How to improve the management of your business’s documents right from the source, thereby cutting costs and improving security.
A recent article in the Times of Malta tackles the issue of document workflow and how it can be improved to benefit businesses.
Neville Lia writes that, despite the increasing digitisation of office processes, “there is still quite a substantial amount of documents” received by businesses in the post, and it is also surprising how many papers are created in-house. While there are “multiple electronic solutions” to managing these papers, and while many businesses institute a variety of “policies and procedures”, in-house printing still “tends to be abused over time and inevitably there will be extra paper being generated which won’t necessarily be needed.”
These papers often consist of uncollected print-outs, and sometimes “documentation is printed multiple times by different people, who would not realise that a colleague would have printed the document already.” In larger businesses, documents may also be accidentally sent to a printer on the wrong floor, resulting in the paper being printed more than once if the employee did not realise their mistake and thought it simply had not been printed at all.
Over time, these surplus print-outs “can be quite substantial” and inevitably result in paper and toner stocks being depleted, as well as the printers suffering wear-and-tear, meaning that businesses can incur a range of unnecessary costs.
Another worry is that some of these documents may also contain “very sensitive information” which could potentially end up “in the wrong hands”, compromising the security of a business.
Fortunately, software such as Streamline NX by Ricoh, which consists of various “document management applications”, works to “improve document visibility, interaction and usage.”
Its functions include a scan and fax manager, which means that “documents can be scanned from any multi-functional product, then faxed, emailed or stored”, thereby boosting productivity and lessening the risk of potential human error. There is also a secure print manager, whereby “print jobs are stored on a server and can only be collected” by the person (or someone they designate) who sent it to be printed.
The software’s authentications and accounting manager is another helpful tool, “an integrated identification system that can restrict access to MFP functions”, improving security and reducing the number of documents uploaded to the “wrong workflows.”
In addition, Streamline NX’s administration manager “enables total control of all MFPs and printers from a single interface”.
Ricoh’s software is an efficient and effective way of improving the document workflow of your business, helping companies to “reduce costs” as “rules can be set, and policies enforced, to ensure print volumes are reduced without impacting the business’ needs.” Streamline NX is sure to be prove particularly sought-after next year, after the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation, which requires organisations to “confirm that they have a policy to control the printing of customer information.”