GED: Electronic Document Management tools increase efficiency in companies

Article by Marcelo Araújo.

The increasing digitalization of the operations of companies in different segments has shown that Electronic Document Management (EDM) is, has been and will continue to be a trend in the coming years. This is because, in addition to eliminating the dependence on paper (something that has already been assimilated by almost all sectors), GED has proven to be very effective in increasing productivity within companies.

In fact, this is why they are turning to electronic document management today. Being productive is essential in the business world, and companies have realized that they can increase their productivity and efficiency with the support of a strategy that includes GED.

These systems organize all of a company’s information in one easy-to-access location, allowing employees to quickly find what they need and get back to work. Companies see a significant increase in productivity and efficiency overall by implementing an electronic document management system. This streamlines the search process and reduces the time employees spend searching for a specific document.

Why is proper document management important?

If anyone is wondering what the real practical impact of this organization (or disorganization) of documents is, I would say it is certainly relevant. A global study of 1,200 employees by the International Data Corporation (IDC) found that time spent on document management results in an overall productivity loss equivalent to 19.5%.

Another study conducted by PwC and Radicati Group on the lack of proper document management showed that managers waste an average of one month per year searching for information stored in inappropriate and disorganized files. Professionals spend 5% to 15% of their time reading information in documents. If they have to search for said documents, this figure can reach 50% of the time spent.

Additionally, employees spend an average of two hours a day searching for lost or misplaced documents, such as contracts, invoices, manuals, and emails. At least two-thirds of the information companies hold is outdated and could be deleted or destroyed.

Another worrying fact revealed by the research carried out by the Brazilian Association of Document Management Companies (ABGD) is that in companies, on average, a document is lost every 12 seconds. This is another important point, because lost or misplaced documents cause rework and therefore reduce operational efficiency and productivity. In other words, more costs in document management and more loss of time for the team.

For all these reasons, document management is directly linked to the efficiency of a company. It is not only a good ESG practice because it eliminates a natural resource such as paper, but it is also one of the most important practices to prevent (or even eliminate) unnecessary costs that could lead to losses in terms of both operational efficiency and information security.

By choosing a good GED provider, a company can radically change the way it runs its operations, rationalize costs in document management, optimize resources, and increase productivity, which ultimately translates into better results.

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Marcelo Araújo is Commercial Director at Ebox Digital. He has more than 35 years of experience in the commercial field focused on the sale of technology products and services, an executive working with medium and large clients, with emphasis on experience in software companies, BPO, electronic document management, ECM and BPM.