3 Reasons for Document Management
Posted by Joe Taylor on Tue, Aug 04, 2009
There are many reasons for electronically archiving a company's documents rather than printing them on paper, in some cases making additional copies, and then storing them all for seven years. And with today's technology, there are fewer and fewer reasons not to make the change to paperless archiving in your business. Here are three really good reasons many business owners want to begin today: (Download a PDF brochure that explains how the UnForm Document Management Solution works in greater detail.)
Reason 1: Increased Security
You can set up electronic "file cabinets" for various types of documents, and each can be made accessible to only those individuals with permission to see the documents. In fact, each person won't even know there are other file cabinets in the library other than those that s/he has permission to see. So you can store sensitive documents alongside public documents and know that all of them are secure - much more secure than in traditional filing cabinets.
Reason 2: Cost Savings
This is a big category. There are cost savings of several types - in the printing of documents, in their delivery methods, storage, and retrieval of information from the documents. First, rather than continuing to buy multipart forms, each part of which can end up in your storage for seven years, just print the minimum needed. Sometimes that's zero! Just think of the paper you'll save! And if you're continuing to use multipart forms instead of copy paper and laser forms, it can add up to quite a sum of savings.
Then - consider the delivery of the documents. Mailing a document consists of paper, ink, envelopes, and postage, not to mention the time delay to deliver the document. Emailing a PDF copy of the document eliminates it all. And it can be an attractive printed document at the other end.
The difference in storage can represent the biggest cost savings. And not only the documents you print and mail, but all the documents you attach to the stored copy! (See Compliance below) Every business has box after box of stored records - and many businesses have rented storage units that seem to grow and grow over time. That monthly rental cost might not seem very significant until you multiply it by 12 months and then by 7 years!!
Finally, there is the significant efficiency savings of labor when trying to find information from a filing cabinet stuffed to the gills with old documents. It's not only a waste of time, it can also be a huge frustration for office workers. Information can be retrieved from archived documents with a "Search" capability from your employee's desk! Documents can be "tagged" with keywords to make data retrieval fast and easy.
Cost savings can pay for the document archiving system, and in many cases in a short time, depending on the company and the industry. If you want additional information, download the PDF brochure that explains how the UnForm Document Archiving Solution works in greater detail.
Reason 3: Compliance
Finally, many companies have compliance issues that require government-mandated forms to be stored along with the documents generated in house. Agricultural, food-related, transportation industries, and many other industries can be required to store all kinds of tests and certifications with every customer invoice! These documents can take up enormous storage space and be almost impossible to research once they're stored.
Well, not with document archiving. The outside documents can be scanned and in most cases automatically linked to the appropriate order, job, or invoice, and all stored electronically. Data retrieval is easy, paper storage is eliminated, documents can be emailed right from the archive, and you, your customer, and the regulators will all be happy.
You'll be surprised at how affordable it is, you'll be glad to know it requires no programming to your existing software, and you'll be amazed at the savings and the efficiency.
UnForm Document Management works with many software systems including Great Plains, MAS90, MAS200, Open Systems Accounting Software (OSAS), FACTS, AddonSoftware, Oracle, and more - essentially any system that outputs formatted text.