PAPER WARS
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electronic processing are equally valid for
less defined case-based processes.
“Case-based processes tend to involve
less predictable routes and less predictable
participants. For example, a claims benefit
payment might involve input from a
number of different people and you may
have to present several people with the
contents of a case folder. Doing that on
paper, although people feel it’s more
secure, restricts the whole collaboration.
The person who has the case folder sitting
on their desk can see it, but no one else
can. That’s not very conducive to getting
the thing done. As soon as it becomes
paper-free, everybody sees the same
content,” he said.
Lack of imagination
Digital mailrooms, the scanning of
documents ‘at the door’ and then routing
them to the recipient electronically, seems
like an obvious way to reduce paper use.
Yet, according to
Paper Wars
, just one in
four organisations has such a strategy.
“A lot of it is due to lack of imagination.
I went to my solicitor to hand in some
proof of identity documents. It’s a branch
office in Tewkesbury, about 20 miles from
the head office. She took my passport and
utility bills behind the counter and when
she brought my passport back, I said: ‘Just
out of interest, did you scan or photocopy
it?’ She said: ‘I photocopied it: I’ll send it
to the head office and they’ll scan it there.’
So many organisations scan paper at the
end of a process, because they have to
reduce the amount of floor space taken up
by records. Why not scan it at the start of
the process and put it through the process
electronically so it moves so much faster?”
One reason why there is still so much
paper in business processes, second only
to a lack of management initiatives (cited
by 47%), is the perceived need for physical
signatures (44%).
“People like to have a hard copy,”
explained Miles. “People assume you need
a wet ink signature in order to make it
legal, but you don’t. It’s valid to use digital
signatures, to use bitmap signatures. We’ve
been using signatures on faxes for years.”
Other reasons why people might be
slow to digitise processes – and where
resellers can make a difference – are lack
of awareness and the existence of more
pressing tasks for the IT department to
focus on.
“Often people don’t understand the
opportunity and are not familiar enough
with what could be done both from a legal
and a technical point of view,” explained
Miles. “You also have the attitude of ‘We
always use paper, so why change?’ And, in
some cases, changing a process has lower
priority than other things they need to do
in IT. Anybody who has changed a process
realises that you need to know the process
you are changing pretty well before you
go down this route. A lot of people have
the attitude of ‘If it ain’t broke, let’s not fix
it’ because they know perfectly well that
their processes are a little bit convoluted,
tricky or live in somebody’s head and have
never been properly written down or aren’t
followed anyway.”
This, says Miles, raises the issue of
Continued...
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Global sales of the Fujitsu fi Series of scanners have surpassed four million,
making it the best-selling professional document scanner series of all time.
Commenting on reaching this latest milestone, Mike Nelson, Vice President at
PFU Imaging Solutions Europe Ltd., said: “The fi Series delivers reliable solutions for
document capture with best real-world performance to meet customer expectations.
Our scanners deliver high imaging quality for our customers to digitise data and share
important documents throughout their organisation. We’d like to thank our loyal
customers around the world for continuing to trust our fi Series of scanners and we
are committed to develop the range further to meet the needs of our clients and the
markets they operate in.”
The fi Series, introduced with the launch of the fi-4750C, is designed
and developed for decentralised document image capture at the
desktop or workgroup level. Aimed at professional users who
need highly reliable solutions with real-world performance,
the premium scanners deliver the right combination
of speed and convenience.
All fi Series document scanners are
equipped with Fujitsu’s latest PaperStream
software. The driver and image enhancement
software PaperStream IP and the batch
scanning software PaperStream Capture
work seamlessly together for
greater productivity.
Panasonic has launched two new duplex scanners capable
of processing batches of documents of varying size and
thickness, as well as exception items like plastic cards and
passports.
The KV-S1057C can scan 65 pages per minute and the
KV-S1027C can scan 45 pages per minute. Both have 100-sheet
document feeders and a compact design that allows them to fit
into small spaces.
Panasonic Product Marketing Manager Carlos Osuna said:
“The unique document feed system helps save staff time whilst
allowing various documents, from paper to plastic cards, to be
scanned simultaneously. Compared to other desktop scanners in
its class, Panasonic’s KV-S10X7 series is the fastest in operation,
as well as being able to
hold the most documents
for scanning at one
time.”
For ease of
use, the scanners
offer one-touch
scanning and
the ability to
store up to 100
job settings.
Four million and counting
Panasonic launches
desktop scanners
