A new survey says document imaging offers business gains

Converting paper documents to digital is improving operations efficiency for companies and enhanced customer service, says a new survey.  The report also shows that about half of those businesses are missing another solid benefit -- using document imaging to enhance regulatory compliance. Even fewer are using it to increase their competitive advantage.

The report is the work of Oce Business Services, a leader in document process management and electronic discovery. The report uncovered that while more than 90% of the executives surveyed say their company uses a paper records repository, only70% use electronic records repository. The survey covered a cross section of industries and annual revenue  -- from under $100 million to over $1 billion.

According to Oce Business Services, the electronic records repository offers big gains in the battle against paper use. The company claims those benefits include reducing paper, printer and toner costs, as well as improving disaster recovery, document retrieval time and staff productivity.  Using document imaging in the mailroom represents a significant opportunity as more organizations become aware of and investigate the benefits of a digital mail solution.

"During the past four years our document management surveys have communicated a critical message," says Joe Marciano, president and CEO of Oce Business Services. "While organizations are gaining solid business benefits from records management, electronic content management, digital workflow and other document management processes, there are unrealized opportunities and new approaches that have yet to be tapped by many enterprises."

In 2010 Oce joined the Canon Group of companies with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, to create the global leader in the printing industry.