Oxygen Technical Services Ltd

How Document Management Solutions Help Businesses in Manitoba Cut Costs

Documents are the lifeblood of any organization, but it doesn’t mean they need to waste paper. Yet the World Atlas reports 26% of solid waste in dumps is discarded paper. While audit trails are undoubtedly necessary, this trail can be digital. As the late comedian, Mitch Hedberg once said, “We don’t need to bring ink and paper into this.”

The Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance reports employees down south are using 10,000 sheets of paper each year. Canada can do better. A document management system results in six key areas of cost savings for businesses in Manitoba.

1. Reduced Storage Costs

It costs a lot of money to store piles of paper. The Defense Logistics Agency estimates organizations using paper-based documents spend up to 14% of total costs on document processing, with 7.4% of staff time spent looking for documents. Of course, documentation is necessary for company audits, so it can’t be eliminated.

A document management system provides cost savings in storage and related expenditures. Documents are stored in an easily searchable database with an intuitive UI that makes it easy for employees to find what they need when they need it.

2. Higher Quality and Productivity

Productivity and quality are the two most important key performance indicators (KPIs) in businesses. These KPIs directly impact a business’s ability to deliver to its customers. Tim Hortons is known for its consistency across Canada, and any Manitoba business that wants to be as iconic as this mainstay brand needs consistency.

Document management systems enable a consistent, repeatable process throughout every business unit. This improves production across the board, making the business scalable during busy times. Removal of manual processes also reduces error rates, leading to a higher-quality result for customers.

3. Improved Security

Businesses need secure storage and processing of all documents from end to end. Deep fakes aside, Symantec’s 2019 Internet Security Threat Report shows an increase in cybersecurity attacks, including form jacking and ransomware. Criminals target businesses because they hold more sensitive information than individuals.

Using a document management system, electronic records are stored in a secure, cloud-based system. This state-of-the-art platform works with office printers, scanners, copiers, fax machines, and workstations to create an impenetrable digital infrastructure. Redundancies are even in place for recovery after an attack.

4. Eliminate Spending Waste

As mentioned above, paper is destroying the environment. It’s not just the litter – paper factories create pollution, as the process involves toxic chemicals. Gartner estimates an active print management initiative alone can cut in-house print costs up to 30%. This doesn’t even account for waste caused by mistakes.

Document management systems eliminate waste from paper-based businesses. This includes wasted time, money, and other valuable resources spent fixing mistakes. It doesn’t take long for mistakes to snowball and create an atmosphere of rushed employees always making errors while reworking accounts to correct past mistakes.

5. Streamlined Workflow

The best part about electronic document storage is the smooth workflow. Every contact point, from the mailroom to the c-suite, can easily access, retrieve, archive, and track documents. This reduces processing times for every business unit, enabling faster delivery of higher quality to the customer.

Automated inbound scanning combines optical character recognition (OCR) technology with a sophisticated indexing format. This makes documents immediately available by document types, headers, keywords, and other relevant information. Processes that once took multiple employees multiple days can now be completed by one person within minutes.

6. Improved Disaster Recovery

Downtime costs businesses an average of $300,000 per hour, with a range of $140,000-540,000, according to Gartner. When disaster hits, it hits hard. Anything from a power outage to a hurricane can devastate a business without a recovery plan. Large organizations use enterprise risk management (ERM) plans, while small businesses are often unprepared.

Document management systems backup all valuable data to the cloud, providing offsite storage that outlasts the building itself. This solution also makes it easier to access business-critical resources from outside locations, keeping the business running through anything.

Implementing a Document Management System

It’s not just Canada’s paper-based businesses that need a document management system. Even digital companies in Manitoba notice cost savings. Each business unit picks up disparate processes over the years, which are streamlined into one consistent procedure.

Old dogs can be taught new tricks, and the old way of doing things is continuously reinvented. There was a time when people used horse-drawn buggies to carry postal mail across the country. Reading today’s spam emails and Facebook profiles, it’s hard not to wonder how many men died carrying coupons, chain letters, and one-word responses back in those days.

Thankfully, the world has evolved since then, and digitization is once again helping Canada’s businesses automate tasks that used to take a lot of time for a lot of people.

Learn more about how our document management system provides cost-savings across Manitoba.

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