The Top 10 Mistakes Companies Make When Deploying a Document Scanning Solution – And How to Avoid Them
When you properly use a scanner, your business will undoubtedly witness immense results. However, sometimes businesses purchase the wrong scanner, prompting frustration. The implementation of a document scanning system matters; it’s vital to understand what you need to do, look for, and assess before you install any software.
In this article, I will detail the ten most common mistakes companies make when setting up a document scanning system. If you want to find the right scanning software to speed up paperwork, it’s vital to avoid these mishaps:
- Not paying attention to how much you actually need to scan on a daily basis
- Not discussing the decision to invest in a new system with both your IT and business sectors
- Not figuring out if the product can actually process your documents before purchasing
- Not knowing if your front-end scanner and back-end system will coincide
- Only allowing one department to implement the new system
- Introducing the new system at once, rather than slowly introducing it
- Not getting rid of paper
- Not using shared devices
- Not doing more with less
- Fearing change!
Some of these concepts may seem rather abstract to you, but I will unravel more details about these mistakes (and how to avoid them) throughout the article.
1. Not paying attention to how much you actually need to scan on a daily basis
How much paper do you scan per day? Determining how much you process on a daily basis can help you to find the right scanner for your business. Most businesses calculate their average output rather than how much documents they scan during peak moments.
When companies only take the average volume into account, they risk slowing their overall workflow during busier times. A scanner may be able to handle the average amount throughout the day, but you may need eight additional scanners to help you out when the peak volume reaches a daily high.
It’s essential to figure out which throughput can handle your peak daily volumes.
2. Not discussing the decision to invest in a new system with both your IT and business sectors
It’s common to either discuss the idea of investing in a document scanning system with either your IT or business sectors, but only discussing the prospect with one or the other can complicate things.
IT may choose a system that doesn’t bode well with the business sector. It may be difficult to use and it may not support the amount of daily scanning volume. If the business sector chooses the system based on their needs, they may find that it’s not compatible with the systems currently in place. This educational video on YouTube will guide you about devices that not compatible with the system.
If you want to avoid this mistake, it’s best to meet with both sectors before you making any decisions.
3. Not figuring out if the product can actually process your documents before purchasing
Some businesses calculate their peak daily volumes, speak with business and IT, and then assume they have enough information to purchase the right scanner. In the end, they find that the scanner doesn’t support how many documents they need to scan.
Thankfully, some vendors can deliver a scanner to your office for testing, while at other times you can take your work to the vendor. Testing the product before purchasing will help you to avoid wasting money on a useless commodity.
4. Not knowing if your front-end scanner and back-end system will coincide
Companies deal with things like inventory and product processing via their back-end system. You can send or access information to and from the back-end through the front-end. Therefore, it’s vital to base your decision on whether your scanner works with both the front-end and back-end systems used in your business.
Therefore, you should ask the vendor if their scanning system is open! Why? An open system enables you to load data in whichever format you so desire.
5. Only allowing one department to implement the new system
It’s essential to include everyone, from stakeholders to hardware and software vendors in the decision-making process. Try to avoid giving a small job to IT that the rest of your team doesn’t know about—it may derail the implementation of the document scanner.
It’s important to discuss image formats and what needs to be done in order to ensure that the scanner properly processes all of your data.
6. Introducing the new system at once, rather than slowly introducing it
It can be tough for your team to adjust to a new system at once, which may cause mistakes, confusion, and a lot of wasted time. Try to phase your company out of the old system and then slowly introduce the new process.
7. Not getting rid of paper
Several businesses use transaction separator sheets to divide each batch they put through the scanner. Thankfully, new scanners can automatically separate your files. You can also use reusable separator sheets if needed. There’s no point in using more paper than necessary, especially since document scanning systems work to get rid of paper cluttering your office space.
8. Not using shared devices
You can share your already-loaded documents with other employees throughout your office. However, some offices don’t know about this fantastic feature. Allowing others to access your documents can help to save you and your employees’ valuable time.
9. Not doing more with less
You may have one scanner that you love, prompting you to purchase another seven once your volume increases. It’s possible that you’ll find a single scanner than can support your needs rather than investing in seven more. Several businesses also tend to attach a tiny document to a large sheet of paper while others, like I mentioned above, use too many separator sheets. You can easily do more with less!
10. Fearing change
What’s stopping you from deploying a document scanning solution? It can be tough to change how your business works, but a document scanning system—when deployed correctly—can significantly help to boost your overall workflow. It’s important to show your employees how the technology works so that they understand that they don’t need to write the number on the first file of each massive pile of documents before scanning.
Be sure to teach your staff how everything works, so they recognize that they can trust the system!
You can easily avoid these ten common mistakes. It may require some planning, researching, calculating, and meetings, but in the end, it will all be worth it.
