Tech Connect: Make the move toward paperless

After computers spread throughout offices, we began hearing about how we soon would soon be paperless.

This has not happened. In fact, the use of paper in the United States has increased 126 percent over the past 20 years.

There are many reasons for this slow adoption of paperless office systems (digital). One of the reasons this slow adoption happens in small businesses, I believe, is that the people responsible for the management of office systems are not ready.

They basically do not know why or how to move to digital. When they acquire the necessary knowledge to help make the decision to go digital, they will make the move very quickly.

As for the why, the owners or active leaders of the company must see the value of going digital.

Here are a few reasons:

' Better control of the business's information

' Security of the information

' Efficient storing and retrieval.

Let's look at the components of a paperless system. You need to have three key components to put a paperless system in place:

1. An office leader who intimately understands the existing information management system, and has the skills and personality to be a change agent.

2. A secure network for all the workstations and connected office equipment.

3. A scanner. For small businesses this means a multipurpose copy device.

When a leader is selected, a well-thought-out transition plan needs to be put together. This is an important step, so a qualified representative from each operating area must be involved.

This group will make the decisions that must be made, and then help guide the transition.

For example, they must decide whether they need to scan everything in the paper files or to just move ahead to digitize in a 'planful” way. This is where the collective knowledge of the transition group will be of great value.

Another key component is to network all the workstations into a password protected-central filing system on a file server. Networking the printers and scanners into the file sharing system is also a must-have.

A good example of how to share key information that was not generated on your digital system is one we use in our company. When checks arrive, we scan them and email them simultaneously to designated people. This helps assure timely and accurate information flow.

It also provides the owners with important information related to cash flow management. We previously had a multiple step, manual system that at times turned out to be neither timely nor accurate.

Beyond the whys above, there are other benefits from going digital:

1. On average, paper files double in size every three-plus years. This requires a lot of new floor space and additional filing cabinets.

2. An average worker uses over 10,000 sheets of paper per year - a long way from being paperless, and 100 percent assured of steadily increasing costs.

3. Forty-five percent of paper used each day ends up trashed or recycled.

4. A loss of paper files by fires, floods, or other natural catastrophes, such as tornadoes in the Midwest, opens you up to a 70 percent chance of going out of business.

With all of these benefits, how can you delay?

' Mike McKay is general manager and co-founder of Keystone IT; mike@keystoneit.com