What's going wrong? On average, Germans use around 240 kilograms of paper per year! This seems to contradict digitalization and the concept of the "paperless office," doesn't it?
Those declared dead live longer. The concept of the paperless office has been haunting the office corridors of this republic since the 1980s, and yet in 2021 it is still alarmingly far removed from corporate reality. Documents are printed, written on, stapled, sorted, and filed. And all of this, of course, on paper. Because, as is well known, paper is patient!
The pandemic in particular has shown how important it is to decouple paper from corporate structures, workflows, and processes. Who wants to drive to the office just to sign a contract or view a contract, or check the mail every week because there may be incoming invoices waiting?
Your paperless office
Basics for getting started: Your paperless office
Tips and tricks for your paperless office: Let's get started
Yes, it takes time, money, and nerves to take a close look at paper-based workflows and examine how they can be gradually transitioned. However, digital activism is not advisable at this point. Rather, what is needed here is a good IT strategy (see chapter "4 steps on the way to a paperless office: bring on digitization," step 2).
Anyone who starts by digitizing just the last five fiscal years, which usually means simply scanning them, will quickly lose interest. It is therefore advisable to simply start at a certain point and record and manage everything "digitally" from there on. The actual legacy issues will then become apparent on their own in the file storage room.
If your business correspondence with customers or suppliers is still heavily reliant on letters and paper and a changeover cannot be implemented quickly, a good document scanner can be helpful. This pays off twice: initially used only for digitizing paper documents and storing the digitized documents on a central system (such as a file server), the scanner forms an important basis for implementation and expansion to input management processes. We will discuss this in more detail later (see chapter "4 steps on the way to a paperless office: digitization can begin," step 3).
It sounds so trivial, but during the first lockdown and the rapid transition to working from home, equipment such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones caused quite a stir. Due to supply bottlenecks, people had to wait weeks for the necessary hardware. But this hardware is essential for true mobility and flexibility for your employees, for example, those in administration, who can actually work "from anywhere."
Paper-minimized office vs. paperless office
A good, coordinated, and well-planned IT or digitization strategyWhat is a digitization strategy? A digitization strategy serves to implement long-term goals... More with a view to customer-oriented digitization takes precisely these aspects into account and can accompany the transition to a purely digital office more smoothly.
Your paperless office
4 steps on the way to your paperless office: bring on digitization!
Business processes tend to grow historically (and sometimes somewhat hysterically) and, over time, tend to put efficiency and effectiveness on the back burner. Therefore, the rule of thumb is always:
Create order and define your strategic starting position.
Take a close look at all processes (i.e., management, core, and auxiliary processes):
- Who actually does what and why?
- Why does it require so many steps, people, documents, and paperwork?
- How does the document make its way through the company?
No plan, no success!
If you take the trouble to thoroughly examine your company, this must be done in line with your IT or digitalization strategy. This is essential nowadays, as it is also an integral part of corporate strategy. If you do not yet have a concrete strategy for this, you should catch up as soon as possible.
Digitization at all costs and without rhyme or reason often ends up in digital activism and chaos. In practice, there is a great demand for quick solutions, which often means introducing new software or tools that are neither coordinated nor contribute to overall process optimization.
The existing IT structure and software must be managed intelligently and sensibly integrated when purchasing new software/assets. Even the most impressive cloud software can be a waste of money if requirements and feasibility have not been carefully examined in advance. Not to mention the question of the right digital skills within the company.
When introducing any ECM or DMS solution, the topic of input channels quickly comes up . The key questions here are:
- How does a document reach us—by mail, email, fax, or web portal?
- How are these recorded?
- What information and data from the incoming document are necessary for further processing?
Therefore, the introduction of an OCR/scan solution (e.g., Buildsimple) for incoming mail is usually unavoidable. This is particularly relevant for recurring, partially structured data and documents such as invoices, delivery notes, contracts, etc.
Paper-based processes can be quickly eliminated by introducing appropriate workflow and document management solutions for the actual processing of (paper) documents. It is not always necessary to change everything at once; often, the introduction of a solution for common auxiliary processes such as invoice processing, contract management, or HR (personnel files) is enough to ease the burden.
The benefits for your future paperless office
- Costs are reduced: Gone are the days of printers, toner, paper, and maintenance. Printer rooms can be used for other purposes, whether as storage for beverage crates or perhaps a pool table or foosball table?
- Central storage/archiving, but decentralized working: killing two birds with one stone. Thanks to central archiving, all essential documents are available and accessible to all employees at any time (provided they have the necessary authorization). But this no longer has to be done on site; it can be done from home, on the train, or anywhere else.
- "You can't come in here" – a slightly different kind of bouncer mentality. With secured access, decentralized systems and DMS solutions prevent misuse. Only employees who are authorized according to the authorization management system are allowed to work on the document.
- Workflow automation: The introduction of document management or workflow solutions makes many processes faster and easier—especially by eliminating redundancies and media breaks.
Where to start? Our ISR Digital Maturity Check as a guide
The dream of a paperless office is not over yet, but you still don't really know where to start or how to get there?
Our ISR Digital Maturity Check can lay the initial groundwork here: we use various clusters to determine and analyze your level of digital maturity and identify initial areas for action and packages of measures.
The key questions here are:
- Where are you currently?
- Where is action needed?
- Which measures are suitable for you?
- What measures can be implemented in the short term?
Curious? You can find more information about the ISR Digital Maturity Check here.
Who are we?
As an industry- and manufacturer-independent IT service provider with more than 28 years of experience in the analysis, design, realization, and implementation of document and process solutions, we have always been able to apply the expertise we have gained in a meaningful and beneficial way for our customers. Whether in contract management, ordering, invoice processing, or customer, supplier, or personnel files: in the area of "business process automation," we create and optimize for our customers.
Do not hesitate to contact us!
Technology recommendations for your paperless office
Workflow management solutions:
IBM Business Automation Workflow
IBM Digital Business Automation
Input management solutions:
Buildsimple as a SaaS solution
Document management solutions:
ISR Contract Manager for digitizing your contracts
ISR Accounts Payable Flow for digitizing your invoices
IBM FileNet as an e-file, e.g., as a project file
ECLISO as a file solution based on IBM FileNet
Angelina Jordan
Account & Marketing Manager
Business Process Automation
angelina.jordan@isr.de
+49(0)151 422 06 942
