There are some who believe going green/paperless is a passing fad. Small businesses in particular have been wary of these ‘green’ ideas due to the challenge of the costs involved. However, going green is far more than just an idea with hefty costs.
Longterm it is crucial to develop a paperless atmosphere as it is to employ energy-saving devices. In the same way that electricity-saving devices reduce your bill, a paperless office reduces a substantial amount of overhead expenses.
Important Facts about Paper
Paper and its products have a significant impact on the environment. Don’t believe it? Let’s examine the statistics.
- According to data on Statista, the yearly global production of paper and cardboard is 400+ million tonnes, which is equivalent to two sheets of paper per person each hour. Not yet a completely paperless society. By 2030, it is anticipated that the demand for paper will have doubled.
- Environmental Protection Agency estimates indicate that the average employee uses 10,000 sheets of paper each year. Multiplying the total number of paper sheets by the average cost of paper reveals that your employee spends $1,000 annually on paper alone. Even if your organization has only 50 employees, you spend $50,000 annually on paper. Don’t overlook the fact that, of all the stationery and office supplies, paper is the most expensive.
- Paper is not the only expense you incur; you must also pay for printing ink, file storage space, a paper shredder, printer maintenance, and other overhead charges. An average office worker generates 160 kg of paper waste, and 45 percent of the paper generated in offices is discarded daily.
- An average employee spends 30% to 40% of their time searching for information that is locked away in email and filing cabinets.
Although we acknowledge that paper may be useful in certain circumstances, the benefits of going paperless are undeniable.
Benefits of Going Paperless with Folderit
Folderit‘s complete document management solution (DMS) makes the transition to a paperless office easier than ever.
- Your Paper Documents and Files Are Fully digital
Paperless document management enables the creation of digital files and the transition to a completely paperless office. You may save, manage, and secure your existing paper documents and electronic data without requiring physical storage space, thereby increasing your productivity and efficiency by saving time on document searches, storage, and approval processes.
- Boosts the effectiveness of the filing procedure
An employee spends a large amount of time filing and retrieving paper documents. Our program for paperless document management eliminates the necessity for manually filing paper documents and replaces it with easy-to-use automation. Additionally, with Folderit you can create custom metadata fields to optimize the document filing process unlike ever before.
- Enhances Team Productivity
All of your papers are instantly searchable if you organize and manage them in a centralized repository equipped with extensive search capabilities. Whether you search for the document by checking the date you produced the file, the author’s name, search the metadata field, or a portion of the document’s text via Folderit’s powerful OCR search, you can find the document in a matter of seconds.
This can nearly double the productivity of your employees, as they will have instant access to information rather than sifting through enormous files and folders.
- Ensures Security and Compliance
You no longer need to worry about losing crucial documents or leaving them in the wrong hands.
A digital storage system can safeguard and monitor all file activity, so you will always know who has seen or modified the documents.
To preserve quality and compliance, our document management software includes robust document control features such as security, two-factor authentication, audit trail, record retentions, and access control.
- Accelerates the Approval Procedure
With a DMS document reviews and approval processes can be automated. To streamline work operations and reduce the document turnaround time, you can develop an automated paperless workflow. Furthermore, the e-signing process is easier to incorporate into your workflow with Folderit’s DocuSign integration. All this saves a significant amount of paper that would have otherwise been used for multiple copies for multiple reviews, edits, and approvals.
- Encourages Adaptability
By adopting a paperless office, you may access your data from any location and at any time. Folderit’s DMS enables you to focus on your organization’s objectives and demands while offering teams the flexibility to access documents from anywhere with our award-winning user-friendly interface. With correctly indexed files and simple rules, paperless document management software makes searching, sharing, and storing documents simpler than ever.
- Improves collaboration abilities
Keeping all your documents in a single repository guarantees that all members of your team are on the same page, regardless of when or where they work. They may quickly route digital documents and web eForms, add comments, signatures, and make choices on shared digital documents, thereby decreasing errors and accelerating collaboration.
You can utilize Folderit’s MS Office 365 integration (MS Office subscription sold separately) to work and collaborate with your team on documents, and even automate processes with our enhanced automation integration ‘Make’.
- Automatically back up your files
With physical document storage, your data can only be protected from major errors and natural disasters such as fire, floods, and earthquakes if you store them in an ultra-secure place or something like a bank safe. But with a DMS your data is automatically backed up on our cloud, and different file versions are saved, plus with file versioning you can access existing metadata and all earlier versions of the file, ensuring a backup that won’t fail you when you need it most.
- Save on Expenses
Small firms are under greater cost-cutting pressure than large companies, and every dollar counts for them. Digital files are easier to create, edit, share, and manage than paper papers, allowing your workers to operate more efficiently. Adopting a DMS offers substantial cost, space, and labor reductions.
- Reduces Carbon Footprint
And finally, being environmentally conscious helps reduce your carbon footprint and makes your company an ally in the global climate efforts. Companies are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental benefits of adopting digital whenever possible.
Furthermore, this may trigger a butterfly effect in global manufacturing. Going paperless will slowly take away the need for heavy reliance on paper, which will mean a reduction in extensive paper generation, leading to a further reduction in the waste generated by associated industries.
Check out Folderit’s Infographic on Going Paperless.
Planning for a Greener Future
To achieve a paperless office, it is sufficient to minimize paper-based procedures and employ electronic documents. When you apply these ideas and tools to your company process, you will find that there are a multitude of modest adjustments that can yield substantial outcomes in the future.
Learn more about how Folderit is more sustainable than the average cloud-based DMS.
