There are a number of advantages to digitisation that aren’t immediately apparent or well-advertised – and these hidden perks can sway individuals who are 50/50 about digitising or business owners/managers who wouldn’t otherwise have considered embracing workflow automation.
It’s fair to say that one of the biggest reasons why company owners choose to leverage document management workflow is so they can save money; therefore it stands to reason that they should be aware of all of the areas in which money can be saved with digitisation.
Obvious costs savings can be made on paper, filing cabinets, ink and printer maintenance fees. However, little-known about cost reduction areas can be found in consumables such as staples, paper clips, folders, hole punchers, binders – and so on.
Time is also another major factor in the decision to go digital. Over a period of time, employees will save a lot of time and effort if they can look up, access and share records on a computer – rather than performing manual searching and indexing tasks.
Digitised documents are much easier and cheaper to handle, store, modify, copy and reproduce – and can be searched for very quickly, especially with the use of an extensive indexing system.
And let’s not forget the positive impact on the environment! Of course, many administrators will already view digitisation as a great way of going green – but this is the case in more ways than one.
Naturally, a reduction in paper usage can only be good for the environment – in fact, according to the Credit Union Times, when 2,100 credit unions decided to rely on electronic workflow and place their files on computers, the action saved around 750,000 sheets of paper – this equates to about 90 trees. If companies stop buying paper, the demand will decrease, and this might ultimately drive down the supply.
We must also take into account how workers’ actions can have an adverse effect on the environment. By cutting down on using excessive amounts of power and certain materials – a real difference can be made. As an example, even when printers are on standby, they’re still using up power – and their outputs can skyrocket, even for a relatively small printing job.
To learn more about how scanning can benefit your organisation, visit our document scanning page.