IBM i & Power Systems - Reduce Paper Use, Increase Productivity

In spite of many technological advances such as the internet, scanners, e-books and digital cameras, paper documents still play an indispensable role in the modern office.  It has been predicted that by 2020 the global paper consumption will reach 500 million tons per year.  A half of this volume is consumed in Europe and North America alone.  Some paper statistics that provide a deeper insight into this problem:

·       The average office worker continues to use a staggering 10,000 sheets of copy paper every year.

·       In the U.S., companies spend more than $120 billion a year on printed forms, most of which outdate themselves within three months’ time.

·       A typical employee spends 30-40% of his time looking for information locked in email and filing cabinets – filing costs average about $20 per month.

·       Each misfiled document costs $125. Each lost document cost $350 to $700 – large organizations lose a document every 12 seconds.

While the technology for going paperless is readily available, the rate of adoption for these tools and this system is quite low. Software plays an important role in a paperless office.  Software programs manage the huge quantity of digital files that an office can produce during the transition to paperless.  Some of the different types of document management tools available from inFORM Decisions that can be utilized to eliminate paper processes are as follows:

Spool files to Digital forms

System i and Power Systems NATIVE PCL to PDF converter for Spool Files.  iPDF converts standard HP Laserjet output (Printer Control Language) into the popular Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format). IBM native conversion eliminates the need to download to a PC (or secondary server) to process PDF files, thus improving security and speed of PDF document conversion. Much more than a simple conversion tool, iPDF enables report distribution, PDF document archival and retrieval, bursting, sorting and outputting PDF reports and custom business forms in the open PDF standard where they can be easily viewed using the free Acrobat Reader.

E-mail

Email has had the biggest impact, allowing communications to become electronic with the ability to attach digital documents. Our iMail product is an example. This is very suitable for lmost business correspondence with the ability to  format spool file reports into popular formats like Excel, color PDF, HTML, ZIP, RTF and more.  iMail provides much more than simple email delivery. From your AS/400, iSeries, IBM i, and Power Server, you can send messages, business documents and spool file reports in easily readable formats. iMail enables organizations to upgrade to a paperless environment, saving time and money due to more efficient document management and distribution.

Workflow

Sharing business documents such as sales or supplier contracts that require controlled access on an ad-hoc basis can be accomplished by use of versatile tools like iWorkflow  which provides the ability to take any business process, and create a digital copy.  A digital workflow allows you to streamline business processes and route documents throughout the organization.  Managers now have a looking glass into any process, and readily accessible reporting and metrics. Workflow business apps help you streamline your business processes — expense claims, customer onboarding, travel requests or any other organizational business workflow. Using workflow, data, forms and report  are connected to the authorized parties providing efficiency and productivity.

Document Capture and Scanning

Scanners are one of the most essential tools for a paperless office. They can convert paper documents into digital files, which are then ready for mass distribution over an email system rather than through paper memos. Large-format scanners can convert blueprints, contracts and other large documents into digital files. In addition, high-speed scanners can quickly scan multipage documents, or even books, eliminating the need to store the paper copies.

 With an array of scanning devices, capture needs and backend content management systems, it is ineffective to settle for multiple applications to accomplish one goal. iCapture  provides a single capture platform that can meet all the needs of an organization: document scanning and import, forms processing, data capture, OCR/ICR, data extraction and the ability to migrate the information into a backend. The iCapture  advanced capture system enhances the capabilities of any scanning device, providing a powerful onramp to any Enterprise Content Management (ECM) or Document Management Systems (DMS).

Mobile Signature Capture

With iSign  documents are efficiently captured, stored, secured and backed up with peace of mind that they can’t be damaged or accessed by flood, fire or bad guys with bad intentions.  Documents can be easily retrieved or routed through a web browser, from any location at any time.

Document Storage & Retrieval

iView  is the Web-based Content Management Solution for the iSeries, System i and Power Systems  native document archive – retrieval solution performing content management functions to enable the capture, storage, indexing and retrieval of spool files, merged documents and scanned forms so they are accessible via a web browser by anyone, anywhere, anytime.  iCapture extends iView’s capture, indexing and storage capabilities to hard copy documents for a complete browser-accessible repository.

Since 1994, inFORM Decisions has been a Document Automation provider specializing in state of the art Document Automation solutions for the IBM i - iSeries - AS/400 arena. We are committed to the IBM i iSeries AS/400 platform forever!

Call (800) 858-5544 / (949) 709-5838 or visit us at www.informdecisions.com for more information about our acclaimed suite of products and see how we can help you reduce paper, increase productivity and lower your costs.