In everyday work, centralized storage not only makes digital documents faster to find, but also makes them easier to access on the go from any device. This increases productivity for all employees. (Photo: © olegdudko/123RF.com)
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18 October 2018
Industry 4.0: Eliminating paper in the office offers many advantages. Businesses not only save time and money, but they can also find digital documents more quickly. This requires a clear strategy.
The piles of files keep growing, important notes are accumulating on the desk, and an urgent invoice has vanished without a trace. On stressful days, this scenario is almost unavoidable, even in well-organized offices. The only solution is a consistent measure: switching to a paperless office . In everyday work, digital documents can be found not only faster thanks to a central repository, but also from any device, even on the go. This increases the productivity of all employees. And the cost advantages become apparent in the medium term: craft businesses not only save a significant amount of storage space for files , but also regular expenses for paper, printers, ink, and toner . The environment benefits as well.
To successfully transition to a paperless office, only three steps are necessary: First, all existing digital documents within the company must be stored centrally in a logical folder structure . Several main folders with names like "Invoices," "Quotes," "Orders," "Tax Returns," "Customers," "Suppliers," "Employees," "Products," "Documentation," or "Regulations and Standards" are recommended. Subfolders, for example, for incoming, outgoing, and paid invoices, provide quick and easy navigation. For quotes and orders, categorization by product type or customer name can be helpful. A network drive or cloud storage is advisable as the storage location for all documents. For maximum data security, it is recommended to back up all data to a backup drive at least once a day . Furthermore, access to each folder should be restricted to employees who need this data for their daily work.
The second step towards a paperless office: the future electronic transmission of all documents and messages – because digital communication is now standard in many areas. This means that offers, orders, and invoices can be sent to customers easily and legally securely via email. For invoices, it's important that all legally required information is included and that the document cannot be altered afterward. The PDF format is suitable for this purpose. Communication with suppliers can also be switched to digital channels in this way.
The final and often most time-consuming step is scanning and saving existing paper documents . Both traditional scanners and apps that use a smartphone camera are suitable for this. Scanners with full-text recognition are particularly useful, as they make it easy to find keywords later. A meaningful name for each document is also important : the title should include important keywords or dates that employees can use to search for documents later. If there is a legal retention period for paper documents, such as contracts, accounting records, and invoices for tax returns, this period must be strictly observed until its expiration. Furthermore, when using electronic accounting software, the legal "Principles for the proper management and storage of books, records, and documents in electronic form, as well as for data access" (GoBD) must be followed.
Craft policy
Operations management
Operations management
Many apps and programs are now available for creating digital documents – from letters, quotes, and invoices to digital notes and personal messages (see table). In larger companies, installing a document management system can be beneficial: it provides numerous practical functions for processing digital documents – from digitization to audit-proof archiving . For the transition to a paperless environment to truly succeed, consistency is key: all documents should be created digitally and no longer printed. Mixing analog and digital documents often significantly reduces the overview of documents.
Towards the paperless office
1.) inventory: In which departments does how much paper generate each week? How extensive is the company's internal archive of documents and files?
2.) Target setting: What should be achieved? Where can paper documents be replaced by digital solutions?
3.) Concept creation: How and with which means, devices and digital tools can the transition to the paperless office be realized?
4.) Legal certainty: How can all legal requirements be met during the transition, for example in the areas of accounting, audit security and data protection?
5.) Data securityHow can maximum IT security be achieved? Which employees need access to which data? What is the best backup strategy to protect against data loss?
6.) Implementation: Installation and implementation of all measures for the transition to a paperless office. Training of all employees.
7.) Improvement of: Daily use shows where individual measures can be further optimized over time.
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