The following article appears on evolvedoffice.com
Studies show that employees spend a significant portion of their work hours trying to find information already available in their organization. The time spent on searching, sorting, creating and re-creating redundant documents might account for millions of dollars in wasted hours in the United States alone.
For years now we have heard rumors that the workplace might soon become paperless. Even though office technology has evolved due to enormous innovation, it’s apparent that paper usage is actually growing each year. But is it well managed? Is your company awash in papers and records that staff can’t readily retrieve?
PAPER DOCUMENT DRAWBACKS
• Filing and retrieve/requires physical storage
• Reduced document security
• Work projects can be difficult to track
• Paper can be destroyed, misplaced, or torn
• Paper requires peripheral product costs: paper, paper clips, staplers, etc.
Consider adopting an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) to cut out the clutter instead of buying another set of metal file cabinets. EDMS allows you to store and retrieve digital copies of your papers online and to permit papers to be scanned into the system. These files are then indexed, which means that a person adds the appropriate information to each file so that it can be retrieved easily in the future. When a person needs to retrieve a file they just enter what they’re looking for and the files that match will appear.
ACCORDING TO ERNST & YOUNG, ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT CAN:
• Triple document processing capacity
• Reduce staff time/resources and document storage space
• Provide immediate access to decision-critical data
Document management systems vary greatly in their file retrieval options from allowing index-based searches only to supporting searches of all the text included. Look for a system that adopts the procedural style your staff is familiar with, which will simplify the transition. It’s been said that once a company learns about the virtues of a virtual document management system, it’s impossible to go back to paper.