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What is document digitization?
Over the past decade, organizations have seen the volume of information they had to deal with grow at an exponential rate. Far from reaching the desired paperless office, much of this data comes in the form of documents that make it difficult to share and use it to optimize decision-making.
This is where digitization, document scanning comes into play, a process that is no longer as complex or as expensive as in the past, and can even outsource the service. In this way, all that flow of unstructured data is transformed into a structured format, which can be read and processed by computers. The digitization of documents and document management therefore go hand in hand.
What does the digitization of a company's documents consist of
When it comes to documents, the leap from the analog to the digital world extends to all types of companies and sectors. However, it would be a mistake to reduce document digitization to mere scanning, to that conversion into bits of information, since it requires a series of previous and subsequent tasks that cannot be ignored. Digitalization involves processing that information to make it treatable.
In this way, before carrying out the digitization itself with the help of scanners, all documents must be collected wherever they are—sometimes outside the facilities themselves—and prepared for that digitization. This sometimes involves certain manual tasks, such as extracting clips or staples from sheets of paper and sorting them by type of document to avoid confusion once scanned.
After the scan, the digitization is not complete without subsequent optical recognition, so that the semi-structured content is identified and the audiovisual content is treated properly, taking into account elements such as special characters or bar codes.
Once this process has been carried out, its recording and verification would be subtracted in the system, validating each record to conform to the indexing rules established in the format you want to export (txt, mdb, xml, pdf...).
What benefits can digitalization bring to your company
· Storage and maintenance savings. The storage space required for digitized documents is significantly less than that required when they are on paper. In 1 TB, which is the minimum capacity of many hard drives, you can fit 6.5 million pages of documents, or the equivalent of 1,300 shelves full of paper documents. It's not just a matter of reducing space, but also the associated cost, since archives and warehouses often come with rents, air conditioning, security...
· Accessibility to information. When information is properly digitized, classified and indexed, its access is immediate. Document digitization provides faster data retrieval, reducing information search times and, in addition, being able to do so and share it from any place and device.
· Easier data processing. Having all the information stored, accessible and digitally classified in a common repository allows you to immerse yourself in the Big Data, that is, crossing previously dispersed and forgotten data in watertight silos to extract relevant information quickly and easily.
· Documentation security. Once the documents have been digitized, it is possible to establish security policies that not only shield information from malicious attacks, but also define different access profiles and privileges depending on their role. In this same sense, the software guarantees the integrity of the documents, offering traceability of any modification made. In addition, the digitization of documents opens the door to backup copies to maintain insurance in the event of computer disasters, natural disasters, etc. with a view to business continuity.
· Protection of the environment. We usually think of the tons of paper that document digitization saves; however, this protection for the environment goes much further, since taking the digital leap also drastically reduces the carbon footprint associated with the manufacture and use of photocopiers and scanners, not to mention the enormous amount of consumables (ink and toner cartridges) they require.
Documents that can be digitized
In a company, the variety of documents that can be digitized to gain agility and operational efficiency is absolutely transversal, including practically all departments:
· Information related to customers and suppliers:
or Contracts:These are the legal documents that determine the relationship between the two parties and that sometimes have to be consulted on a regular basis. Its digitization simplifies these accesses as well as their monitoring in the case of recurring renewals.
or Invoices:The volume of invoices is enormous, adding those from customers and suppliers. Suggestion within the information flow of any organization is streamlined thanks to the incorporation of electronic invoicing and certified digitization, which even allows the removal of the paper original.
or Delivery notes and orders: In both cases, being able to access information anywhere and from any device can solve many problems in situations such as the delivery of goods.
or Policies: In the case of insurance firms, these are frequently consulted documents for any claim or renewal; the speed required, especially in the first case, requires access in practically real time, something that only digitization offers.
or Audiovisual material: Closely related to the previous point and, specifically, to sectors such as the insurance company, the digitization of audiovisual documents of claims is essential in the face of future claims or other incidents by customers.
· Information related to Human Resources and Finance:
or Contracts and payroll: Especially in medium and large companies, having this digitized documentation in a single repository simplifies the work of the HR area, which usually generates files that include all the information of each employee.
or Financial statements and tax documents: All financial documentation, generally subject to strict legal requirements, lends itself to digitization, firstly because it is required by the Administration and, secondly, because it increases the backup and security of information so critical to business continuity.
Adea digitization service. What is the digitization process like
Committing to document digitization has become a key element in gaining agility and not being left behind in decision-making with respect to the competition. However, it is a task that can consume a lot of resources without in itself providing added value to the business. Therefore, relying on outsourcing that function to an expert provider like Adea is the best option.
Adea's cutting-edge technology and its intelligent capture of information increase operational efficiency, while ensuring safety and regulatory compliance. The company has state-of-the-art OCR engines, Artificial Intelligence technology for the interpretation of structured and unstructured documents and a multiplatform environment that allows it to operate on all types of systems and applications, regardless of the format and the information input channel.
