The Benefits Of Digitising Your Business

Todd Runyonn

The business world is currently undergoing a mass transformation. Artificial intelligence, process automation and management software are becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s competitive and innovative office environments. Every company should consider digitisation to avoid being left behind and to keep up with competitors. Read on to discover how your business can benefit from going paperless and making use of modern technology.

Streamline Your Operations

Workplace efficiency is measured by how quickly and effectively tasks can be completed. As such, many companies aim to achieve the best output from the least amount of time, resources and labour - i.e. work smarter, not harder. Adopting new technologies and techniques to improve efficiency is the key to higher profits, better employee retention and increased customer satisfaction. Digitising and automating processes helps to increase efficiency by eliminating time-consuming admin tasks that would otherwise be performed by staff members, saving you time and money.

Time-Saving Solutions

As mentioned, digitising your business will save you and your employees time. Businesses can save an estimated 60-90% of processing time per document by going paperless and opting for digital documents due to a combination of improved data capture accuracy and automation software. Before the prevalence of digital documents, paperwork was dispersed between companies, clients and customers using time-consuming methods such as mail and fax; in contrast, the ability to access data quickly and efficiently using search queries is a highly valued commodity for businesses of every size.

Reduced Human Error

At its best, human error can disrupt business operations; at its worst, it can lead to the loss of sensitive data, decreased revenue and more. Digitising your business reduces the risk of vital paperwork becoming lost or damaged. Additionally, implementing automation solutions such as sales order processing and project management software by removing the need for human judgement where it is not required frees your employees up for tasks that do require an element of human interaction and input, such as quality control and customer feedback analysis.

Access To Information

One of the most significant benefits of digitisation is the ability to access information remotely. Digitisation can save your employees’ commute time since it enables access to data via a laptop, tablet or any device connected to the Internet - this allows flexible arrangements such as hybrid working and remote working. The pandemic proved disastrous for many businesses, although it did prove that remote working was feasible, even advantageous for both companies and their workforce. Flexible working has been proven to boost productivity and improve workplace morale by offering employees a healthier work-life balance.

Increased Productivity

Digitisation and automating business processes boosts productivity by allowing employees to use their time for more important tasks rather than focusing on mundane, repetitive processes that could be automated using software and AI technology. For example, you could automate simple customer service queries with chatbots on your company website. Document management systems ensure that every team member has easy access to company data, reducing the amount of time spent tracking, organising and securing paper documents.

Reduced Carbon Footprint

The average office space generates an enormous amount of waste, resulting in harmful CO₂ emissions. The average office worker gets through around 10,000 sheets of paper annually, most of which goes to landfill. Moreover, paper production requires enormous amounts of energy and is responsible for approximately 14% of global deforestation. You can reduce your company’s carbon footprint in numerous ways, such as encouraging remote working, choosing efficient office lighting and, of course, going paperless. Reducing paper consumption is one of the most effective ways businesses can help combat climate change - along with digitisation, consider switching to device-based note-taking and encouraging your employees to reuse and recycle whenever possible.

Lower Operational Costs

The cost of office materials such as paper, printer ink and stationery can amount to eye-watering sums. With the price of branded printer ink perpetually on the rise, digitising your documents and opting for a paperless approach could save you thousands each month. Furthermore, you could save money by negating the need for administrative staff to handle straightforward yet time-consuming tasks such as employee onboarding and invoice processing that can be automated using Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) software.