This document discusses how organizations can streamline paper-based processes by integrating them with digital workflows. It notes that while digital processes improve efficiency, many organizations still rely on paper documents that cause delays. The document provides questions to help identify areas where paper use creates inefficiencies and presents examples of how scanning, electronic storage and retrieval, and automation can help organizations modernize processes to accelerate performance. It also shares stories of how specific companies realized benefits like faster invoice processing and improved customer service by reducing their reliance on paper.

1. STREAMLINING
PAPER PROCESSES
IN A DIGITAL
WORLD
WHY SOME OF THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES
FOR WORKFLOW EFFICIENCY CAN BE
FOUND WHERE PAPER MEETS DIGITAL

2. We all know that...
DIGITAL PROCESSES
STREAMLINE THE FLOW
OF INFORMATION

3. THEY ENABLE
PEOPLE TO
WORK FASTER AND
SMARTER
But we also know that...

4. MANY ORGANISATIONS
STILL HAVE PAPER
DOCUMENTS IN
THEIR WORKFLOWS
And that can cause
unnecessary problems...

5. of information workers’
total time is spent dealing
with problems and time-
consuming tasks that arise
with paper documents1
.
7%
1
Bridging the Information Worker Productivity Gap,
IDC Whitepaper, 2012

6. 25%A quarter of that time
is wasted due to
fruitless searches and
document duplication1
.
1
Bridging the Information Worker Productivity Gap,
IDC Whitepaper, 2012

7. WHEN WE THINK
ABOUT WHERE AND
HOW THIS HAPPENS,
some of the following
may sound familiar…

8. You need to file or submit
hard copies for compliance
or regulatory reasons –
policies, procedures,
contracts, financial
supporting documents
and receipts.

9. Or... You need a physical
signature – on-boarding
documents for new
employees, time sheets,
sick notes, holiday
forms, staff records.

10. Maybe you need to
fill out forms by hand –
expenses, service
reports, customer
contact details,
questionnaires.

11. Or perhaps you’ve
simply always used
paper before…

12. IN OTHER
ORGANISATIONS,
WE’RE SEEING THAT
PAPER DOESN’T
HAVE TO BE A PAIN.

13. Here are five questions
to help you pinpoint
areas where you
might still be suffering...

14. ACROSS YOUR
ORGANISATION…
Mailroom
Customer Service
Logistics
Distribution
Finance
HR
Sales & Marketing

15. 1. How much time is wasted
on processing paper documents
or manually entering information?
Think of all the situations where people are still
typing in details from printed forms or from one
set of electronic documents to another. Where
are the highest volumes and where could those
people better use their time?

16. 2. How many errors result
from rekeying data?
From supplier payments to customer billing
and contracts, this is a major productivity and
compliance challenge. Are you currently
measuring how many queries, revisions and
rejections occur across your business processes?

17. 3. How many documents are
lost in your processes?
Not easy to monitor – but you can get an idea
by measuring and following up on third-party
queries, approval delays and rejections in your
business processes. Pay close attention to any
areas where you use hard copy documents and
handle them manually.

18. 4. How difficult is it to track, share and
retrieve paper-based information?
Look for symptoms like some areas of customer service
being less responsive than others. Remote and mobile
workers may be taking more time to approve critical
documents like contracts and budgets. Management,
finance and admin staff could be wasting time chasing
queries, confirmations and sign-offs. Stressful and costly
audits could also flag up difficulties checking back on
who changed what, and why.

19. 5. How much valuable space is
taken up with paper archiving?
Review which areas of your organisation still store
paper and how long it’s kept. Could this information
be stored in other ways and still meet regulatory
requirements? Could you digitalise and centralise
storage? What could you do with the space (and
time) you’d free up?

20. e.g.
And here are six examples
of how you can make a
positive difference ...

21. 1. Capture information from paper
quickly and accurately using
intelligent scanning technology –
and integrate with your electronic
document management
This is a key stage in process automation – in most
cases, this technology means your people won’t
have to retype information from one document
to another anymore.

22. 2. Share the right information
with the right people, in the
right places
Put in place policies that ensure information
can only be sent to the right people, and will
be stored securely. Automation can help enforce
these policies and strengthen compliance.

23. 3. Easily monitor and track the
progress of documents through
your processes
Use robust, user-friendly information management
software in conjunction with smart scanning to speed
up invoice processing, customer on-boarding, HR
approvals and all sorts of other admin tasks. People
can see at a glance where documents are in any
approval or editing process – and what’s slowing
things down.

24. 4. Instantly find and retrieve the
relevant information you need
Once you’re digitising and processing documents
effectively you can speed up access to all kinds of
information. Intuitive search (through meta data,
not just filenames) can be applied to areas like:
• Supplier contracts and payments
• Employee records
• Company policies
• Customer communications, deliveries and agreements.

25. 5. Eliminate unnecessary
paper storage
Filing cabinets still take up large amounts of space
across organisations. By automating the digitisation
of critical documents you can reduce or eliminate
the need for hard copy storage and free up
significant space and resources.

26. 6. Improve transparency and
reduce business risk
Digitisation and information management software
can make a big difference to the transparency
of many processes. Consider supplier payments:
being able to easily track any changes to an
invoice throughout its history, and quickly access
the supporting documentation, strengthens the
audit trail and cuts Finance team workload.

27. WE CAN HELP ORGANISATIONS
OF ALL SHAPES AND SIZES
TRANSFORM THE WAY
THEY WORK…
…and we can help you too.

28. We can work with you to
seamlessly integrate paper and
digital workflows, automating
information capture, storage
and distribution to accelerate
operational performance.

29. WHEREVER YOU ARE
ON YOUR JOURNEY TO
PROCESS MODERNISATION,
WE CAN HELP YOU
GO FURTHER.

30. The following five
examples show how
small changes can
have a big impact…

31. Any document or electronic file can be
instantly captured. From personnel records
and property documents to student loans
and education records,
we have a one-stop-shop for information,
in most cases eliminating the need to
keep paper records.”
MICK COOK
PROJECT MANAGER,
NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY COUNCIL
“”

32. “”Now we know at all times where a
document is and where it came from in
the process. Moreover, we can assign
permissions on the category level and
down to a single document. This has
resulted in greater agility and control of
our work reports and invoicing.”
MICHAEL WAGER
FINANCE DIRECTOR,
ASTILLEROS DE MALLORCA

33. “”Our customer service representatives
can email the customers the information
they’re looking for straight away, without
having to go through the hassle of first
finding it in the archive, scanning it,
emailing it and then filing it away again.”
KEITH WRIGHT
GENERAL MANAGER, TEAM GLOBAL

34. We now have a firm grip on our
accounts payable system and are
processing the invoices 40% quicker
than before. By reducing the processing
time by 40 hours, we have saved around
€25–30,000 a year.”
BERT RIJKMANS
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE,
VAN DILLEWIJN GROUP
“”

35. “”The improved turnaround
for transaction processing has
eliminated a two day month-end
document checking process.”
PAT BAILEY
SAP SYSTEM SUPPORT,
ST JAMES’S HOSPITAL

36. HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
If there are any areas of particular
interest that you would like to discuss
further, or to set up a meeting,
please contact us.
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