The first step towards implementing workflow or business process management (BPM) is ensuring that documents start out and end up exactly where they should, and in the format that is required.
Document management is not a new science, but as Integration becomes more important within the business. It has become a strategic area that all companies really need to start considering.
The logical place to start is at the desktop, where documents are originated, and which is currently characterised by a dependence on the ubiquitous printer.
For decades now, the IT Industry has spoken fondly of the paperless office and document management was the trigger that was going to bring about the dream of a paper-free environment.
But each year, printer sales continue to rise, to the extent that there is frequently more than one printer per desktop, depending on a user's individual needs.
Interestingly, though, one of the latest trends in the printing market is the Introduction of the multi-functional device (MFD), which includes, among other features, the ability to scan documents into the system.
High-end printing solutions now also include document management software that help users not only print out their work, but also set it on the right path within their company's workflow system.
This is the view of Kyocera Mita's Ian Jarman, who points out that the vast majority of information only started being generated and stored in a digital format about 10 years ago - prior to that. It was mostly physical.
Even today, in the world of E-mail and Internet a massive amount of documentation still arrives on users' desks in a paper format.
"However, we can start getting those documents flowing through the system," says Jarman.
"Users can employ scanners or MFDs to input documents, together with their critical information, into the system."
The correct inputting and Indexing of a document is key to workflow and, later on, to knowledge management, so it's important that companies ensure it happens at the coalface.
In an interesting trend, sales of MFDs are starting to catch up to the number of "straight" printers moving into the market, an indication that companies are possibly beginning to implement document management strategies.
But Jarman says it is still mostly large organisations that are asking for scanning systems or MFDs as the starting point of their document management strategies, while smaller companies don't yet appear to have embarked on the document management and workflow road yet.
Jacques Duyver, CEO of Itec, says that despite the growth of electronic communication and document sharing, the need for printed output is still growing.
"The demand for hard copies, coupled with major advances in the functionality and flexibility of products in the document solutions Industry, as well as the Inroads and Impact that colour is making, have driven paper sales up," says Duyver.
The evolution, in recent years, of the traditional standalone analogue photo-copier has seen the move from a digital copier-printer to its current conceptual role of an information station. This move into the IT arena cements the integral role copiers play in the document solutions industry.
"Increased functionality and versatility of document solution products, allowing for networked (remote administration, printing applications and Job control) and scanning functions have translated into significant cost reductions and improved efficiency," says Duyver.
This has prompted companies to re-evaluate their document production and distribution procedures. Businesses now have the option of distributing documents electronically, storing them until needed, and reproducing them in print form as required, says Duyver.
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