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Controlling Print Costs with a Document Management Solution

Webmaster — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 04:08:00 +0000

When considering the many costs that an organization has to expend, one of the most misunderstood is that of printing costs.

The Gartner Group estimates that as much as 30% of organizations' print costs can be eliminated with simple technology solutions.

The Business World is a rapidly changing entity, and technology helps adapt to these changes quickly and will help a company keep its competitive advantage. Paper has always been an inefficient medium for conducting business processes, and recently has become a key focus for Business Process Improvement (BPI) initiatives. So what are the main reasons for a company or organization to move towards the paperless environment?

Below are the two main categories:

1. Operation Efficiency and Business Process Improvement

Using a digital repository can improve productivity. This is an obvious benefit. Any time you can reduce the time required to perform a required task, that time can be applied elsewhere. A basic online search for a customer file requires about 5 seconds. To accomplish the same information lookup with a physical file cabinet can take 10 – 25 minutes, or perhaps even days if the file is held in offsite storage. This is just for basic lookups, and not complex searches, which could take weeks if performed through the physical file system. continue reading...

How Much is that Paper-based Office Really Costing You?

Web Master — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:37:11 +0000

The dropping costs of hard drive space and the growing number of scan-enabled multifunction systems are prompting many businesses to implement Electronic Document Management Systems.

These systems provide searchable access to scanned information enabling better business decisions and smoother customer service interactions. They also create a much-needed disaster recovery plan and help ensure regulatory compliance.
continue reading...

Do Something About a 6% Chunk of Your Budget

Web Master — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:33:26 +0000

Recent research by InfoTrends revealed that the majority of surveyed organizations believed that they were spending 3% of their annual revenue on document-related expenses. The study found that actual overall expenditures on documents were 6% of annual revenues.

Document costs included everything from printing and copying to the infrastructure needed to store and retrieve critical information.
continue reading...

Stop Losing Important Documents!

Web Master — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:30:15 +0000

Are you constantly misplacing important business documents? Are loose papers cluttering and consuming office space? Are you spending hours looking for specific client information and having no luck? It’s time to adopt a document management system.

Document Management for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses continue reading...

Is Your Business Running At Its Best?

Webmaster — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 17:40:00 +0000

The core of any business is a group of processes. Predictable processes like invoicing and collections, order fulfillment and customer support are the fundamentals that drive businesses to success. Continual improvement of business processes leads to better results like increased revenue, reduced expenses, faster collection, regulatory compliance, and reduced risk.

The following are a few points to consider that will help improve your business processes:

1. Begin with the end in mind. Define what the real goal of your process is.

2. Map Out the Process. Think of the four Ws: Who, What, When and Where.

3. Determine what inhibits your process. There is always a more efficient way to complete a task.

4. Consider any risks. Are you overlooking any potential regulatory or legal problems? Is your business prepared for a natural disaster?

5. Determine the costs. Consider the hard costs of the process along with the labor costs. continue reading...

Three Simple Recycling Strategies for Your Office

Webmaster — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:08:00 +0000

The world is focused on recycling. One of the best places to start may be with your office laser printers and multifunction systems.

Here are three simple steps to cutting waste and saving money: continue reading...

Recycle Paper Put recycling bins next to your printers and copiers. Most municipalities have recycling services. You can also use recycled paper in your printers and copiers. Make sure to select a good quality of recycled paper that is rated for laser printers and copiers.
Duplex Printing A great way to immediately cut paper usage is to set your printers and multifunction systems to default to duplex (two-sided) printing. This is especially helpful for long print jobs because duplex printing literally cuts your paper usage in half.

Why NOT Color?

Webmaster — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:07:00 +0000

Color helps you communicate more effectively with your customers, and it also helps you communicate more effectively internally.

Color Improves Customer Communication

Did you know that color invoices get paid faster, reducing collection time? Color marketing materials and proposals command attention. Color newsletters and publications keep your clients informed of your new offerings.

Color Improves Internal Communication

Did you know that training materials are more effective in color? Spreadsheets and financial reports are more understandable in color – and color even helps to reduce errors when working with reports. Key memos and internal flyers capture attention in color. continue reading...

What to Look For When Purchasing a Printer

Webmaster — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:24:00 +0000

Technological advances have resulted in many different printers, but of course not all printers will print the same quality. There are many different types of printers on the market, and all of them have different functions and characteristics.

Some questions you may want to ask before buying a printer are:

· Are you a large or small company?

· What will this device be used for?

· What quality and performance features are you looking for?

· What is your budget? continue reading...

What is Workflow?

Webmaster — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:53:00 +0000

All too often, we hear and even use terms assuming others know exactly what we mean. One term used in the document industry is workflow- but what does it mean?

According to Wikipedia

A workflow consists of a sequence of connected steps. It is a depiction of a sequence of operations...

The flow being described often refers to a document that is being transferred from one step to another.

A workflow is a model to represent real work for further assessment, e.g., for describing a reliably repeatable sequence of operations. More abstractly, a workflow is a pattern of activity enabled by a systematic organization of resources, defined roles and mass, energy and information flows, into a work process that can be documented and learned.Workflows are designed to achieve processing intents of some sort, such as physical transformation, service provision, or information processing. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workflow ) continue reading...

Why Automation Should be Your Company’s New Year’s Resolution.

Webmaster — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:23:00 +0000

Everyone knows how bad the economy was this past year and this downturn caused many companies to put their IT strategies on hold. Others however, saw this as an opportunity to be proactive and begin implementing automation and moving forward with new ways of getting the job done. As we head into the New Year, look at these strategies to think about re-organizing and working smarter. continue reading...

Be proactive! While companies need to react quickly to industry trends and changing economic and world environments, they also need to formulate strategies for the future. Think about creating a team who will think ahead and make sure the company will get where it wants to go in the next few years.
Follow a business strategy roadmap. Don’t just jump blindly expecting the technology to magically work for you. Build a business strategy that will clarify and outline the issues you’re trying to solve. Be sure that your company is starting with a good foundation for their infrastructure that can be further built upon.
You don’t have to implement everything at once. In fact, it is much more practical automate your business according to a strategic plan—focus on what needs attention first. Look at your industry specific government regulations to see how they expect a company to handle information management.
Don’t wait to “play it safe” and have other companies experiment with new technology. If you stand back and wait for another company to make the first step and prove automation as a valuable investment, the next generation of technology will already have hit the business world. Your company will remain one step behind other innovating companies and will lose competitive edge.
Think about your return on investment (ROI). If you’re worried about staffing and hiring issues, realize that once automation is implemented, people used to working manually with documents can be re-deployed to other valuable tasks. While automation still needs staff to run it, the amount of personnel can be greatly reduced. This feeds right into the ROI. Create a flowchart and see how much faster your product can hit the market with new technology. That’s savings.