Is the concept of a paperless office a myth?

Why haven’t more companies made the transition to a paper-free office?

The "paperless office," was originally used as a marketing slogan in the early days of the IBM computer, has not yet arrived.  For proof, just step into the office of any small business. At a time when almost every employee has access to a computer terminal, and when mobile devices with pixel densities indistinguishable from that of print media are now commonplace, it's strange that more hasn't done to reduce the usage of paper.

Despite anecdotal evidence that the use of paper may finally be on the downtrend, this process seems to be at a standstill.  According to the Paper Wars report provided by AIIM in 2014:

- Nearly 45% of those organizations stated that they have conquered only one-tenth of the paperless process so far.

- 23% of them stated that they have yet even started the paperless process.

- Only 17% are transitioning 5 or more processes each year.

Why does so much paper still exist in the office place? According to the survey, below are the top reasons:

Successes have been achieved on a number of fronts, and paper in the office is decreasing. More organizations are adopting paper-free processes, but progress is slow as leadership and direction from above has been lacking.  There remain pockets of resistance. However, the benefits are clear: faster response to customers, processes that are more efficient; greater visibility for process monitoring; and increasingly important, the availability of content for remote and mobile working. Adopters of paper-free processes are reporting an ROI of 18 months or less in 77% of cases. 60% achieve payback within 12 months. These are very encouraging numbers.

To meet the changing expectations of customers and staff, organizations need to be responsive, agile and efficient. Business-at-the-speed-of-paper simply isn’t compatible with the modern digital enterprise.

Below are the best recommendations on how to make a successful transition to the paper free office:

• Look at how paper enters your business, where it slows things down, where it clogs up the workspace, and where it restricts information access and process flexibility.

• Highlight the role that paper-free processes can play in business improvement initiatives, particularly customer response and customer experience management.

• Seek endorsement from above for policies on less-paper offices, and paper-free processes.

• Implement quick wins where electronic copies are being habitually printed as part of the workflow - for reference, for review, for signatures, or for file copies.

• If you have no existing paper-free processes, pick one to trial – AP perhaps – but be careful not to produce a single-point system with limited expansion.

• If you are unsure of your expertise, get a team member trained, or if you need some external input, consult a document process outsourcer and tap into their experience in your industry.

• Audit those existing processes that utilize scanning and electronic workflows. Ensure they are taking full advantage of OCR, data capture and integration with core enterprise systems.

• Pay particular attention to processes that use scan-to-archive, post process with a view to changing to a scan-to-process, up front approach.

• Look at capture systems with a view to rationalizing around a single, more capable system, able to service multiple processes, with distributed access across multiple-sites and branches.

• Position that system at the entry point as a digital mailroom, defending offices from paper, and ensuring the quickest possible conversion to electronic.

• Extend the paper-free concept further to the point of origination, whether that is a branch office, a shop or the mobile devices of your employees and customers.

• Above all, question how your organization is going to remain competitive in a mobile, always on, dispersed-workforce world if it clings to its paper-laden processes. Most businesses have hundreds of processes. It will be a long journey, but the benefits are clear, and the sooner you get started the faster you will realize the returns.

Contact inFORM Decisions today for additional information or learn how our products can help your business!

Our website: http://www.informdecisions.com/ - Phone numbers: (949) 709-5838 / (800) 858-5544

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