Genk-based digitization company Youston started today the expansion of its current building on the old Ford site. The existing building already has 400 kilometers of archive space, in February it should double that.
The first columns of the new building are already there. Concrete piles 22 meters high form the structure of the new archive. “It is the maximum height that the apparatus with archive boxes can handle,” clarifies owner Pieter Vansynghel. “We do have to expand, because every four years we double. In total, we want 300,000 m3 of storage space.”
“Of everything that is on paper, we can make sure the customer can use it on the computer.”
Owner Pieter Vansynghel
Customers include hospitals and banks. Pieter Vansynghel: “All the papers that come in are indexed. Those are not automatically digitized.” Customers can request files, after which it can be digitized within the hour. Certain industries still use a lot of paper. “For example, we have a company in the medical sector as a customer that receives 5 to 10,000 envelopes daily.”
Justice will also use Youston’s paper storage capacity. “We have now started with the first quantities from Justice. The intention is that we will be able to manage all the archives here centrally. That’s an immense amount that can eventually be made available digitally. We take care of the transition from a paper operation to a digital operation,” said the owner.
The city of Genk welcomes Youston’s expansion on the former Ford site. “The group has about 150 employees worldwide, many of whom work in Genk,” says Mayor Wim Dries (CD&V). “That’s about low-skilled, but also highly skilled. The company includes that inclusion in its employment policy.”
By the end of this year, the building should be ready, after which it can be furnished on the inside. By mid-February, the first archive boxes can be stored.
