GREEN PAPER

The Digital Alternative: Sustainable & Cost-Effective Benefits of Document Imaging

Introduction
As leading economic indicators continue to signal a global economic slowdown, companies are looking for effective steps to take – such as lowering costs and streamlining operations – in order to weather the storm and achieve a competitive edge in the eventual recovery. At the same time, recent industry research shows that businesses also want to be more environmentally responsible. Océ Business Services is releasing this second in a series of reports, called green papers, to share our recommendations on implementing more eco-friendly and cost-effective practices across the document lifecycle (document creation through disposal).

The Digital Alternative
Document scanning (paper to digital conversion) is one document management practice that can help companies reach their environmental and cost-reduction goals. From a financial standpoint, senior executives participating in a survey underwritten by Océ Business Services1 indicated that document scanning has the strongest effect across a broad range of business goals. These goals include lowering costs as well as improving operational performance and regulatory compliance. From a sustainability perspective, scanning can significantly reduce the use of paper, thereby saving trees, gas in shipping the paper, physical space to store it, and halting the eventual destruction of many files that end up in a landfill. According to the Environmental Paper Network, “If, for example, the United States cut its office paper use by roughly 10 percent, or 540,000 tons, greenhouse gases would fall by 1.6 million tons. This is the equivalent of taking 280,000 cars off the road for a year.”

Document scanning is a key element of the broader practice of electronic document management, which also includes storing, organizing, indexing, and retrieving image files. In addition to reducing paper consumption, Océ highlights the following examples and business benefits of document scanning and electronic document management.

Improved document control
When distributing hardcopy documents between locations, organizations often maintain multiple copies and filing systems, incur transportation costs, and create monitoring systems to insure that information has been appropriately exchanged. An electronic document management solution offers superior document control by eliminating the number of possible “failure points” within these activities that can cause documents to be lost or misplaced. An Océ client has offices across the country that received and approved invoices prior to sending them to headquarters. The invoices often arrived late, causing the organization to forfeit early pay discounts. After redesigning the workflow process, all invoices are now received initially at corporate headquarters where they are immediately scanned. The electronic image files of the invoices are then routed for approval, and reminders are sent to insure the invoices are paid as soon as possible.

Superior document availability
There are many times during the course of business when multiple departments and individuals require simultaneous access to an original hardcopy document. By digitizing hardcopy documents at the point of origination, the electronic image file will be available for retrieval immediately, without disruption to staff productivity. A leading university engaged Océ to digitize its student records. The university couldn’t always fulfill student transcript requests on a timely basis due to its manual hardcopy retention process. After digitizing millions of pages of student transcripts, the university is now able to quickly fulfill requests while also insuring that the files are complete and accurate.

Enhanced document compliance
While an organization can adhere to regulatory compliance requirements by maintaining hardcopy documents, statutory, legal and contractual obligations may require that viable back-ups exist. Electronic document management systems make it easier for an organization to comply with these and other requirements. A financial services company engaged Océ to take over document scanning for its back-end credit and loan application process. Because the storage and retention of these documents must meet strict compliance and regulatory requirements, Océ and the client redesigned the document scanning procedure to include the front-end credit and loan process, starting when the documents are received. This insures that electronic document files are complete, accurate, and unaltered when fulfilling audit and legal requests. With only the back-end imaging process, there were no assurances that documents were unaltered from the time they were received.

Reduced document risk
Electronic document management solutions enable businesses to reduce risk by promoting better security and disaster recovery systems. By digitizing documents and maintaining them within its network firewalls, an enterprise can significantly reduce the possibility of outside access to its records. If a disaster strikes and impacts the company’s hardcopy records depositories, it could lose all of its critical documents. An electronic document management system helps prevent this by enabling the business to maintain copies of its records in secure and recoverable repositories.

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