Cut Costs in Converting to an Electronic Workflow System

In the process of converting to an electronic document management system, as a rule it is necessary to digitize the existing document archive. The program Universal Document Converter is ideal for solving this task and makes it possible to significantly cut costs in implementing such a solution. Nowadays, many enterprises are converting to electronic document management systems. After all, not using paper not only speeds up the search for documents in the archive, but also saves money on expendable materials for printers. In addition, you gain additional workspace previously occupied by filing cabinets filled with archived documents! As a rule, the basis for an electronic document management system is the file format PDF, whose main advantage is platform independence, insuring the possibility to view and print any PDF document on any computer running any operating system. Outsourcing the Conversion of Paper Documents to PDF Numerous companies exist that can offer services in digitizing documents. They promptly scan all documents from the archive of the enterprise and convert them to PDF. At first glance, such a decision appears tempting since the company client is completely freed from routine work. However, this solution has several disadvantages. For one thing, it is necessary to carefully verify the results of the work performed. In some cases, there is a chance that errors will arise on the part of the contractors that may lead to the loss of documents or give rise to mix-ups. Secondly, in any company there are documents in the archive whose loss would lead to catastrophe. This concerns not only banking and financial documents, but also technical documentation unpatented for whatever reason. It turns out that the conversion of an enterprise’s archive into a digital format must at least partially be done independently, using one’s own resources. Digitizing Documents Independently Essentially, the task of digitizing documents can be reduced to two main tasks: scanning paper originals and converting them to PDF. The first of these is solved by the aid of scanning devices. Most companies have enough scanners, therefore problems with converting paper documents into an electronic form do not arise. Difficulties usually arise during the second stage while converting scanned sheets into the PDF format. The problem is that scanners in the overwhelming majority of companies are fairly old. After all, reliable devices without any complaints can operate for years. However, the software for old scanners does not support the PDF format. Faced with such a situation, many enterprises throw out their old scanners and buy new ones that can scan into PDF. Such a solution can lead to significant expenses on equipment. The volume of expenses rises exponentially if you have in your archive full-size blueprints or charts since scanners for such format sizes are extremely expensive and upgrading them so that they can scan into PDF and not only TIFF is too expensive an undertaking! What is more, when the archive has already been scanned, the new scanners need to be got rid of somehow. After all, the necessity of scanning documents in such volumes will no longer be necessary. Optimization of Expenses Expenses connected with replacing old scanners can be avoided if the conversion of paper documents into PDF is divided into two stages: 1. Scanning documents into an image format supported by the old scanner (for example, TIFF or Bitmap). 2. Converting the scanned documents to PDF. For the solution to the second task, the company fCoder Group, Inc. recommends using the program Universal Document Converter. This is a virtual printer that can convert any type of document into the PDF file format. In this case, the procedure for digitizing documents appears as follows: employees of the company scan documents and then immediately print them on the virtual printer with the name “Universal Document Converter” that converts the documents into the PDF format and saves them on the file server – the storage center for the electronic document archive. Such an approach renders it unnecessary to obtain new scanners since all the work can be performed with the aid of devices on hand. In addition, Universal Document Converter will come in handy in the future since with its aid you will be able to convert to PDF not only image files, but documents of any type.