To increase profits and gain a competitive advantage, organizations of all sizes across all industries need to do more than ever before. And they have to do it faster, better and with fewer resources. But how do you decrease expenses without reducing productivity or pushing employees past their limits?

One way is to stop using paper.

Manual and paper-based processes are bottlenecks. Paper is often difficult to find, making fast access to critical information almost impossible. Employees could spend up to half their time searching for information, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Enterprise content management (ECM) busts the bottleneck by capturing paper documents electronically, giving users instant access to the information they need, when they need it. ECM eliminates paper and streamlines processes regardless of industry focus, making it an excellent fit for manufacturing, construction, retail, transportation and many more organizations. It can also be applied in departments common to every organization to support accounts payable, human resources, accounts receivable and contract management.

Three benefits of ECM beyond eliminating paperThere are benefits beyond eliminating paper, of course. Here are three more, provided by OnBase by Hyland, a leading ECM solution.

1. Capture documents electronically to establish lean practices We’ve established that searching for paper steals time from productive activities, and that capturing those documents electronically allows employees to instantly find what they’re looking for, recovering time better spent on more strategic activities. But storing and shipping paper is expensive, too. U.S. businesses spend around $8 billion annually managing paper, according to a report by Corp! Magazine.

Tech Brief

Introduction to OnBase ECMLeaner, faster, more accurate with enterprise content management

Integrates with your critical business systems

Helps you comply with regulations

Automates and optimizes processes

Establish lean practices by reducing your reliance on paper and automating manual processes.

With OnBase, you establish lean practices by reducing your reliance on paper and decreasing shipping and storage costs. And there’s no limit to the type of documents you can store. OnBase supports everything from invoices, check images and employee files, to contracts, CAD drawings and quality certification documents. You also manage content according to your organization’s business rules, measuring the health of those processes in real time, adjusting as necessary and growing leaner with each modification.

2. Automates processes to increase speed, accuracy and visibility You can also do more with less by using workflow to automate manual and paper-based processes. Instead of clicking through emails, searching through desks or waiting for documents to arrive via interoffice mail, workflow automatically routes that information to the appropriate professionals electronically. When work moves forward and is ready for the next step in the process, workflow alerts stakeholders, speeding up processes across the organization. It can be used to accelerate departmental processes in AP, AR and HR, and expand beyond the back office to support facilities management, project management, order processing and fulfillment, engineering and work order changes, quality management processes and more. OnBase lets you create these powerful workflows without custom coding, so you manage them yourself, without reliance on a vendor.

With annual software releases based in part on customer or member requests, OnBase is easy to use and built to evolve with your business. Its flexibility means you can implement OnBase departmentally or enterprise-wide, depending on your needs.

By capturing, accessing and electronically routing information, not only do you know what’s happening right now with your processes, you also ensure that you are effectively controlling and managing compliance with regulations. Through automation, notifications and checklists, OnBase supports consistency and standardization of processes, making sure every required action is taken.

3. Integrates systems to increase communication Another way to do more with less is to integrate ECM with the systems you rely on every day so they can share information. OnBase easily integrates with your ERP, HRIS and homegrown or core business system, tying your systems together, giving them the ability to communicate effortlessly. Integration allows employees to stay within the applications they regularly use, like your HCM or accounting software, while easily finding the documentation they need. No reason to switch screens or bounce between open desktop windows.

By increasing communication between your existing IT investments, you further your lean goal. You also create value for your employees and customers. Your workers have the information they need, when they need it for more informed decision-making and they spend less time searching for documents and more time serving customers.

Doing more with less doesn’t have to be painful. You just need to take that first step - stop relying on paper.

Learn more at OnBase.com »

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