Streamline workflows, reduce waste, and save money with a paperless office
“Why go paperless?” Businesses have asked themselves this question since adopting a digital workflow became a practical option. Yet so much work continues to be done on paper, even as companies embrace digital tools and initiatives to streamline processes and improve productivity. While most businesses have digitization strategies in place, only one-third of all organizations have achieved or are on track to achieve their goals, according to Gartner.
If your organization hasn’t made its paperless transformation, there’s no better time to start. The benefits of going paperless are numerous. Discover how making the switch to digital can improve efficiency, reduce costs, enhance data security, and much more.
Ready to ditch paper clutter and embrace a digital workflow? Read this guide to going paperless to learn the benefits of swapping, plus the strategies and tools you need to streamline your work life.
Why go paperless? 7 benefits of going paperless
Improved efficiency
Creating, storing, and destroying paper documents requires time and resources; even something as simple as printing a document sparks a chain of small inefficiencies. Employees must wait for the print to finish. Then, they must walk to the printer to pick it up. Finally, they spend additional time dropping it off where it needs to go. These steps seem invisible, but each one eats into the valuable time available in a given workday.
They also create the added potential for mistakes. For example, misfiling a document under the wrong letter or in a different section can add additional minutes — or even hours — to retrieval. This can lead to delayed deadlines and poor customer service. Going paperless reduces retrieval times, enables teams to send and receive documents faster, and minimizes the potential for mistakes in sorting and filing.
Did You Know?:The fi-8270 can hold up to 100 pages in its automatic document feeder and scan up to 70 pages per minute.
Cost savings
Maintaining a paper-based office comes at a significant cost. In addition to staying stocked with enough reams of paper to keep operations humming, businesses must buy filing cabinets or other storage systems, provide room for storage, and ensure that workers understand storage and disposal processes.
The costs of buying paper have only risen over the past few years. Supply chain issues and paper shortages have caused prices to increase between 6-15% in 2021. Experts expect these shortages to continue well into the decade. Shifting to a paperless system can lower costs for your business while reducing reliance on an expensive resource.
Enhanced collaboration
Modern business is global and moves at a rapid pace. Many employees collaborate in offices around the world. And remote work is giving more employees flexibility in getting the job done.
Digitization allows teams to transfer necessary information across the globe in an instant. They can request insight from key collaborators and get feedback in a fraction of the time it might take otherwise. Supervisors can provide approval without the need to send business-critical documentation through physical mail systems, where they can get delayed or lost.
Streamlined workflows
Paperless offices reduce the friction between employees and the data they need. For example, digitized forms remove the steps necessary for data entry. Instead of requiring customers to fill out a paper form, then have a worker manually input those details into a centralized database, a digital form ensures information is stored so businesses can access it immediately.
Reduced environmental impact
Offices are one of the most significant sources of paper generation and waste. While paper use has declined since the early 2000s, businesses are responsible for using nearly four million tons yearly. This volume of paper requires resources to grow, harvest, and process. Once used, paper can be recycled, composted, combusted with energy recovery, or sent to landfills. By switching to a paperless office, businesses can contribute to the overall decline of paper use and reduce their environmental impact.
Increased data security
Organizations are responsible for protecting sensitive documentation from unauthorized personnel. Safeguarding these physical documents requires a significant investment in security systems. Electronic locks control access to storage rooms. Cameras keep watch over storage areas. And guards manage access to and from the building. All of these systems have an associated cost.
But even with these systems in place, accidents happen. Employees might misplace documents or accidentally expose sensitive information. Digital document management systems automate many of these processes. Global permissions prevent unauthorized access to reduce theft. They can also track who and when people view and update documents through audit logs to decrease mistakes.
Robust archiving
Businesses often need to store legacy paperwork over the long term. To do so, they may need more space than is available. Yet, archiving physical documents offsite makes accessing this documentation more difficult.
Digitization helps ensure businesses can access essential files without maintaining expensive on-site archival facilities. Automated processes archive or destroy digital documents in line with crucial security standards and regulations, just like physical paperwork.
Did You Know?:PCMagazine described the fi-8270 as “...a fast and accurate scanner with a multitude of high-end features.” Click here to read the full review and learn why it earned an “excellent” 4 out of 5 rating.
Our recommendation: fi-8270
Those in the market for a document scanner for a paperless office have no shortage of options. We take great pride in having spent the last 50+ years researching, designing and developing some of the most advanced and powerful electronics in the world, including our professional grade fi Series scanners.
Built to purpose for the most demanding document handling jobs, fi and SP scanners are capable of processing tens-of-thousands of pages per day at the highest levels of accuracy. Their intuitive integration capabilities with all existing work suites minimize time-to-value for businesses looking to invest in tools that will pay dividends for years to come.
The fi-8270 offers businesses the best of both worlds. The 100-page automatic document feeder can make quick work of large stacks of paper. And for awkwardly-sized pages, books, photos, and fragile documents, the flat-bed scanner offers versatility while maintaining the same level of high-quality digital scans. Click here to learn more or shop the rest of our production scanner line.
Note: Information and external links are provided for your convenience and for educational purposes only, and shall not be construed, or relied upon, as legal advice. PFU America, Inc. makes no representations about the contents, features, or specifications on such third-party sites, software, and/or offerings (collectively “Third-Party Offerings”) and shall not be responsible for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of such Third-Party Offerings. Please consult with a licensed attorney regarding your specific situation as regulations may be subject to change.
