How much time do your employees spend scanning and capturing printed documents? In days gone by, all the paper documents a company received had to be delivered by hand. Staff used to spend hours on end sorting documents and deciding what exactly had to be done with them – and then choosing where to file them.
Today, many offices strive toward creating paper-light (or even paperless) workspaces, and are using a paper management technique known as document capture to this end. And the advocates of paper-free office initiatives have now found an unconventional ally in their digitization quest: the multi-function printer (MFP).
Indeed, armed with the right MFP and printer software – such as Samsung’s MultiXpress (MX) range and the apps on the Android-powered Smart UX Center– businesses everywhere are finding ways to take their document capture operations to the next level.
What Is Document Capture – and Who Needs it?
Document capture is mainly used as part of modern paper document management initiatives, which involve scanning papers using document scanners (or MFPs equipped with scanning functionality). These scanning devices transform paper documents into digital data – which can then be viewed online at any date. And, with cloud solutions in place, you can view them wherever and whenever you like.
Even in today’s digitized offices, paper still plays a key role. And in many sectors, such as healthcare, the legal world, the financial market and education, paper documents are still completely indispensable. Such industries, however, now need to manage their documents more effectively to streamline their operations – or risk drowning in a sea of paperwork and rising costs.
Already, companies in these sectors are looking to Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based initiatives as a way to help them deal with inefficiency and rising costs. But without the right document capture and workflow technology at hand, such AI solutions will be of little help to most companies.
What Tech Solutions Can Help?
Document capture is easier when you are making use of the right kind of MFP – as well as customizable software that lets you add extra layers of functionality.
Samsung MFPs, such as the MX7 series, are equipped with advanced Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, which allows users to turn scans into editable text files – a key function for document capture initiatives.
Text may not be the only thing you need to capture from a document. Machines need to be able, for instance, to recognize and capture QR codes, barcodes and patterns that help MFPs classify documents by type – removing yet another laborious physical step from the physical document sorting process.
Fortunately, Samsung MFPs and the Smart UX Center can be of help in this regard, too. With advanced OCR tech that lets you scan images, patterns, barcodes, QR codes and more, Samsung MFPs help sort your data and documents fast.
What is more, digitized data can even be sent to appropriate destinations automatically using workflow solutions. Software solutions such as the Smart UX Center’s Dynamic Workflow app, for example can be an important part of this process.
With document capture solutions like these, you company will find itself ready to deal with Big Data, and even produce some of its own.
Revolutionizing printing software has been Samsung’s primary goal since the company launched its highly customizable Smart UX platform. Indeed, the company has been proactive about opening the floodgates for Android-powered innovation from both Samsung and third-party developers.
By making use of open-software platforms, a range of Android apps can run on Samsung’s Smart UX-enabled devices – often making use of the same kind of software used on phones and tablet PCs. This last factor is vital, as fast, effective and intuitive software development can help reduce development costs and reduce the need for drawn-out training processes.
Motoring Ahead
Indeed, companies like Franceschi, a leading Opel car dealership based in Trento, Italy, have been making good use of the document capture solutions now at their disposal, teaming up with Samsung and its Italian partner and office automation experts Semprebon-Lux to make use of a Scanshare-powered solution.
As part of its sales operations, Franceschi needs to deal with clients’ personal documents and vehicle registrations. Auto dealers have traditionally had to store such documents in paper form, in folders and filing cabinets. Archiving documents in this way is time-consuming, resource-draining and slow. So, aware that modern technological advances could help streamline the process, Franceschi recently decided to act.
The Franceschi offices were equipped with Samsung MFPs with versatile Smart UX Center touchscreen interfaces, meaning Semprebon-Lux was able to integrate the Scanshare solution with ease – letting Franceschi improve its document workflow management for scanning and archiving tasks.
Marco Dellapè, Franceschi’s Commercial Manager, says the benefits of the new system are already very noticeable. “The advantages are very clear,” he says. “There’s less work for our employees, searching is faster, we can enjoy real-time control over every document and, most importantly, there is zero possibility of error. That spells improved efficiency – and better service for our clients.”
Capturing the Future?
The world’s document capture needs are diversifying. Fortunately, forward-thinking manufacturers are very much aware of these trends, and are looking to increase the amount of printing software and hardware available to meet such needs.
With open platforms that can be built upon and improved with Android-powered developments, Samsung MFP users know they can implement document capture initiatives faster and more effectively – and steal a march on their business rivals.