Document Imaging Blog

Reducing Paper in Document Workflows

I’ve been spending some time lately putting together before and after workflow diagrams of some of our customer implementations and had an interesting realization. It seems that too often we get laser focused on how many steps are reduced in a “before and after” solution. And we believe that a reduction in steps from 9 to 7 is not as good as a reduction from 9 to 6.

What I am realizing is that this may not always be the case with document imaging. With document imaging, the workflow improvements come from the reduction of paper, and the resulting manual processes. Yes, there may be a reduction in steps as well. But, in some cases, there may actually be steps added as more electronic systems are touched.  However, there is always a reduction in the time spent on steps, since working with electronic information is vastly quicker than working with paper.

Not surprisingly, the workflows that showed the biggest improvements in time spent (and therefore $$) were the ones that moved the scanning process closest to the beginning of the workflow. With document imaging, it’s not a complicated message -- the earlier that paper is eliminated, the more efficient the remainder of the workflow is.

Food for thought...

A colleague sent me this photo and note this week, which I thought would be fun to post to the blog to hopefully spur some conversation:

"Am I the only one who thinks there's something wrong with this picture?  Isn't it ironic that as readily as we accept that knowledge workers still use manila envelopes to send a piece of paper to a co-worker downstairs, we accept the fact that technology has evolved to a point where 500,000 times more computing power than what was needed to put Apollo astronauts into outerspace orbit can now be housed in a device that is less than 1 inch thick and 3 pounds in weight? It seems to me that the efficiencies, cost savings and the reduction of risk through eliminating the movement of billions of pages of paper between departments is lower hanging fruit than the mobility gained by eliminating less than one half of one inch from a laptop computer?"

In that light, here are some questions for CEOs, CFOs and CIOs to ponder...

• How much did your company spend on upgrading laptop computers last year?
• How many reams of paper and how much did you spend on ink for your copiers last year?
• How many interoffice envelopes did you buy last year?
• On average how many hops do important business documents make and how much time do they spend in an interoffice envelope before they're archived?
• Once its archived, are you confident you'll be able to locate it again, and if so, in a timely manner?
• If the information in the document is important enough to be hand delivered, don't you think that your business might benefit by securing and accelerating this process?"

Now remind yourself...How much did your company spend on upgrading laptop computers last year...and what was the benefit to your company?

Greening the Office/Workgroup Environment

The “green” wave is finally working its way into the daily conversation and consciousness of American business. Although this topic is complex, multi-faceted, and far too sophisticated to be covered adequately in a one time blog entry, I thought I might take this opportunity to focus on one tiny element of business sustainability: document capture and scanning.

Reducing the negative impact of a business on the environment has become an imperative strategic initiative for an ever increasing number of SMB and enterprise class organizations. The methods being used to achieve this goal range from reducing resource usage and implementing carbon offsets to recycling and engaging in many other green activities: this list goes on and on.

Many organizations are finding that document management solutions and imaging products are integral to their environmental agenda, assuming they have one. Among other benefits, businesses that implement document management strategies often experience a dramatic reduction in their company-wide paper consumption and CO2 emissions through the reduced printing, postage, and storage of everyday business documents.  An obvious way to reduce paper usage in the office is to use scanners to convert paper-based documents to digital format.  Although there is still a paper component in the scanning process, the purpose of the process of the workflow (i.e.: scan to repository) is to reduce paper and increase efficiency.  This results in other positive residual effects on the environment such as reducing the storage or physical mailing/transporting of paper-based documents, which can impact fuel costs related to the transportation of those documents.

In the case of the office/workgroup, reducing the consumption of environmental resources, , can be accomplished by addressing the endless sea of paper that is used by implementing an electronic document management system. The digital age has already transformed the office environment as it relates to paper.  Just 20 years ago, the office did not have tools like the Internet or e-mail. The Internet has changed the dynamics of communications and had some positive effect on our environment, as it has led to less copying of documents and a lower volume of memos being sent around the office or to other locations.  One would think that the shift to electronic storage and transport of documents electronically would benefit the planet and reduce the consumption of paper-based documents, but the question remains whether our generation is still printing pages at its destination and/or reprinting electronically stored documents.

As with any tool or technology, it is how these mechanisms are deployed, managed, and policed that can really make the difference when attempting to bring about change.  Taking the initiative to set these policies, put these practices (to store more and print less) into place, and make a conscious effort to help future generations is really the only way we will be able to make a difference.

Making Scanning & Sharing Documents Easier with SharePoint

Microsoft posted a SharePoint customer case study article today on the Microsoft Momentum site. The article features eCopy document imaging software customer Introgen Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that used SharePoint and eCopy to meet government regulations. The author, Alan Earls, discusses how eCopy duplicates the Microsoft SharePoint user experience at the MFP. To read the article click on Microsoft SharePont document imaging.

School Pays for Student Laptops via the Paperless Office

The UK national newspaper The Guardian posted an article today in its education section about a high school that helped pay for its students' laptops by implementing a paperless office strategy through MFP document imaging. The savings came from eliminating the cost of distributing paper documents. The article can be read by clicking here. You know that when a national, daily newspaper starts writing about MFP document imaging, the topic is beginning to be popular.

Interoffice mail - how times have changed

Upon arriving for a meeting in a co-worker's office yesterday, he pointed towards a brown envelope with a long list of names on it and said to me, "I didn't even know we had interoffice mail, did you?"

We both looked quizzically at each other and wondered the same thing -- what could possibly be inside that couldn't have been scanned and emailed? Turns out it was a CD...mystery solved.

But this got me thinking. At our headquarters, we work in two separate buildings a few hundred yards away from each other. A lot of work happens between those buildings. Documents are shared, approvals are obtained, common files are accessed. And very few of us even consider using interoffice mail. In fact, thinking about it, the contents of that CD could have been transferred using a file sharing system and any necessary information from the cover or documentation could have been scanned and emailed (but granted, some things are easier to deliver in person).

There's no doubt that business works a lot better without relying on things like those brown envelopes. Beyond speed, which is a big improvement, sharing information electronically is more secure, more confidential and more user-friendly. I'm glad these envelopes are a rarity here. Oh yeah, and it's better for the environment too!!

Paperless Offices - The Real Story

There has been a resurgence of buzz around the paperless office lately, mostly focused around the question myth vs. reality. It’s refreshing to read the articles that are written about the topic, such as this story from Practical Accountant. Each of them profiles customers that have taken steps to convert paper to electronic images in order to remove paper from slowing critical business operations. And each of the customers is equally enthusiastic about the results that they have achieved, both through cost savings and a more effective workforce.

So does this recent buzz mean that the paperless office is becoming a reality? Not really. Companies today receive too many paper documents from internal processes and external parties to ever reach paperless nirvana. But there is a big opportunity to focus on going “paperless” as a way to improve the process – rather than an end-game. Business processes like accounting and procurement have greatly benefited by moving online. It is only natural companies should work to pull the paper-based information associated with these applications into electronic workflows.

In our conversations with our customers, we’ve found that the one of the biggest challenges to eliminating paper from business processes is the behavioral switch. Workers are comfortable with paper and don’t necessarily like to lose “control” of their paper documents in order to send them somewhere to be scanned. A good place to start is to empower all office workers to capture paper-based information at the point in the business that is most convenient and efficient. One way to do this is to use a publicly available, familiar device, such as the office MFP, for scanning. By using document imaging software for MFPs, the people closest to work processes can add paper-based information to workflows, making the transition less of a disruption to the worker.

So while the paperless office itself is still a myth, removing paper from processes to create a seamless digital workflow is definitely a reality. For an example of one company that did it, click here. Do you have a "paperless" story to share? Send us a comment, we'd love to hear from you.