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Document automation: A business guide

Document automation: A business guide

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Document automation: A business guide

Automating document management can speed up your work, improve its accuracy, and help keep it compliant

True digital transformation is preceded by two steps: digitization and digitalization. Bringing your documents into the digital world is only step one. If you’re still processing each digital document by hand, you’re leaving efficiency on the table.

Once documents are digital, you can use tools to maximize their value. Chief among those tools is document automation. With document automation solutions, you can generate, process, and collaborate on documents more quickly and effectively. At the same time, you can raise your standards for data accuracy and compliance. This guide will show you how to tap into that potential.

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What is document automation?

Document automation refers to creating and managing documents at scale. Customized templates, document management software, word processing tools, design software, and more can all play a part. Digitizing physical documents is also a cornerstone of document automation. Combining these tools allows companies to accelerate document work, giving employees more time to work on other tasks.

    Building a document automation workflow

  • Assess the volume of physical documents you work with and choose a scanner to meet the challenge.
  • Select automation software that makes it easy to extract and route data and edit documents.
  • Train employees on the tools you've selected to keep work smooth.

How to use your digital trading card scans

Time savings

Creating new documents takes a lot of work. So does analyzing documents for essential data. Document workflow automation allows you to generate documents more quickly. When taking in documents, automations can instantly extract the relevant data and route it to the proper place. That leads to stronger decision-making.

Error reduction

Manual processes open the door to human error. That's especially true when those tasks are repetitive. Automations take human employees out of the equation. That reduces the risk of an oversight. OCR, for example, can make it easier to standardize organizing efforts such as meta tagging.

Enhanced collaboration

Document automation helps employees access the documents they need faster. It can also power remote collaboration. Workers can be in different offices and still edit the same document at the same time. That helps to avoid miscommunication and improve productivity in hybrid work models.

Read more about document automation essentials in What Is Document Automation? How It Works and Why It Matters. 

 

Did You Know? The TMC named the RICOH fi-8170 as a Future of Work Product of the Year 2023. TMC recognizes "companies that showcase the most innovative and disruptive products and solutions that have positively supported hybrid work experiences across the globe." Click here to learn more.

What is document automation software?

Document automation software is designed to generate and process documents rapidly. Document templates, for example, allow workers to generate a new document simply by supplying the required values. Employees might enter dollar amounts and product requests into the software. When they're finished, the software can generate a complete invoice with all that information already in its right place.

    Key features in document automation software

  • An intuitive user interface makes it easier to build and use workflows.
  • Customizable software lets you tailor your solution to your needs.
  • Optical character recognition (OCR) accelerates data extraction and routing.
  • Powerful search can instantly surface the right document.

Trends in document automation software

Generative AI

From logistics to healthcare, nearly every industry is investing in artificial intelligence. Document automation solutions support that investment with generative AI tools. These solutions can use generative AI to extract data, process it, and generate new content based on those inputs. That creates enormous potential for time savings.

Embracing the cloud

By storing data in the cloud, global enterprises can power collaboration from anywhere. Rather than build their own infrastructure, many use the public cloud. Document automation software increasingly meets them there. It typically solves challenges related to storage and user access.

Going paperless

As companies undergo digital transformations, they need ways to bring their legacy data into their new, paperless workflows. Optical character recognition is a vital facet of intelligent document automation. It allows organizations to transform paper documents into workable digital files. It can also power storage, routing, and data extraction.

Read more about document automation software in Document Automation Software Explained: Tools, Benefits, and Trends. 

 

Document automation in practice

In addition to saving time, document automation can improve compliance in sensitive industries. If you design a safe work process, you want your employees to use it. By standardizing processes, you can make that easy for them. Automations can also reduce the risk of clerical errors such as inappropriate data storage. When workers properly handle and store documents, your organizational compliance risks fall significantly.

    Industries embracing document automation

  • Financial institutions can automate reports, customer communications, and loan approval to speed up decisions and improve customer satisfaction.
  • Educational organizations can give teachers more time with their students by creating transcripts, certificates, and other documents automatically.
  • Insurance agencies can use automation to standardize processes, leading to improved regulatory compliance.

Successful document automation examples

Warner Bros. Discovery

To improve its legal document management and inter-department collaboration, Warner Bros. Discovery needed to replace its manual processes. It made its templates more versatile and stored them in a single repository. It also automated approvals using set triggers, which sped up work and reduced the load on the legal team. As a result, the legal department executed more than 2,400 agreements in December 2022 alone.

Region Stockholm

Stockholm's regional public body, Region Stockholm, counts healthcare among its many responsibilities. The organization had digitized 70% of its patient records, but 30% still had to be handled manually. To close the gap, Region Stockholm adopted Tungsten Automation's TotalAgility platform. It now automates 4 million documents a year. Providers get two potential benefits. First, they could be better protected against compliance lapses. Second, they get more time with their patients.

Colorado Housing Financial Authority

Before document automation, the Colorado Housing Financial Authority managed 7,000-page commercial loan applications by hand. That took human workers ages. To speed things up and improve accuracy, CHFA turned to Hyland's OnBase content services platform. With OnBase, CHFA automated document workflows. That led to faster decisions, fewer errors, greater compliance, and improved customer service.

Read more about the business uses of document automation in Document Automation Examples: 5 Industries Embracing the Change. 

Did You Know?  Ricoh and its independent partners have helped dozens of organizations complete digital transformations. Click here to learn more. 

Achieving successful document automation with Ricoh

Document automation is the tool of the future. By streamlining repetitive work, you can save your organization money and your employees time. It also clears the way for more reliably high-quality outcomes. However, depending on the complexity of your organization, getting the most out of automations may require careful planning and execution. You need a road map to help you stay on track. Click here for a free ebook to guide you through your document automation process.

 

 

 

Note: Information and external links are provided for your convenience and for educational purposes only. 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.

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