Could you be spending too much money on document output? Document processing is an overlooked area when looking to cut costs. Studies show that companies spend 5-15% of their revenue on document output expenses, and 75% of that is spent on document management. Here are 10 signs of an inefficient and costly document output infrastructure and how new technology is helping companies to cut costs.

1. Regulatory Requirement to Archive Documents
Local, state and federal requirements to archive certain documents and records has been on the rise. To meet these requirements, you may have turned to a records management firm that offer services including pickup and delivery, document preparation and search, in addition to warehousing.

2. On-demand Document Retrieval
You must make records available within a given timeframe to auditors, customers or regulators.

3. Frequent Document and Content Revisions
Documents such as contracts, manuscripts and price lists tend to undergo repeated and significant change. The cost associated with out-of-date material can vary from minor (additional work or inconvenience) to significant (out-of-date price, wrong version of contract).

4. Single Function Copier/Printers
A greater number of single function copiers/printers (resulting in a multitude of brands and models) in your organization leads to increased support costs and potentially high operating costs.

5. Roles-based Document Security Requirements
You handle sensitive and/or private data and must take precautions to ensure that access to protected documents is secure. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is an excellent example of a government regulation mandating the implementation of a roles-based document security system.

6. Regularly Outsourced Document Production
With special document finishing/reproduction needs, your company is frequently outsourcing the production of certain jobs. Typically, the reasons for outsourcing include one or more of the following: finishing (binding, stapling, folding, booklet making), color requirements, large volume needs, etc.

7. Multiple Hardware Vendors/and Product Brands
Your company utilizes copiers, printers, faxes and scanners from various manufacturers and has leases/contracts with multiple office supply companies. Internal support costs including IT support, purchase order and invoice processing, vendor maintenance and account reconciliation are highly correlated to the number of unique vendors and product models deployed.

8. Manuals, Training and Compliance Documentation
Manuals, training and compliance documents are often voluminous and costly to produce and distribute.

9. On-Site Storage
You use valuable office space to house steel filing cabinets, for use as document storage rooms and other means of physical document storage.

10. Collaborative Document Creation Process
Documents within your company require collaboration among employees to produce a final product. Project collaboration involves multiple locations, incompatible software applications, etc., which has hampered employee productivity.

New Technology Helps Cut Costs in Document Output:

Document Imaging & Management Systems
A Document Imaging & Management system will easily store and manage virtually any type of document into an electronic, searchable database. These documents can be obtained directly from a scanner, existing files, or created from almost any application on your Windows based system. It could be used to store a wide variety of documents including billing and invoices, x-rays for medical, blueprints for manufacturing; any type of Windows based document.

Why move to a Document Imaging & Management System:
1. Save on office supplies, including filing systems, paper, toner, etc.
2. Free up work space by eliminating filing cabinets, storage units, etc.
3. Important documents become readily available.
4. Empowers employees to do more in less time.
5. Adds convenience to your company workload - easily browse through, edit, sort and file documents.

Multifunctional Copiers/Printers
Document output costs can also be tied up in high acquiring and operating expenses for each of your single-function devices. Compared to buying and operating separate single-function devices, a digital multifunctional copier (or printer) with copy, fax, print and scan capabilities provides a lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). Whether connected to your network or used as a stand-alone machine, a new digital copier system will improve the way you produce, organize, manage and distribute your business documents.

Why move to a Multifunctional Copier/Printer
1. Copy, fax, print or scan directly from your desktop (if connected to the network).
2. Utilize finishing capabilities such as stapling, collating, and 3-hold punching.
3. Save in labor allocation, equipment, and printing costs.
4. Minimize the number of leases, service contracts, etc.

It’s easy to see how nearly any company could benefit from these new technologies. Both are cost effective, simple to implement, easy to use, and widely accepted by employees due to their added convenience.