The requirement from Jebel Ali Racecourse was well defined. Generating more than 1 million data points, from an average of 20,000 paper forms within a timeline of 120 minutes. Techbee and Kodak Alaris recommended a blend of Kodak S3100 Scanners for high quality imaging and Kodak Info Input for processing. Parallel threading allowed the local engine to connect with a cloud-native AI engine, process the data, and retrieve it within the required timeframe.
Based in the United Arab Emirates, Jebel Ali Racecourse is one of the most unique racecourse tracks in the Emirates of Dubai. The facility was built in 1990 and the first season kicked off in 1991 under the direction of HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The Racecourse is widely known for its unique track, attracting regional and international trainers, top horses, and international jockeys.
Along with the growing fame and reputation of Dubai, and due to its cultural roots and heritage, Jebel Ali Racecourse has been in the spotlight for the past 10 years by providing an experience for both visitors and racers. With the objective to drive an even better visitor experience, Jebel Ali Racecourse adopted several digital initiatives, one of which was an advanced document processing solution from Kodak Alaris.
Growing pain points
The story began a few years back with a complex challenge: processing handwritten race session forms with precision and speed. The system had been burdened by slow manual processing, poor data accuracy, and time-consuming corrections. The rapid growth in visitors now required an advanced platform for intelligent document processing.
Jebel Ali Racecourse sought a transformative approach to document processing and data extraction.
Meeting visitor expectations was crucial, so the Jebel Ali Racecourse management team onboarded document imaging and extraction solutions which separated documents based on barcodes and attempted to interpret and extract handwriting. However, the results were not acceptable.
The extracted data was of low accuracy which resulted in bad visitor experiences and many complaints. As the number of visitors increased, the Pick and Win forms had to retain the intuitive experience of having race attendees completing and submitting it on the go. The need for a more advanced and reliable document processing solution became apparent.
Identifying the solution
Recognising the challenges and the opportunity, the Jebel Ali Racecourse team reached out to their technology partner, Techbee, for guidance.
Techbee IT and Designs is a UAE-based technology solutions provider, delivering IT, audio-visual, and security solutions since 2017. Techbee specialises in helping organisations across diverse industries embrace digital transformation through smart, scalable, and secure technologies.
Their portfolio covers a range of services including IT infrastructure, networking, cloud solutions, enterprise security, backup systems, and audio-visual integrations such as video conferencing, digital signage, and modern meeting room solutions. As businesses increasingly turn to automation and AI to streamline operations, Techbee delivers intelligent solutions like Intelligent Document Processing, document management systems, and workflow automation tools that enhance operational efficiency.
A key area of expertise lies in digital document solutions, where Techbee leverages AI-powered automation to simplify data capture and processing. As an authorised partner of Kodak Alaris, Techbee provides advanced document management technologies, including Kodak Info Input, for high-volume, intelligent data extraction, enabling digital workflows. Techbee also partners with Dell, Cisco, Fortinet, VMware, among others.
Kodak Alaris has been a trusted technology partner of Techbee for many years and is recognised as a vendor of high-performance document scanners and intelligent document processing software. With the broadest portfolio of solutions in the industry and a professional services team that has worked successfully on complex cases for many years, Kodak Alaris was a fit for Jebel Ali Racecourse’s requirements.
Integrating the solution
With support and guidance from Kodak Alaris, Techbee recommended a phased approach, starting with a proof of concept involving a new fleet of document scanners that included Kodak S3100 Scanners. A rollout of Kodak Info Input solution, a browser-based intelligent document processing platform, was also included. The adoption of Info Input was quick and the productivity gains have been compelling and consistent. The proof of concept demonstrated an 80% reduction in operational costs.
After observing the results from the proof of concept project, Jebel Ali Racecourse had high confidence in the Kodak Alaris solution and decided to move forward with a real test on one of the early races of the season. The objective was well defined: to extract more than 1 million data points distributed over an average of 20,000 forms within a strict timeline not exceeding 120 minutes.
The solution had to extract the data with high accuracy and minimal human intervention, and deliver it into the Jebel Ali Racecourse system to select the winners and deliver prizes directly at the end of the race.
This challenging task required technical collaboration between Jebel Ali Racecourse and the Kodak Alaris team. With high-quality images generated by the Kodak S3100 Scanners and intelligently processed by Kodak Info Input Solution, the team was able to craft and innovate a custom AI engine.
Parallel threading was required to allow the locally installed solution to seamlessly connect with a cloud-native AI engine, process the data, and accurately retrieve it within the required timeframe. The results were nothing short of extraordinary.
By implementing the AI-powered solution from Kodak Alaris for advanced handwritten data extraction, the racecourse achieved a remarkable 97% accuracy rate in form processing, dramatically reducing operational costs by 80% and infrastructure expenses by 90% compared to the previous solutions.
Moving forward
In a memorable ceremony at Kodak Alaris’ new state-of-the-art offices, Jebel Ali Racecourse was crowned the 2024 Innovative Solution Champion, marking a pivotal moment in the racecourse’s digital transformation journey. The event held in January 2025, was more than just an awards presentation. Senior management from both organisations toured Kodak Alaris’ experience centre, a showcase of technologies that highlight the company’s commitment to innovation.
Executives walked through displays of advanced machinery and solutions, providing an immersive insight into the technological ecosystem that powered their remarkable digital transformation.
During the tour, the management team discussed the intricacies of the technological intervention that maintained the critical two-hour service level agreement while enhancing the visitor experience and operational efficiency. What set Kodak Alaris apart was collaboration and a unique multi-thread communication approach with cloud AI models to deliver handwriting recognition.
“We would like to thank Jebel Ali Racecourse, their management, and their team for the great and successful work we created and delivered together,” said Elias Mouchantaf, General Manager of the Kodak Alaris Dubai Office. “We have built a strong partnership and are committed to continuing our journey of innovation together. We look forward to providing AI-based advanced solutions for their near-term and long-term future needs.”
“Our experience with Kodak Alaris has been transformative,” said Mohamed Ahmed, General Manager of the Jebel Ali Racecourse. “When we started our digital transformation for the Pick and Win games, we needed a solution that would enhance the visitor experience while introducing something unique.”
This partnership represents more than a technological upgrade; it is a strategic transformation that demonstrates how intelligent document processing can redefine business operations. The collaboration between Kodak Alaris and Jebel Ali Racecourse stands as a testament to the power of innovative technological solutions.
Solutions from Kodak Alaris
Kodak Info Input is an intelligent document processing platform that automates and simplifies the journey from document arrival to usage in business processes quickly, accurately, and reliably.
Kodak Info Input provides user experience and intuitive technical architecture allowing organisation to streamline and automate processes related to document recognition, extraction, approvals and reporting. With its OpenIntelligence module, the platform unlocks the power of AI by enabling users to fetch and use any and multiple engines to serve their requirements. This could cover areas such as context understanding and summary, computer generated or handwritten keyword extraction, document recognition and classification, business rules automation and much more.
Being an infrastructure agnostic platform, the solution has been accepted in vertical markets and in multiple use case achieving the best ROI for the end customer and enhancing productivity and operations.
The Kodak S3000 series is a family of compact production scanners catering for a wide range of customer needs. The S3100 model series are built for customers where speed and process is important and with a high variety of media to scan including thick, thin, new, old. An economy A3 scanner or multi-function machine does not offer the technology to meet customer need.
Kodak Alaris has designed every feature to withstand the rigors of nonstop operation. You get more robust feed and output trays, hidden hinges for less exposure to wear and tear, and auto-adjusting features that allow you to set it and forget it.
With Kodak S3100 Scanners and Info Input Solution deployed with AI capabilities for advanced and highly accurate data extraction, the new system has dramatically improved productivity and customer experience.
