Over 80% of UK businesses print documents just to get them signed. Does this seem excessive to you?
In a bid to get people to think before they print, AIIM are promoting World Paper Free Day today.
The slogan, ‘Paper free is not about a tree… it’s about improved processes’ highlights that the issues are not just environmental when it comes to excessive printing.
AIIM research has looked at how less paper in the workplace can deliver significant benefits. Key findings show that eliminating paper from processes can improve the responsiveness of customer service by an impressive 300%.
Moving content to PCs and tablets has the added advantages of helping companies adopt mobile-enabled processes and eliminate elapsed time, lost forms, poor data and re-keying.
To effectively mobile-enable processes and reduce reliance on paper, AIIM are encouraging people to capture data as soon as possible to make the information easily available to whoever needs it, wherever they are in the shortest time possible.
If digital signatures were used more widely, it would save a lot of time, and paper.ARX commissioned a YouGov suvery which revealed that currently, 84% of documents are printed for the purpose of "wet" signatures, and 62% print additional copies just for obtaining signatures. The issue of printing documents just to get them signed is even worse for larger organisations – 89% of mid-sized and 83% of large organisations admit to this.
The ARX data also indicated that public sector and financial services print the most documents just for obtaining signatures. The issue is greater in some specific market sectors with the worst culprits being the public sector (95%) and financial services (94%).
Almost three quarters of UK businesses who print documents say processes are delayed because of the need to collect signatures. 72% say signatures delay processes with the numbers rising to 77% of mid-sized ones and 83% of large organisations.
Almost a third of large organisations who print documents lose more than one day just to collect signatures. 24% of businesses overall lose more than one day per transaction collecting signatures, rising to 31% of large organisations. Worldwide, recent AIIM research found that 65% of enterprises add more than a day to their processes just for this purpose.
Does your business require a multitude of copies for the sake of signatures? Why not consider the advantages of digital signatures? And remember, always THINK BEFORE YOU PRINT.
