document management yesterday, today, tomorrow: make … · document management yesterday, today,...

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW:

MAKE YOUR BUSINESS PROCESSES FUTURE-PROOF

2 | Intelligent Print-Management

This is mainly due to the ever changing requirements of

employees, partners and customers. Employees increa-

singly work on the move, from a home office or even di-

rectly on site at a customer location. As a result, the abi-

lity to efficiently handle projects, work assignments and

orders has gained in importance. In this respect, quick

and easy access to information is critical.

Companies must therefore ensure that employees can

quickly find and edit all relevant information in an un-

complicated way – anytime and anywhere. To achieve

this, all analog and digital information must be

pooled and optimised for availability – efficiently and

flexibly in terms of time and place.

That is not an easy task given that it is not only the ty-

pes of information which have become more diverse. We

are also faced with a larger variety of places where data

is being stored. At the same time, information has to be

protected from misuse – a highly complex task in today’s

networked world. In former times, the key to the filing

cabinet ensured that information could not fall into the

wrong hands. Today, it takes clearly defined regulations

that control who may access what kinds of information at

what time.

Document management is by far the best possibility to

improve the availability of information and to meet the

broad scope of security requirements. On the following

pages, we’d like to take you on a journey of discovery by

introducing you to the multiple benefits of document ma-

nagement.

To this end, we’ll first take a close look at the history of

document management and explore why and how this is-

sue has become so relevant over the years. We will then

show you what a modern document management system

(DMS) is able to achieve and finally examine future re-

quirements for document processes. In doing so, we will

share five useful tips on how how to make your docu-

ment-based workflows fit for the future.

THE ROLE OF DOCUMENTS IN BUSINESSWhether it’s issuing or settling invoices, entering and editing orders or negotiating contracts with new employees, suppliers or end customers – most centralised processes in business companies are document-based. Therefore, it is advisable – especially in the digital age – to put your own document processes to the test.

If you look at document management as a

technology which makes archiving and retrieving

documents easy and efficient, the history of DMS dates

back to the early cave drawings. The famous hunting

scenes found in the Lascaux caves in the South of

France which originated approx. 21,000 years B.C.,

provide us with historical evi-dence of this fact. While

our prehistoric ancestors were limited to creating

paintings or laboriously carving cha-racters in wood,

stone or clay tablets, a huge step was made during the

third millennium B.C. when the techni-cal utilisation of

the papyrus plant started – a reed plant which grew

along the entire lower Nile. Finally, written documents

could be easily created with the help of a paintbrush

and a bit of paint. What’s more, the papyrus plant

offered an enormous weight advantage, compared to

previous “data carriers”, plus it was flexible and sus-

tainable.

THE PAPER AND PRINTING REVOLUTION

The use of paper became even easier in the year 105 AD

when civil servant Cai Lun at the Chinese emperor’s

court first documented how it was manufactured.


The handling and duplication of information on paper

became consierably more efficient when in 1450 AD

Johannes Gens-fleisch, also known as Gutenberg, from

the German city of Mainz, revolutionised book

printing by introducing movable metal characters and

the printing press. Ever since then, documents can be

easily and quickly duplicated and stored in a space

efficient way so that they can be easily found even after

many years.

Gutenberg’s invention still has an impact today. Less

groundbreaking perhaps, but certainly a huge step for

document management, was the invention of the le-

vel-arch file with eccentric locking by Friedrich Soenne-

cken from Bonn, Germany, in the year 1886 – the most

commonly used standing file to this day.

This enabled people to easily sort and group paper do-

cuments. Perforated separation strips and tab cards

with staggered, protruding chapters (”tabs”) made the

storing and handling of documents even more

convenient. Ever since then, retrieving the “Miller file” in

the grayish stan-ding file only takes a few moments.

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT AS IT USED TO BE:“WHERE THE HECK IS THE MILLER FILE?”

Even though the complex term “document management” only came into existence in the com-puter age, people have always – even in the earliest times – thought a great deal about how to securely store vital information so that it could be easily retrieved – not just by themselves but also by their offspring.

such as copies of invoices, was often done by recording

them on microfiche. The properties of these so-called

“microforms” are defined by various AUS, EN and

ISO standards. While archiving on microfiche might

not be quite as sustainable as some cave paintings,

it may well last for many generations to come: The

durabi-lity of a microfilm is estimated at 500 years

(when duly stored at a constant temperature of 21° C

and 50 percent relative humidity).

Even today, numerous historical and cultural documents

are stored in micro-form in the Australian National

Libraries and National Archive of Australia. The Central

Library in Zurich also still archives several daily papers

on microfiche, among them all edi-tions of the “New

Zurich Newspaper” – the oldest daily paper in

Switzerland – beginning with the first edition dated

January 12, 1780.

DIGITAL DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT WAS INEVITABLE The

era of digital document management began with the

slow disappearance of typewriters, carbon paper and

analog photocopiers (although some sharp tongues

might claim there are still companies stuck in the ana-

log age). That said, it is a fallacy to believe that simply

converting your flood of documents into digital files in

your computer system will make them manageable. Ac-

tually, the introduction of digital files was to some extent

accompanied by an unmanageable increase of (virtual)

file cabinets: Electronic documents are stored in compu-

ters, servers and thousands of exchange drives – often

in geographically distant locations. Many important files

even dry up in the e-mail system because the recipient

has forgotten to properly save the document.

If, in addition, if a company fails to define how to cor-

rectly name and store files the result is pure chaos. The

simple request of the department manager to quickly re-

ANALOG STORAGE WAS INEVITABLE

Today it may make us smile, but actually this type of “file

management” was highly reliable. Until well into the

1990s, the storage and management of paper documents

was a firm standard. Even though most companies and

public administrations typically established an IT depart-

ment of their own in the 1970s, these departments were

seldom responsible for the digital storage of documents.

For decades, such a project would have been simply too

expensive. Of course, hard drives have been around since

1956, preceded by drum memories and magnetic tapes.

However, the complete digital storage of all documents

would have required a huge financial investment. This

was partly due to the physical space required by hard dri-

ves in the early decades of computing. The first hard dri-

ve from 1956 had a diameter of 61 centimeters, weighed

around one tonne, and offered a s torage space of just

about five megabytes of data. Even thirty years later, sto-

rage space was – compared to today’s standards – rare

and expensive: When in January, 1987, the first hard drive

was introduced, which offered 300 megabytes of storage

space (in a 5.25” format which was extremely compact

back then), you had to come up with almost 30,000

US dollars –way more than a small car would have cost

at that time.

MICRO STORAGE FOR LONG-TERM ARCHIVING

An advanced way of reliably storing all relevant

proces-ses without being choked to death by file

folders was and still is the possibility to minimise files

and save them as microfiche or on microfilm – a

technology which was invented in the 19th century.

Microfilms can still be v iewed today, provided you

have a corresponding reading device. By means of

magnifying devices, you can both read and reproduce

these documents. Until the emergence of powerful, all-

digital audit-proof archive systems for bulk data, the

legally required archiving of business transactions,



trieve the “Smith file” becomes an almost insoluble

task. This brings us directly to today’s situation,

because in our information era the availability of

documents has a direct impact on business success.

The handling of do-cuments has changed massively:

physical messengers, letters, internal mail, folders

and binders have largely become a thing of the past.

This becomes particularly clear with the example of

incoming invoices: more and more invoices no longer

arrive at the company by mail but rather by e-mail. In that

case, they are often printed for internal circulation. At this

point it, the advantages of digital workflows become

perfectly clear, as we will see in the following chapter.


Work has become more complex and flexible. All infor-

mation has to be available through various channels as

quickly and comprehensively as possible. This has a de-

finite impact on modern document management. It is no

longer sufficient to digitalise the well-known paper docu-

ment and to file it in a file structure on a computer or ser-

ver. The mere notion of a “file structure” as a designation

of an electronic organisational system demonstrates that

we simply lift the familiar analog world to a digital level.

Instead of searching for a paper document in a ring bin-

der, the employee clicks on an electronic document in a

file on a hard drive – for example, as a PDF. While such

a procedure may have a few advantages in terms of avai-

lability and duplication, the vast possibilities of genuine

document management are not in the slightest identified

and used. To make documents as well as linked informa-

tion, available to all relevant departments in a company,

it takes an elaborate management system with

policies and optimised access possibilities. For

example, it has to be clearly defined which employee

may get access to which documents and to what level.

Furthermore, document usage and embedding

processed also need to be standardized.

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT TODAY:MAKING CAPITAL FUNDS AVAILABLEThe flood of corporate documents in everyday work grows steadily and is omnipresent. While in the past, documents were predominantly found in paper form stored in file cabinets in office environments, today there a virtually no boundaries to the form and location of our documents.

receive documents en-tirely or predominantly

in digital form

share documents entirely or predominantly in digital

form

print out many or a great many documents

for their work

file their documents exclusively in digital

form

DMS ACROSS ALL BORDERS

A current study of the market research institute IDC

re-ports that many companies still have a great backlog

with regard to the provisioning of documents or

information. The researchers concluded that despite its

great significance for productivity, German companies

and organisations tend to make it rather difficult for

their employees to access relevant files and

documents. Since many of the prevailing systems or

workflows in these companies are not compatible with

modern digital requirements, many employees are

driven by frustrated to use private file-sharing services

for business purposes! According to the IDC, it is

especially medium-sized businesses which show an

enormous potential for changing dated processes –

and this is where document management comes to the

rescue.

Just how document management functions today can be

illustrated by this example: A medium-sized

company receives a traditional letter which contains

an order for the production of a machine part. The order

gets scanned in the mail room and is filed in an

electronic folder system, while at the same time the

recipient, namely the ordering department, is notified.

There the person responsible links the order to a

standard product and files it together with the product

and all necessary modifications. In the next step, the

engineering department processes the adaptations to

the standard product and links the plan to the existing

order. Now the adaptation plan is separated from the

document package and made available to an external

employee outside the company via a secure VPN

connection so that this external employee may process

it via remote access.


ACCUMULATE, SEPARATE AND PROCESS

The many steps the original document had to take

illustrate the advantages of a fully developed

document management system. Information that is

vital for individual employees can be quickly separated

and is – if required – available without delay for

external employees.

Throughout the various steps, the project managers

have an overview of work completed and tasks still to

be done. To ensure everything works smoothly, it takes

a thorough implementation of a DMS. Just what

subsections of a project may be accessed and

processed by whom must be defined beforehand.

Additional documents, such as plans or specifications,

can be linked to the original document. Extremely

important are commenting functions which can be used

to communicate hints and work inst-ructions to others

involved in the workflow. It is imperative to design –

from a hard-copy order – an informational and

production process that offers maximum transparency

for all users at any time.

But lt’s go back to our example: Once the

constructive adaptations of the component are

concluded, the client gets – apart from the digital plans

– an animated 3D model which illustrates the

functionalities. This 3D animation is embedded in the

document for the client as a video file. Additionally, the

document is provided with a digital certificate and

protected so that the client may not execute any

arbitrary changes.

After final approval by the client, the machine part is

pro-duced. The production site, however, is in another

Euro-pean country due to cost factors, hundreds of

kilometers away from the business location of the

medium-sized company.


To make the plans available, the final drawings for pro-

duction are extracted from the entire order, and access

is granted via a VPN connection again. Upon production,

the contract manufacturer links the protocols of quality

control to the entire order. Thereafter, the finished pro-

duct, including all certificates, is ready for delivery to the

client. The invoice is created – in print for the client and

in electronic form for archiving purposes.

INTEGRATION IN BUSINESS SOFTWARE

As this case study illustrates, a good document manage-

ment system has multiple requirements. Essentially it

requires the possibility to seamlessly link – if necessary

– documents from various sources to business procedu-

res. Intelligent search functions and indexings support

an efficient search. In addition, it needs to be integrab-

le in CRM and ERP systems so that even those applica-

tions give access to the relevant documents via links.

Since decentralised working is becoming more and

more important, cross-channel availability is a decisive

factor for a good DMS. This also includes the integration

of printers and multi-functional devices. However,

DMS is not synonymous with having a paperless office.

Even in current corporate environments, printing still

plays a role, although the requirements of the digital

workflow do reduce the need for printed documents.

Output devices are linked in a cloud, and the respective

user can access a decentralised printer that’s ideally

suited for the particular application. Thus the DMS

workflow enables you to quickly and economically

produce documents exactly where paper documents are

vital.

Fraunhofer study: Digital work increases productivity

Finding and forwarding documents quickly

Easier sharing of information

Working independent of time and place

Reasons for digital work Consent in %


STUDY ON “DIGITAL WORK”: DIGITAL WORKERS ARE

MORE EFFICIENT

A study on “Digital Work”, conducted by the

Fraunhofer Institute for Work Management and

Organization (IAO) gives yet another argument in favour

of establishing digital workflows. Their central research

findings show that the degree of digitalisation has a

direct impact on the pro-ductivity and performance of

employees.

The higher the degree, the more efficient and motivated

they are. Conversely, the results show: The more

processes performed on the basis of paper documents,

the lo-wer the productivity and performance of

employees. This relationship applies across all

industries, regardless of company size. The study

proves: If you wish to remain competitive, you can’t

shut yourself off from the fourth industrial revolution,

i.e. digitalisation. This is particularly the case with

medium-sized businesses whose global

competitiveness may become a matter of survival.


Theory and practice are closely aligned in this case. The

recently published study “Digital Work”, conducted by

the Fraunhofer Institute for Work Management and Or-

ganization (IAO), clearly shows: According to nearly 700

interviewed managers, whenever digital transformation

in an office environment is already well advanced, work

has indeed become more productive. In other words, the

complex conversion to digital business processes pays

high dividends. The idea of working in the digital office of

the future is not as utopian as one might think: The exch-

ange of digital documents – already common practice

today – is going to increase and will be more and more

perfected. While today paper is still widely used, for ex-

ample, in team meetings where, 86% of all interviewed

by the IAO, it is still considered easier to use than elec-

tronic devices, in the long run the amount of paper will

almost drop to zero – at least the amount of conventional

paper.

PAPER BECOMES INTELLIGENT

Even in 10 or 20 years, we will probably still jot notes

down on paper, and the frequently cited phenomenon

of a completely “paperless office” will most likely never

become a reality. Thanks to innovative hardware, howe-

ver, our “paper” will simply become more intelligent.

Instead of the current, relatively bulky and “weighty”

tablets, in ten years from now we will have sophistica-

ted electronic papers which are nothing else than highly

flexible touchscreens that can be rolled up and folded.

Background lighting which we know from today’s tablets

or smartphones will only be necessary in exceptional ca-

ses because future paper displays will be reflexive – just

like paper. Just like on current tablets, there will be virtual

keyboards, and even our handwriting will be

immediately recognised and transcribed into digital

information. Such future devices will weigh hardly more

than current paper documents and be only marginally

“thicker”. All the information that’s recorded will be

available for all team members in real time, for

example, during a project. Each document can be

immediately shared and examined, and changes to

shared documents are immediately visible for all.

Strict rules concerning the storage of documents will no

longer be necessary because future systems will store

digital data in an automated manner, and digital

assistants will not only know how to reasonably index a

document but also “understand” which document we

are trying to find or want to edit.

MOBILE COMMUNICATION IN REAL TIME

Access to documents will be possible at all times

and from anywhere – the 5G mobile phone network

scheduled to be released by 2020 will provide us with a

mobile infrastructure in real time, which will

increasingly expand its reach across the globe. Not

only digital documents, but also complete DMS/

ECM options, will be available “as-a-Service” (aaS) in

the cloud from everywhere. The DMS/ECM will seamlessly

grow together with their companies, and innovative

features will be available immediately upon approval.

FUTURE DOCUMENT PROCESSES: SIMPLY EVERYTHING IN VIEW! If you ask specialists and managers why deploying a DMS/ECM is reasonable, they usually mention the significant advantages of finding and forwarding documents faster, easy information sha-ring and the ability to work independent of time and place.

Open communication standards and the support of

stan-dard protocols will be a must for future DMS/ECM

whether we work with a device running on an operating

system from Apple, Google, Microsoft or a totally

different provider, will be totally unimportant in the

future. All relevant da-tabase servers will be supported, and

all services will be available as an on-premise or SaaS

solution.

INTUITIVE OPERATION

Very important: Any future DMS/ECM solution will not

only be applicable everywhere at all times, it will also be

compatible with other relevant software in a company.

What’s possible today will become an absolute

obligation in the future: All documents or emails will be

archived in an audit-proof way, optionally also in the

form of a vault-compliant long-term archive. The future

DMS/ECM will be intelligent and know which

documents the respective user needs for his task. All

documents necessary for the bu-siness process will be

made available – anytime, along the complete process

chain and directly on any preferred device. The DMS/

ECM will always be on our side, serving as an

unobtrusive, almost omniscient assistant who speaks

our language and looks us deep in the eyes – albeit for

safety reasons. No doubt the time has come for every

company to address the future sustainability of its docu-

ment processes. You should pay attention to five points:


1. ALLOCATE ENOUGH TIME

The effort required to create a modern document infra-

structure for the first time and the know-how needed

to digitalise documents should not be underestimated.

Allow sufficient time to prepare and implement such a

solution. For small and medium-sized companies, it can

be worthwhile to optimize individual processes, such

as incoming invoices, first. Scalable solutions like

DocuWare offer a perfect entry into the DMS/ECM topic

area.

2. CLEARLY DEFINE TASKS AND OBJECTIVES

Clarify well in advance which requirements the preferred

solution has to meet. Set up the (measurable) goals you

want to reach. Please consider that a conversion to elec-

tronic archiving will be accompanied by changes to orga-

nisational processes. Create – possibly with the support

of external advisors – an actual current state analysis. To

this end, it is essential to answer the following

questions:

AWhich documents exist

(and where do they come from)?

AWhat storage systems do you have?

AWho has access to the documents from which

locations?

AHow many documents and files are currently stored, and by which quantities does this stock grow?

A FIVE-POINT PLAN: EVALUATING YOUR DOCUMENT PROCESSESOpen communication standards and the support of standard protocols will be a must for future DMS/ECM: whether we work with a device running on an operating system from Apple, Google, Microsoft or a totally different provider, will be totally unimportant in the future. All relevant database servers will be supported, and all services will be available as an on-premise or SaaS solution.

This is followed by a target concept. The most

important question here is: What shall the future

workflow look like, or rather what improvements have

to be achieved without fail?

3. AUDIT SAFETY

Clarify exactly whether the requirements for the elec-

tronic storage system are audit-proof once it is put into

practice.

4. SELECT THE RIGHT OPTIONS

If choosing a new DMS/ECM solution is still “to be

determined”, here are two steps that will help you find

the most suita-ble product: First you should create a

criteria catalogue and then compare the desired

performance characteri-stics with the product features of

each solution.

5. INFORM AND QUALIFY YOUR EMPLOYEES

Do not confront your employees with a done deal. A

DMS/ECM system can only function if it’s accepted.

Iron out pos-sible acceptance problems by illustrating

the benefits of a digital archive. Demonstrate how

quickly they can find documents (e.g. with a full-text

search). Train your employees thoroughly so that they

can start working with the new solution from day one.

Document management can take on various levels and

characteristics. Some rules regulating the handling of

documents may be defined across the organisation whi-

le others only apply to certain departments or locations.

Some only apply internally while certain aspects may also

relate to external specialists, vendors or clients. In any

event, it is mandatory that the document management

system is accepted, understood and used by all parties

concerned. If each department sets up its own usage ru-

les, a company-wide DMS/ECM would function ad absurdum.

In the industrial world of the 21st century, there is hardly

a line of business where trouble-free, efficient work is

permanently possible without a fundamental DMS/ E C M


system. Not every business may need its own

department or organisational unit for document

management, but legal regulations and the

frequently demanded obligation to meet

standards (e.g. DIN EN ISO 9001) require high

sensitivity when it comes to managing and

archiving bu-siness information.

The examples illustrated in this eBook underline that

do-cument management is basically nothing new.

However, the importance and usefulness of intelligent

document storage has significantly increased as

compared to 50 years ago. Today we are confronted

with huge data vo-lumes as well as rationalised

and massively accelerated processes and workflows.

All of this calls for a smooth and intelligent exchange

of information, a secure storage and quick retrievability

of documents.


ABOUT KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONSKyocera Document Solutions headquartered in Osaka, Japan is a leading manufacturer of document imaging solutions

and document management systems, including colour and monochrome multifunctional products and printers and

wide format devices. Kyocera’s products are renowned for their unique long-life imaging components that provide grea-

ter reliability and less waste — resulting in a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) over the life of the product.

The Kyocera Document Solutions portfolio does not stop at hardware. A full suite of business applications and consul-

tative services allow customers to optimize and manage their document workflow, unleashing the full potential of their

hardware investment. Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. is a core company of Kyocera Corporation, the world‘s leading

developer and manufacturer of advanced ceramics and associated products, including telecommunications equipment,

semiconductor packages and electronic components.

CONTACT KYOCERA TO DISCOVER YOUR BUSINESS SOLUTION

KYOCERA Document Solutions Australia Phone: 13 59 62 www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.com.au

KYOCERA Document Solutions New Zealand Ltd* Phone: 0800 459 623 www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.co.nz

* KYOCERA Document Solutions New Zealand is the trading name ofthe New Zealand branch of KYOCERA Document Solutions Australia

Pty Ltd a corporation incorporated in Australia.

KYOCERA Document Solutions Australia Pty Ltd. ABN 77 003 852 444

document management yesterday, today, tomorrow: make … · document management yesterday, today,...

Documents