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.
3 | Intelligent Print-Management
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,
4 | Intelligent Print-Management
5 | Intelligent Print-Management
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.
6 | Intelligent Print-Management
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.
7 | Intelligent Print-Management
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.
8 | Intelligent Print-Management
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 %
9 | Intelligent Print-Management
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.
10 | Intelligent Print-Management
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:
11 | Intelligent Print-Management
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
12 | Intelligent Print-Management
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.
13 | Intelligent Print-Management
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