An electronic document management system is a software that is integrated with other internal systems to manage the creation, organization, storage and access of digital documents within a company’s workflow process. This minimizes the time taken in the workflow process of a company to speed up delivery to both the internal and external stakeholders
An Electronic document management system allows users to capture documents from sources such as email, scanned paper documents, internet
Why would buying an electronic document management system be a game changer in your company?
We researched a number of case studies, some whose implementation of an electronic document management system had failed and some that had successfully implemented it. We noticed several factors that were similar that had led them to implement an electronic document management system. We will look into these factors and how if they are handled well would bring a big change in managing the company’s digital transformation.
“Documents are important not because they are found everywhere, but rather because they are so evidently necessary to the ways people think and live” Lisa Gitelman, Paper knowledge
Company’s struggle with documents all the time and the staff who bear the brunt are the ones who handle the documents directly. They are the record keepers in big companies and the clerical staff in small companies. This is an area that is most neglected but is an essential part of the company. Companies hire staff without the right skills to handle their documents. It is done with the assumption that managing documents does not need skills. Yet documents are an integral part of the company that it would come to a standstill if anything happened to the documents.
Documents are to a company like oil is to a car.
In our normal work environment, there is always a pile up of paper documents, notes, spring files, box files, newspapers and magazines and other forms of paper documents all over.
Could an electronic document management system or EDMS be the remedy to a clean and clutterless office?
“Documents are usually created, received and maintained as information and evidence by a company for business transaction or legal evidence”
With the introduction of internet paper documents increased exponentially. Rather than reducing the use of paper, it increased the use of paper.
Why should you reduce the use of paper documents?
Managing paper documents can be costly in terms of time and money. Sharing of paper documents within and without the company can delay processes and also is expensive to manage. Let’s give an example of sharing a paper document between two branches of a company. Transferring a document would require either hiring a courier service or having an office assistant deliver the document. There is time wasted in delivering the document, There is the cost involved of paying for the courier service or transport for the office assistant. These factors cannot be avoided however urgent the document is.
Within the company from department to department would mean movement of staff from one area to another. We are talking about one document here, if there are several documents this would mean quite a lot of movement, time wasted and cost incurred.
“Research shows 80% of the documents we keep, we never use” (Hemphill, 2001)
The more we are receiving and creating these paper documents, the more they are accumulating. The more they are accumulating the more they are occupying office space. Companies are forced to lease more space for their paper documents. This means incurring more cost in rent for space that is not having a return on investment.
Storing documents offsite
And also the more these paper documents accumulate the harder it becomes to search for a paper document. This comes in with more human challenges. Some examples of these challenges could be
- You are trying to search for a document but you can’t trace it.
- You have gone to pick a file and somebody else has already collected it but forgot to log out.
- You picked a file searching for a specific document only to find it missing or damaged.
- The documents could even be stored off site, this means for a number of days before you can get the document.
- The document you are looking for could even be in a pile of cluttered and unorganized documents.
“The office staff averagely spends 30% of their working hours searching for documents”(Fisher 2000)
This is time that could be spent in productive work. What if the office staff would spend as minimal time as possible in document search and more time in productive work. This would obviously have an overall positive impact on the company.
What if an electronic document management system is implemented?
Paper usage
Before
Before the implementation of an electronic document management system, paper was being used. The paper documents are received, They are then labeled or documented and then they are filed.
This is a continuous process that is done with all the documents that are received. Retrieving documents here becomes more tedious as they continue to pile up and can take even days to retrieve.
A lot of time is taken walking around, sorting and searching for paper documents.
After
After the implementation of an EDMS, the indexing is set up in the initial stage of implementation then automated. Documents received are auto indexed as they are stored in the system. If the documents received are in paper format they are scanned and captured into the system. Retrieving a document here is just in seconds making the work process easier. Searching for a document is made easier just by a click of a button.
With the EDMS you don’t have to make copies to be shared out among the stakeholders or one user having the document then passing it over to the next user for example during the approval process. They will have multiple access to the document. They don’t even have to print the document to share it out. Losing a document or misfiling a document becomes a thing of the past.
With an EDMS comes improved workflow. When the workflow is flawless, the time a document spends in its movement among the stakeholders is completely minimized. The electronic document management system will provide the history of the audit trail, speed up document sharing,and review comments can also be included. All documents are safe in a central repository which does not occupy a lot of space.
In a place where there are no EDMS, decisions can be postponed because all the paper documents required to validate the process could not be found.
“Electronic Document Management System saves time, reduces costs, protects your documents and improves productivity”
Document security
Before
Before the implementation of an EDMS is compromised. Paper documents are misfiled or stolen, some are damaged, files are left on the desks. As files are moved from one place to another documents wear out or get lost all together. Every time we lose a document productivity is usually affected.
“8% of documents are lost forever in a company” AIIM
After
After the implementation of an electronic document management system is less compromised. There is better control and maintenance of the digital document. Each user has access authority with different rights either as a ‘read only’ or as a ‘read and edit’. Any unauthorized person cannot access the document ensuring the documents are safe. Misplacing of documents has become a thing of the past. No damage to the document can take place or the document getting lost.
Time
Before
Before the implementation of an electronic document management system a lot of time is wasted in document maintenance when fulfilling customers requests and vendor requests, receiving of documents, labeling of documents, filing of documents, searching and retrieving of documents, making copies, returning of the documents, delivering.
After
After the implementation of the EDMS these factors are completely eliminated. This saves a lot of time.
Office space
Before
Before the implementation of an electronic document management system a sizable area of the office space is occupied by the cabinets and boxes of documents bringing no value to the company. Security is also at risk. Paying for an offsite storage is also expensive.
After
After the implementation of an electronic document management system very minimal space is used, freeing the office space to be used for productive purposes.
“Storing a document digitally costs 10% of storing the paper version” Ricoh
Budget for paper and consumables
Before
Before implementation of an electronic document management system a lot of paper was in use.Spending on printing and photocopying consumables such as toners and cartridges.is high. Spending on files, binders, filing cabinets is also included.
After
After implementation of an electronic document management system there is minimal spend on paper consumables and printing. Documents are accessed, approved and distributed in digital format eliminating the cost of printing and photocopying.
Conclusion
When we look at the factors before and after implementation of an electronic document management system,the difference is glaring. The cost of buying an electronic document management system is prohibitive. But when we look at these factors affecting our businesses and we compare with the cost of buying an electronic document management system, which would out weigh the other?