Document automation is being adopted by businesses around the world to improve their efficiency and productivity. Large enterprises, such as Schlumberger, who have historically dealt with complex documents consisting of thousands of files are using document automation todramatically alter the way they conduct business.
Schlumberger has shifted from processes that involved hundreds of employees and took a matter of months, to using just a few staff members and a single computer which produces documents in just a matter of days. Market research from IDC says that organizations lose anywhere between 20 and 30% of their revenue every year due to inefficient manual processes.
Businesses who want to stay competitive need to employ solutions that optimize their processes, streamline their workflows and deliver value faster, more efficiently and with higher quality. Document automation is one such solution that is changing the way businesses operate for the better.
As an organization looking to remain efficient and competitive, the following are ways in which our customers find document automation advantageous to their business.
In business, mistakes cost companies thousands of dollars, delay product deliveries or render your organization non-compliant in the eyes of the law.
Automation leaves less room for human error, and effectively eliminates the risk of mistakes being made in a rush. Unlike professionals, automation thrives on repetitive, routine tasks that are vital to your business operations.
By minimizing the human element in creating complex documents, companies can avoid making costly mistakes while having the power to automatically detect and correct previous errors.
Over 60% of companies could save 30% of their time and productivity with automation. Technological approaches over methods reliant on humans push a company to be more competitive, effective and efficient.
In practice, document automation performs tasks faster than your most skilled employees. Its accuracy also out ranks all of their combined attention to detail. In addition to this, document automation significantly reduces or eliminates time spent on correcting the many small errors that creep in through manual entry.
According to AIIM, on average, every misfiled document costs $125, and a lost document costs $700. With many complex documents consisting of hundreds, if not thousands, of individual documents this leaves a lot of potential for savings.
Cutting costs and saving money is one of the reasons document automation is such a great asset for businesses. Automating your document management saves millions of dollars a year, as you don’t have to hire extra employees to fill out stacks of forms, find files or create massive, complex documents that get lost.
You’ll also save money on supplies. Document automation takes all of your data straight into the digital realm. With no need for reams of paper, and significant savings on other printing materials, document automation is the eco-friendly approach to managing your document production processes.
Through saving money with automation, you can reinvest where it counts. Document automation allows organizations to invest the time and money they save into sales, marketing and customer service.
According to AIIM, employees waste 3.5 hours per week searching for and not finding documents, and additional hours are wasted recreating “lost” documents. That’s additional time businesses can use to improve their standing.
Instead of spending thousands of business hours and millions of dollars producing complex proposals, operating manuals and regulatory contracts, your business can invest in product quality, customer relationships and other areas that drive net new revenue.
Driving cohesion and collaboration within a company is one of the primary goals of any CEO. Unfortunately, as technology has developed and more staff work remotely, many employees work within their own silos.
According to NYTimes, remote working is continuing to rise. Bit.ai states that 33% of employees say the ability to collaborate whilst remote makes them more loyal, and companies and organizations that communicate effectively are 4.5x more likely to retain the best employees.
With document automation tools, organizations can enable employees to process and interact documents from wherever they are, and bring them together in a collaborative way.
Many document automation solutions give employees the ability to create, edit and save documents in the cloud. Additionally, many systems provide built-in collaboration tools for teams. These features are ideal for agile-based projects, and boost collaboration throughout your company.
The ability to access and work with files in the cloud also improves accessibility for when your employees are geographically dispersed or cannot work in the same office.
Data silos refer to information that a company retains, but doesn’t share across teams. This information could simply be misplaced somewhere in the system, or it could be in disconnected systems that not all users have access to.
In a report by information week it was uncovered that 80% of company data remains ‘dark’ as in, it is unused and forgotten.
Document automation workflows integrate data sources, such as ERP, CRM and other leading business applications, ensuring that all your information is working for you. It also allows you to find and access data quickly, easily and effectively through a single centralized view.
Enterprises often deal with an assortment of third parties. Clients, customers, partners and suppliers each contribute to daily business, and many provide documents (or process documents you provide them) in different formats.
These include CAD files, PDFs, Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets and more. When dealing with a large variety of files, it helps to be able to convert those documents into a format that is easily accessible for users or intended readers.
Many document automation solutions include the ability to convert those files to a format that is easily accessible internally and externally, keeping your data consistent and readable. Organizations that employ this enjoy internal and external benefits to their processes.
The benefits of document automation are numerous in their direct internal advantages and indirect competitive edges. This technology not only helps keep your company organized, it helps your company to thrive within the digital era.
By implementing and training companies on the use of document automation, Global Cents has enabled businesses around the world to save millions of dollars. Now, you can empower your business too, and save dollars, generate revenue and boost internal collaboration.
Book an appointment with our consultant now, and we’ll show you how.