Life with and without an automated document management system

Automation. It’s a corporate buzzword that gets thrown around a lot when organisations look to trim the fat by streamlining workflow to increase productivity and the bottom line. But the thought of implementing an automated document management system often comes with a double-edged perception: good in that it can speed up manual processes and save time and money, but not so good if it diminishes too much control over processes.

However, a solid automation solution will typically result in savings of 40% to 75%, with benefits lasting several months to several years. As the figures start to stack up, so too does a growing interest in implementing a document management system (DMS), which can integrate automation across an increasing number of organisations.

What exactly is automated document management?

In essence, automated document management software enables an organisation to control and manage document and information lifecycles, increasing efficiency and reducing risk. It lets you seamlessly control your documents from creation to archival or destruction. Several benefits associated with an automated document management process include increased productivity, reduced costs, greater efficiency, and reduced risk.

A great content management system also shares and manages information across a range of departments and systems within the organisation, and provides strategies, methods, and technologies for centrally storing and managing information.

Not sure whether to push on with manual systems or take the automated plunge? Let’s take a closer look at some real workplace examples to see how automation stacks up against the manual process:

Example 1: Accounts payable

Without automation: An invoice or work order lands in the accounts payable inbox for processing. After it is received, it undergoes verification, PO matching, an approval process, and manual data entry before being queued for payment.

During this process, it can go from inbox to inbox and from in-tray to in-tray before it is approved for payment. It is then manually processed by the authorised person and archived in a filing cabinet accordingly.

A manual accounts payable process that involves moving invoices between departments and various staff for appropriate sign-off exposes the risk of invoices getting lost in the system or delaying payment, which can result in excess fees, accounts put on hold, or missing out on pay-on-time discounts.

A benchmark manual data entry error rate of around 1-2% could cost your company big bucks. In fact, if you apply the 1-10-100 rule of thumb, you’ll find that an error at the point of data entry costs $1 to correct, $10 to correct at batch form, and if left untouched past this point, $100 to rectify. That is, of course, assuming there are not greater consequences.

With automation: A good digitisation process prevents lost paper documents and has built-in alert functions to reduce the frequency of failures in conducting documentation processing. Documents are also centrally managed, so the relevant information can be retrieved easily by the person who needs it. For example, Kyocera’s Enterprise Content Management has a unique stamp system that establishes a straightforward authorisation process as it moves through the authorisation chain, and alerts are sent to remind the person to process the document. This ensures efficient movement through departments and enhances best practice through consistency of benchmarked protocols.

Example 2: Contract Management

Without automation: A manual contracts management process can increase the organisation’s risks because it expects human interaction to be efficient across things like probation dates and expirations. For example, a contractor performs work for the organisation, and there is an occurrence which makes him negligent to cause loss or damage, and you discover that his actual contract and insurance had expired the month before.

A manual system for managing contracts also exposes the department to inconsistencies, as staff adopt their own methods for processing and managing paperwork, thereby increasing the risk of error.

With automation: There is little room for error, as alert functions send notifications, which will prevent contracts from expiring.

The digitisation of contract documents gives certain users permission to access documentation and centrally stores terms and conditions and data in a benchmarked format to ensure consistency and minimise the risk of errors.

Example 3: Procurement & Project Management

Without automation, the manual process of internal circulation for department approval across procurement and project management, which involves only a few departments, becomes much more complicated.

Paperwork, emails, and document versions become hard to track, leading to delays and potential errors.

With automation: The whole procurement and project management process is made increasingly easy and more efficient with automatic storage and management of various data relating to purchasing and authorisations - including negotiation data and price information, supplier information, individual supplier data files and final contract information, including expiration and terms and conditions.

A predefined workflow customised to the organisation’s approval process will eliminate complex document exchanges and create efficiencies in document circulation and authorisations.

A new ECM will change how people work and affect the way documents are managed right across your organisation. It's not an easy or quick decision, but our Enterprise Content Management Checklist will help you consider your options and identify the right ECM to meet your business needs.

KYOCERA Document Solutions provides document management solutions with ECOSYS technology to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) and minimise the impact on the environment, while delivering greater productivity, reliability and uptime.