Most businesses know they should do something about their paperwork, but digitising a paper based process sounds time consuming, expensive and disruptive. So it’s easy to see why it’s often ignored.

The good news is there’s a proven way to start without disrupting your business. And it’s as simple as breaking your project down into smaller steps.

Here’s how to pick one process, set up a document workflow automation and review it, to successfully start your digital transformation.

Why many businesses stall before they start

There are two things that get in the way when it comes to digitising a paper based process, and interestingly, neither of them is cost.

The first is that people picture digital transformation as an all or nothing exercise across the whole business. While some companies choose to do it that way, it’s generally easier to break it down into smaller projects and focus on one part of the company at a time.

The second is an uncertainty about processes. While you may be an expert in your products or services, the administrative processes, including approvals, filing and financials, have often been done a certain way for a very long time. While you may be hesitant to change them, a proof of concept approach reduces risk while allowing you to securely convert processes.

Select a single project

To get started, we recommend you pick one paper based process. We can help you digitise it, build a workflow around it so nothing gets lost or forgotten, and importantly, prove it works.

Once it’s running, you may see two things. Teams that were uncertain about the change start asking what else could work this way, which makes the next step that much easier.

It also keeps the investment small and the risk contained. On the rare occasion, it doesn’t deliver as expected, you can rework your approach without restructuring your entire business.

Pick the right process

To find the best process to start, we recommend you choose something with these characteristics:

• It happens multiple times a week
• It involves documents that need to be printed, carried, signed, scanned, filed
• It may already be receiving complaints about how it runs
• It gets audited, which raises the value of a proper paper trail

In practice, many businesses find either records, compliance or accounts payable automation makes a good first project. In accounts payable for instance, you have invoices arriving by email or post, distributed around the business for review and signatures, then keyed into your financial systems. Using our automation software, you will simply need to scan a batch through your multifunction device. Smart Capture reads the data off each invoice, matches it against the purchase order, and connects it with Xero or other financial software. If anything doesn’t line up, it’s picked up immediately.

Other examples include:

HR and onboarding. Helps you move from physical searches of personnel files in locked cabinets to a secure digital employee record, with permissions and automatic reminders where required.

Field and remote work. Replaces paper forms that travel with employees and are scanned later, to handy capture on a mobile device, ensuring it is in the workflow before the vehicle leaves site.

Contracts. Renewal dates become automatic notifications before anything expires, provides full visibility for version control, and e-signing is added inside the workflow.

Add expert document workflow automation

At Inland Digital, we work with Therefore, Canon’s intelligent document management platform. It helps you capture, store and access business information securely, and it simplifies compliance, automates workflows and keeps your data organised and accessible.

It’s a broad platform, but also versatile. We’ve set it up for a three person office that only needed e-forms for vehicle safety checks, and for organisations running several hundred users across multiple sites. In both cases, we start with one process and add the next one when you want it.

Additionally, you can have a shared pool of licences to fit both core employees and occasional users.

What to expect at every step

We consult with you. We meet with you for an hour to see exactly what you need, including what your team struggles with, and what is working that you would like to retain.

We build a proof of concept. Using your information and your reference documents, we spend a week building your tailored workflow automation.

We provide a test process. We take your abstract idea and turn it into a process you can see running before you commit to anything. If it’s not right, we can amend it at this stage to make sure you have the best outcome.

We configure and install it. Timing for configuration and installation varies per project, but with a purchase order and invoice matching, you could expect to get a thorough test system in as little as 2 weeks. This can then be tested with a pilot group before rolling it out fully.

We provide full training. Training is onsite, in plain language, with reference guides provided.

Will it connect to what we already run?

Usually we can connect Therefore to whatever you might be running, but we do get the best results when using compatible systems.

Therefore has native integrations for Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams, Dynamics 365 Business Central and SAP, plus an API and a universal connector for third party applications. Finance platforms and most modern business software have straightforward connections.

If you’ve got something older with no external connectivity, there are still options. If you let us know what systems you have in place, we’ll find you the best work around.

We’re also asked if Therefore works in the cloud or on your own premises. It can do both, so you have the option to keep everything on site if preferred.

What happens next?

Digitising a paper based process helps you save time, streamline processes, and very importantly, minimise the risks that come with paper files that might be lost, stolen or destroyed in a fire or flood. Records in a digitised system are available from anywhere the next morning.

Once a business has one process running properly, we find the conversation shifts from “should we do this” to “where can we introduce it next?”

So, how to get started? If you have one process in mind, you’re ready to begin. We’ll help you plan every step, and as a Canon partner, we can scope and install Therefore and provide full service and support. We also have expert technicians from Western Sydney to the Central West.

If you’d like to book in for a workflow assessment or have questions, please get in touch.