Is the paperless office a realistic concept?

The phrase ‘the paperless office’ was first used in 1975 by a Mr George Pake who was then Head of the Xerox Research facility. Mr Pake believed that desktop computers would totally replace paper business processes and that technology was set to improve labour intensive office activities.

More than thirty years later, he was, in part, correct. The fact is, however, that it is mostly large or multi national businesses which have truly embraced the concept of working smarter through the implementation of electronic document management systems. The reasons for doing this was to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Small to medium companies have been slower to adopt the same technology yet the impact on a smaller business would be just as great. First of all, think in terms of the ‘less paper office’ – this is a much more realistic and achievable result. Focus on just one or two document types to which access is critical to the business, such as accounts payable, client files or HR records. Send the archive to a bureau for scanning then choose a simple system such as the EDM System mstore to scan, going forward, in house.

As confidence grows and business benefits are recognised, gradually roll it out to other departments or business areas and you will quickly see a return on your investment. Start moving towards your ‘less paper office’ now by calling The IPC Group for a free consultation on 08081 45 46 47.