Document Scanning Blog

Have you ever wondered how anything got done in the business world before the introduction of the computer? Remember when secretaries would spend half of their day at the photocopy machine, busying themselves with duplicating interoffice memos and sending them off in interoffice envelopes? It is truly amazing how much was accomplished when the flow of information dripped slowly through an organization, rather than the rapid-fire speed of email. With all the technology used to manage the distribution of data throughout an organization, today we know a lot about more about business processes. Thanks to the gradual implementation of online document management systems, companies are also using this technology to employ workflow systems that analyze and recommend improvements in productivity, customer service and quality control. Often packaged together with a document imaging application, workflow systems can be used to define and control each step of the business process. Workflow systems can work in many ways, but each is designed to follow an electronic document as it travels throughout the various departments and individual “desks” of employees. For example, the sales department might receive a purchase order, which must first go to sales, then to billing and production. Later, it will be accessed by an accounts receivable clerk, who mark the invoice as paid and sign off on it. The importance of tracking documents throughout the workflow of an organization is to develop more efficient and cost-effective ways of moving documents through the system. As each employee signs off on the document, it is recorded by the workflow system. Ultimately, if a company can reduce the number of steps that need to be taken or empower others to approve it, that companies productivity can dramatically improve over time.