How to Approach Capture Automation

Published By: Eric Johannson | Wed Jan 27, 2021

Organizations will soon need to face the fact that “scan to archive” (i.e. moving towards less paper and slowly digitizing the business) is not going to be enough to fully transform business processes in the way that will be necessary to compete. Don’t get me wrong, it is an essential step towards evolving and progressing into a more digitally transformed business, it’s just not where the tunnel ends. 

Many companies have embraced the shift towards digitization, which is great and will be helpful in terms of growth and success in the coming years. But the next logical move is investing in capture automation. 

Let’s start by first defining what capture automation is and then moving into what it can do for your business. 

What is “Capture Automation”?

Capture automation refers to software that can scan and capture both paper and electronic documents for you (think: contracts, receipts, invoices, etc.). Captured content is then automatically archived and organized. This software replaces manual processing, which can be time-consuming and tedious for your team (who has much better things to do).

Capture automation software can do much more for your business than just scan paper though.

Here are some other functionalities that you can enable once your team is ready to take on the next step:

1. Route your documents
2. Customize your workflows
3. Incorporate capture automation software within web forms. 
4. Extract “unstructured data”
5. Integrate with a desktop scanner or MFP so that you can release documents to your file system
   

Here are some best practices and good conversations to have with your team if you are considering adopting capture automation.

Don't know where to begin? At Carlyle we are experts in digital capture and automation! We would work with you through every step in the process to make your digital transformation smooth for you and your team. 

1. You should work with your team to create a process for capturing content. Think about what you will be capturing and what types of approvals will be required.
2. Discuss/think about managing your information digitally—will it work for your organization? What kind of information would you be capturing? Would the process be negatively impacted in a new format? Is the information you will be capturing dynamic? 
3. Ensure that everyone understands and has the same definition of “structured” and “unstructured” information. Determine how each will be managed. 
4. How will you capture structured data (i.e. electronic forms)? 
5. Chat with all of the departments within your organization and figure out what kind of content will be captured and how (i.e. using an MFP, desktop scanner, releasing to a document management system). 
6. What type of information will you be scanning to process? Paper, email, digital documents? 
   
   

You can (and should) use capture capabilities to enhance a broader digital transformation strategy.

For more information about capture automation, call us at 204.790.3872, email us at sandra@carlylepss.com, or request a call here. More information can be found in the video below as well.  

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