What departments can benefit from document management software - DocuWare?

Almost any business can benefit from some type of document management system. When it comes to document management software, there are options to support businesses across all types of industries. DocuWare has solutions for finance and accounting businesses, sales and marketing teams, healthcare organizations, manufacturing, and many others. Here are some departments that benefits that most from document management.

1. Human resources

Figure 1. Human resources

HR has some crucial decisions to make such as whom to hire, how to improve the onboarding process and how to best manage employees.

Document management software assists HR managers with these critical areas by automating the OCR and electronic capture of employee records, HR files and business documents into a central repository. From there, HR managers can create simple workflows to manage these critical areas. Consider these examples:

• Finding the right talent is made easier because applications, forms and email are stored in one central place for easy retrieval by decision-makers, and information flows effortlessly between team members.
• The employee onboarding process is improved as managers can create digital workflows for all new hires. For example, you can send welcome and orientation information automatically.

2. Finance and accounting

Figure 2. Finance and accounting

Achieve efficiency in finance and accounting areas such as accounts payable, accounts receivable and financial audits.

a) Accounts payable

Realize a new pace in accounts payable by:

• Quickly and easily capturing paper and electronic invoices
• Assigning documents to predefined file structures for easy retrieval
• Automatically matching invoices to purchase orders
• Providing efficient workflows for the approval process
• Avoiding human error, reducing invoice handling, and eliminating manual data entry

b) Accounts receivable

Speed up collections by linking related documents to the order process so that you can create and process invoices faster, and track and manage payments. You can, for example, combine approving payment with release workflows.

c) Financial audits

You can store a full and secure record of all business transactions which helps during an audit process. These include emails, contracts, and other confidential information. Access this historical information when you need it, without delays.

3. Sales and Marketing

Figure 3. Sales and Marketing

According to a CSO Insights survey, “88% of sales professionals are unable to find or bring up critical sales material on their smartphone,” leading to longer sales cycles and lost deals.

DocuWare solves this problem by:

• Capturing leads with web forms that can then be routed to the right sales team
• Storing critical sales and marketing material in a digital repository for retrieval
• Sharing relevant documents and information with team members securely

Ultimately, your employees become empowered, productivity improves and sales and marketing functions better. Document management benefits are practical for business departments in an enterprise to operate more efficiently and accurately.

A. 3 best practices for success with your document management solution

Figure 4. Practices for success with your document management solution

Simply buying a document management system and using it in your business doesn't get you all these benefits automatically, though. Make sure you work with your vendor to plan a strong implementation that includes training and communication for your staff. The more buy-in you get from your employees, the more likely they are to use the software and help drive some of these benefits.

Here are three more best practices to consider:

1. Create standard operating procedures for using your document management system

Plan, deciding how you want your document management system used. Create standard operating procedures and training materials employees at all levels can turn to when they have a question. The more consistent your teams are in using the software, the greater the benefits.

2. Capture documents as soon as possible

Not every organization can go 100% paperless, but the best results are achieved when you convert as many documents to digital as possible and capture them as close to the "entry point" as you can.

For example, certain types of mail should be opened and immediately scanned and routed to the proper people as digital documents. Workflows should allow staff to forward attachments directly into the document management system, rather than require that they print documents emails.

3. Don't simply emulate your old paper processes

A document management solution provides opportunities to do much more than you could ever do with paper processes. Don't seek to create workflows that mimic what you did with paper. Instead, gather subject matter experts in your organization and design better processes that take full advantage of digital capabilities.

B. How to implement document management software

1. Identify the right workflows

Digital document management is best suited for document-centric workflows like those in business areas already identified: finance, sales and marketing, and HR. These are workflows that typically enable employees to transition from time-consuming manual workflows to productive automated ones.

To help you identify these areas, start with the common ones that typically yield substantial productivity gains, for example, invoice processing, employee onboarding and contract management.

2. Pinpoint integration points

Integration is a core value proposition of any DMS. Once you’ve defined your workflows, find the integration points. Below are examples of integration points within those three common workflows:

3. Invoice approval

Figure 5. Invoice approval

Integration with an accounting or ERP system ensures that information is consistent in both systems and eliminates duplicate data entry. This might be an integration with QuickBooks for a smaller business or with Microsoft Dynamics for a larger organization.

4. Employee onboarding

Human resources teams often use a human capital management (HCM) system like Workday or SAP Success Factors to manage employee information and use office automation to ensure that supporting documents are captured, routed, signed, completed, approved, and stored with appropriate privacy settings.

5. Contract management

Document management integrates with the tools that legal and procurement teams live by: Microsoft Office and Microsoft Outlook. The success of contract management teams depends significantly on a structured workflow which supports strong security and version control.

C. Ultimate Content Services Platform - DocuWare: Document management and workflow automation

Ricoh now offers DocuWare – document management and workflow automation solutions, which have been around since 1988. DocuWare solution allows businesses to digitalize documents, manage and work with business data with international security standards in the cloud, at corporate servers or a combination of both. From there, businesses can simplify your existing workflows quickly, focus on your core business and increase competition in the market.

With DocuWare, all procedures, papers, documents are digitized, classified and managed. All retrieval, tracking, approval, and reporting are managed synchronously, automating a single process on one platform with the intelligent help of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Currently, the DocuWare solution is trusted by reputable organizations around the world and the highest security according to international standards.

Below is an perfect example of document management software from DocuWare

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