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PAPER
Released to coincide with World
Paper Free Day on November 5, the
AIIM Industry Watch report
Paper-
Free Progress: measuring outcomes
highlights the considerable benefits
that digitisation brings, but also the
slow progress that companies are
making in switching from paper-
based processes.
More than four out of five business
executives surveyed (84%) said they
achieved payback from paper-free projects
within 18 months, with 59% achieving
ROI within 12 months and 26% within six
months.
Paper-free benefits
Organisations that have digitised processes
report a range of benefits. These include
faster customer response times (43%),
followed by improved productivity,
enhanced compliance and better
monitoring of workflow. More than one
in five (22%) cite improved visibility for
remote and mobile employees.
For organisations that have implemented
mobile portable data capture solutions, the
three biggest benefits are speed of data
availability (40%), keeping paper out of the
organisation (38%), improving back office
processes (38%) and improved logistics and
forms handling (32%).
Paper persists
Despite these benefits, many businesses
are still struggling with paper:
n
31% of respondents say their offices are
still piled high with paper;
n
20% report that paper use in their
organisation is actually increasing.
n
40% continue to file ‘important stuff’
on paper;
n
56% are wed to signatures on paper for
contracts and order forms;
n
35% print most of the electronic
invoices they receive and process as paper;
n
34% agree that most of the documents
they scan are unchanged from printer to
scanner, so why print in the first place?
Progress to paper-free is slow
These findings underline the challenges
many organisations face in making
key processes paper-free. Only 14% of
respondents said they were making fast
progress towards this goal compared to
37% who said they were making little
progress.
More than one in 10 respondents have
not started any digitisation projects (11%)
or have seen those that they have started
stall (15%).
But things are improving
On a more positive note, more than half
(57%) say they are committed to digital
transformation and that paper-free is an
essential starting point; 49% report falling
paper volumes.
Subtracting the number of organisations
where the paper pile is growing from
the number where it is shrinking gives a
net positive score of 29%. This compares
favourably with scores of 23% in 2014 and
just 3% in 2011.
More than half (55%) say the
amount of paper flowing through their
organisation’s business processes is
decreasing – 12% say it is declining rapidly.
40% of organizations report that
more than half of their invoices are now
delivered electronically.
Almost one in five (17%) work in a
paper-free office.
New research from AIIM shows slow but steady
progress to paper-lite business processes
Paper audit
Cultural impediments
So, while progress is being made, it still
begs the question why is it not happening
faster.
AIIM’s research highlights a
combination of cultural and organisational
factors that are the diluting the positive
impact of digitisation.
The main reasons given by respondents
include management inertia and staff
preferences (both 49%) and a general lack
of understanding of paper-free options
(39%).
Digitisation drivers
World Paper-Free Day was originally
promoted as a tree-saving exercise.
However, AIIM’s survey suggests that this
approach would no longer be effective.
While 27% have an environmental
policy to reduce paper usage, just 4% cite
sustainability as a driver of scanning and
data capture.
Top of the list is improved searchability
and shareability of documents, followed by
productivity, savings in storage space and
faster response times.
New ways of working are another key
driver, with 80% of respondents agreeing
that paper content and processes are a
huge impediment to remote access and
teleworking.
The report
Paper-Free Progress: measuring
outcomes
is free to AIIM members. It can
be downloaded from
.
org/paper-free-progress-measuring-
outcomes
.
The AIIM research is based on a survey
of 430 individual members of the AIIM
community. AIIM is a global, non-profit
organization that provides independent
research, education and certification
programs to information professionals. The
survey was taken using a web-based tool
by 430 individual members of the AIIM
community between Aug. 14 and Sept. 2
2015.
Find out more at
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