive documenting much of the early infrastructure of the City. Since February, CDS has scanned over 58,000 pages of IPS records, mostly historical bound books.
Learn more about our capabilities as they relate to document services
View our capability statement for document services
Partnership with Ultimate Software
Ultimate Software
Crossroads Industrial Services recently began providing product assembly, PCB testing, software flashing, product testing, packaging and order fulfillment for Ultimate Software, Inc. The work performed by CIS has allowed Ultimate to focus on their core competencies.
“Easterseals Crossroads has proven to be a fantastic partner in helping us better serve our customers. We are thrilled with our decision to have Crossroads become an integral part of our supply chain. Time and again Greg Roberts and the entire Crossroads team have molded their operational processes to deliver what we need to accomplish and have helped us grow our business. As an added bonus, we are proud to be part of such a wonderful mission in Easterseals. Their purpose resonates deeply with our company’s core value of people first,” Brian Hack of Ultimate Software said.
Ultimate is a leading provider of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solutions. Ultimate’s award-winning UltiPro delivers HR, payroll, talent and time and labor management solutions that connect people with the information they need to work more effectively. Founded in 1990, Ultimate is headquartered in Weston, Florida, and employs more than 3,700 professionals. In 2017, Fortune ranked Ultimate #1 on its list of the 10 Best Workplaces in Technology, Ultimate’s second year to top this list, and ranked #1 in customer satisfaction in G2 Crowd’s Summer 2016 Core HR Software Grid report, based on user reviews. Ultimate has approximately 3,700 customers with employees in 160 countries. (more…)
Profile: Jen Bricker
DON’T MAKE YOUR DISABILITY YOUR IDENTITY
Jen Bricker on defying expectations
Born without legs and adopted into an American family from Romania, Jen Bricker hasn’t let her life become defined by a disability. Instead, she defied expectations to become a world-renowned aerialist and motivational speaker.
Jen grew up in a strong Midwest family who taught her to be herself and not let any barrier get in her way. She pursued a passion for gymnastics early in life and became a state champion in power tumbling.
After high school, Jen planned to go to college for fashion, but decided to take a risk and pursue an acrobatic tour with her partner, Nate, instead. Many producers were hesitant about the act at first, and even her partner’s friends discouraged him.
“I knew it would take awhile for people to warm up to the idea, because it was something they had never seen before,” said Jen. Many people hiring would say, ‘Well we kind of like the thought of an aerialist without legs, but we don’t know how people are going to react,’ so I had a lot of doors shut in my face because no one understood it.”
Jen and Nate booked their first performance in Orlando after the original performer fell through, and that opened doors for them to perform worldwide with many other acts, including the Britney Spears tour across North America and Australia.
Growing up, Jen’s idol was Olympic gold-medalist Dominique Moceanu. In a twist of fate, Jen later discovered that Moceanu was her biological sister and reconnected with her. Jen is the author of a book released in 2016 about her life, Everything is Possible.
JEN ON DISABILITY
Above all, Jen encourages others with visible disabilities not to let their disability define them. “I want people to see the whole package of me,” she says. “I’m an aerialist, an acrobat, a woman, a performer, an animal-lover, I’m adopted. All of these things make up who I am. I would say that I just want people to perceive me as me. That is a big reason why I chose to write my book, because people only knew about my life from what they saw in the media.”
“Perceptions of me are all over the map,” she says about meeting people for the first time. “Literally from one end of the spectrum to another. I have some people that think I am amazing and perfect and that I never have a bad day, which is so not true! Then, I have other people that pity me and think I can’t do anything. There is praise and sympathy; I can get those reactions all in five minutes!”
Jen also encourages those with disabilities to passionately lead by example to change perceptions of disability: “With people that have physical disabilities, just because our struggle is on the outside does not mean you cannot control the situation. You are in control of much more than you realize. If you are confident, happy, joyful, and real, people aren’t going to see your differences as much.”
HEAR JEN IN INDIANAPOLIS
Jen Bricker is the keynote speaker for Celebrate Ability, Easterseals Crossroads’ 56th Annual Ability Event taking place April 8, 2017, at the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown Union Station. Crossroads Industrial Services is a division of Easterseals Crossroads.
To become an event sponsor or book tickets to hear Jen in person, contact Elizabeth Farley.
Sponsorship Opportunities still available!
Indiana’s Manufacturing Hub – Why Crossroads Makes Sense for Your Business
Forget what you think you know about Indiana. While the Hoosier state may be recognized for a love of basketball, the Indy 500, or the birthplace of folks like James Dean and Michael Jackson – Indiana’s garnering national attention as a proven leader in manufacturing logistics and transportation. As an Indiana-based outsourced manufacturer, our Crossroads Industrial Services team is proud of the fact that Indiana is a national leader in pass-through interstates, home to the 2nd largest FedEx air hub worldwide, and 3rd in total freight railroads. With three maritime ports that together rank 7th in waterborne shipping, Indiana provides the only statewide port system with direct waterway access to two U.S. coasts.
The Crossroads Advantage
Crossroads Industrial Services leverages this infrastructure to provide the highest quality solutions that serve as a scalable extension of its customers’ businesses. From contract manufacturing, assembly and other supply chain management services to just-in-time fulfillment and product packaging, Crossroads uniquely serves as a virtual factory so our customers can focus on their core competencies.
Indiana’s business climate is poised to excel if the reshoring trend continues. Crossroads Industrial Services team is thrilled to play a role in helping bring manufacturing closer to home and boosting the economy through providing customers with cost-effective, efficient and high quality customized manufacturing solutions that help improve profitability. We work as a scalable extension of your business and provide the facility, services and qualified staff all in one place. Put your limited and valuable resources to better use and focus on product development, innovation and growing your business while we take care of the rest. Our efficient just-in-time and lean manufacturing processes reduce the cost and time required to get your quality product to market.
How Your Business Can Benefit
At Crossroads, our professionals take pride in providing companies with efficient, high quality manufacturing, assembly and supply chain management solutions. Between our training programs and the care we take in matching each individual with a project that brings out his or her strengths, we are able to meet strict industry standards, such as ISO 9001, FDA, UL and military compliance regulations, and impact the quality of life those affected by disability.
Please contact us to discuss your contract manufacturing needs.
Sani Seal Partnership
Crossroads Industrial Services in Indianapolis provides Product Assembly, Product Packaging and Repackaging, Product Testing for ETL Standards, Order Fulfillment Solution services and Document Scanning & Digitization services for Sani Seal.
Sani Seal Gasket, LLC, was formed in 2009 by friends, Bob Grimmett and Joe Miller. Working out of their garage, the two entrepreneurs set out to find an answer to the problem of water damage caused by leaky wax toilet rings. Today, their product, which is manufactured in America, is sold nationwide in Home Depot and in local hardware stores, such as Ace Hardware, Do It Best, True Value and more. Hardware stores in Canada and other countries also carry the Sani Seal!
Sani Seal provides innovation in toilet sealing by making no mess, flexible, new wax-free Sani Seal toilet and urinal gaskets. Their slogan is “No Mess, No Hassle, Just a Perfect Fit, Every Time!” Bob Grimmett said, “We are pleased to consolidate our operations with Crossroads Industrial Services, as this is a perfect fit for our company.”
Crossroads Industrial Services has been successfully providing Packaging and Order Fulfillment Solution Services to Sani Seal for the past 2-3 years. As a result, Sani Seal has ANNOUNCED that they are moving all of their product lines into our Crossroads Industrial Services Indianapolis facility, where we will employ 4-5 full-time persons to solely package and oversee the successful Order Fulfillment Solutions to numerous big box stores, such as Home Depot, Do it Best, Ace Hardware, True Value Stores, etc
August at Industrial Services
August Picnic
August – what a great month to have a cook out and celebrate all that our employees have accomplished so far this year! As a result, we planned our CIS Summer Event 2016 for Thursday, August 4, 2016, where all our CIS employees attended lunch and had fun in the afternoon playing games together!
Hot dogs and hamburgers were grilled outside our facility by our COO, Curtiss Quirin, on our custom- made grill. The CIS Staff helped serve the sandwiches, baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw, fruit salad, and all the sandwich fixin’s, along with fresh tomatoes from our very own CIS Urban Garden. Then we played some games together for prizes that were donated, and a great time was had by all!
Now we’re back to the regular rhythm of serving our customers’ needs after some great camaraderie, so if your business is in need of FDA registered solutions, contract manufacturing, order fulfillment solutions, product assembly, product packaging / repackaging, contract packaging, ETL testing, labeling / relabeling, or document scanning, Crossroads Industrial Services / Crossroads Document Services can provide those services with a great employment workforce at a fair cost in a reasonable amount of time.
