ECM solutions to combat the flood of data: tidying up digital filing cabinets

Across business fields, companies’ workflows and opportunities are becoming ever more dependent on information management. At the same time, managing this information is becoming an increasingly demanding task: by 2025, global data volumes are expected to rise tenfold – from 16.1 zettabytes to 163 zettabytes.Without efficient tools to manage and organise this flood of data, business potential is lost and management efforts as well as costs for internal processes increase exponentially. Knowledge workers are facing various challenges with the management of this data flood. Without efficient content management, it takes them up to 18 minutes on average to search for a document.

DISORDER USES UP TIME AND MONEY

And data process complexity can have even more severe consequences: 7.5 per cent of the documents get lost completely in organisational processes. At best, this loss only decreases department productivity, as the work has to be redone. In the worst-case scenario, depending on the importance of the documents, it can additionally lead to financial disadvantages or legal issues. These challenges are one reason why 56 per cent of companies see the importance of managing their information and are therefore looking to automate manual processes with document classification to improve searchability. This kind of workflow automation and increase in productivity can help to cut the expenses related to information by 50 per cent. An information strategy supported by ECM solutions should therefore be a vital element in almost every company’s IT strategy. According to Statista, the market for this kind of digital content management will therefore more than double from today’s market size to a volume of USD 66.27 billion by the year 2021.

KONICA MINOLTA’S CUSTOMER-CENTRIC INFORMATION MANAGEMENT APPROACH

As in all of its business branches, Konica Minolta’s ECM solutions follow a strict customer-centric approach: rather than ‘one size fits all’ solutions, Konica Minolta strives to provide individualised solutions that integrate seamlessly into the existing IT infrastructure – by analysing and determining the exact expectations. The broad range of tools Konica Minolta has in its portfolio includes, amongst others, solutions to optimise invoice processing, contract management, mailrooms and personnel files, as well as solutions for archiving or enterprise searches.

Employees spend 1.8 hours of their working day with searching and managing documents.

Source: Top 3 Reasons Why We Spend So Much Time Searching for Information, Under the Radar Conference, 2018 , https://declara.com/content/61Xl3Eo1

Workflow enables companies to reduce their labour-related expenses by 50%.

Source: Square 9; Enterprise Content Management; 2016

Source: Eco Papyrus; Document Management; 2017

With these solutions, Konica Minolta supports the customers with software components to digitally manage content and information in a very efficient way. As both a strategy and management concept, ECM is an important platform for  information exchange, communication and collaboration – freeing up resources, making it possible to seize new business opportunities and bringing better service to your customers.

TAKING ON INVOICE PROCESSING AT WERKPRO

Digital invoice processing is another crucial task ECM systems can take over. In the case of the charitable organisation WerkPro, Konica Minolta was able to set up a very cost-effective system, fully integrating into the existing hardware and software environment. The web-based system significantly speeds up invoice management.

‘We as an organisation were able to increase our efficiency substantially. Now we have an immediate overview of our processes, the invoices are signed by the right people and, above all, we do not miss any sales tax return dates anymore!’, says Richard Pronk, Team Leader at WerkPro.

Invoices are gathered centrally at the organisation’s headquarters and scanned on-site. Konica Minolta’s invoice processing solution sorts the invoice datasheets automatically and links them directly to the respective cost accounts.

The responsible person for the specific account is then notified that an invoice is ready to be signed. After the signature, the documents are automatically transferred into the existing ERP system Exact Globe. This increases operational efficiency by getting the right documents to the right person; time is saved and processes become more transparent.

The ECM market is expected to rise more than double in size from USD 28.1 billion in 2016 to USD 66.27 billion by 2021.

Source: AIIM; Paper free – are we there yet?; 2016

PARTNERING WITH KONICA MINOLTA FOR FUTURE-PROOF ECM SOLUTIONS 

To seize the true potential of intelligent information management, customers need individually tailored solutions for the management of their content. Konica Minolta provides these solutions, prioritising customers and their needs. Konica Minolta strives to serve as a reliable partner and single point of contact for all information management and overall IT service needs.
‘Today, about 10,600 customers rely on Konica Minolta as a partner for the management of their information and digital processes. Since the market for software solutions in the field of ECM is constantly evolving – creating new needs and growing at a rapid pace of about 16 per cent per year – so are Konica Minolta’s solutions. We are already working on new technologies such as artificial intelligence, which can have huge advantages in the field of information management. Therefore, we are confidently looking into the future and are eager to develop and deliver solutions for our customers and their emerging challenges in data and content management.’
These efforts do not go unnoticed: IDC MarketScape named Konica Minolta a ‘Major Player in Workflow Services in the Western European market’. Konica Minolta was especially commended for the growing ECM focus within its customer base and channels.