Smart Business Magazine, March 2015

40 Smart Business Akron Canton March 2015 Content management How to use data capture technology to eliminate bottlenecks If your organization manages content and data flow whether thats printed invoices or electronic data youre engaging in enterprise content management ECM ECM is the technological name for document management solutions From large corporations to small businesses with a few employees an ECM strategy can help your organization organize and track data ECM solutions allow you to eliminate silos where each department or individual manages their own documentation and information says Nano Zegarra chief technology officer at Blue Technologies When youre sharing information across the organization an ECM system can manage it and access it from a central area It keeps data from going missing and minimizes duplication But even if youre already using an ECM system data capture technologies can help speed up data entry These solutions dont take vacation days or get sick he says They dont go for water and get stuck talking for 20 minutes They just keep processing which makes your people more efficient and able to do more with the technology Smart Business spoke with Zegarra about the benefits of data capture solutions What is the biggest bottleneck of ECM In almost any organization employees manually type data from paper or one screen to another using programs like Microsoft Dynamics QuickBooks SharePoint or others This is considered indexing or manual data entry Its always the biggest bottleneck of ECM because it is a low value time consuming task Not to mention if someone enters data incorrectly the mistake could be costly Payment might be sent to the wrong vendor Or you could miss an early pay discount How do capture technologies help with the painful task of indexing Capture technologies scan documents and extract values pushing the information where it needs to go whether thats QuickBooks Great Plains SAP or another business application You might even have two systems that dont connect but todays data capture technology can help fix that When using data capture employees dont type They serve as quality assurance overseeing the process if something is read wrong or an anomaly pops up The technology can even validate data picked off of the document with existing information in another system The benefits include Reduced costs There are reduced labor costs to ship documents manually enter received data store the physical data etc Faster processes Automation means fewer touch points are needed along your process line Accurate information is more immediately available for your staff Optimized workforce Automating low level tasks frees up time allowing employees to work on higher level tasks maximizing productivity When a small or midsize company grows the last thing it wants to do is add bodies in the back office so staff can enter data and process information Data capture solutions can bridge the gap when a company has a large acquisition or sale and more business and documents start coming through Does there have to be standardized forms so information is read correctly This technology has evolved considerably it learns as it goes It can capture unstructured data If you have 500 different vendors you dont need to create templates You can set rules such as no invoice should be over X amount if it is flag it because something isnt right Or look for shipping rates states and logos in order to identify the vendor and validate the data against the enterprise resource planning system How can employers get started Business owners may not realize how much time data capture technology can save They just see people typing away or stacks of paper and the errors every now and then Data capture technology brings efficiency in the long run because peoples time is always expensive So find out Does this make sense for us Is it worth the investment Also plan for the future and get the right advisers involved early Dont put a Band Aid on the problem because of cost The savings wont be worth it if in eight months your company outgrows the solution This technology has all types prices and functionalities Work with your technology adviser to find the right capture solution that will change and grow with your business NANO ZEGARRA Chief technology officer Blue Technologies 216 271 4800 ext 2260 nzegarra@ BTOhio com Insights Technology is brought to you by Blue Technologies Inc WEBSITE For more information on how data capture management can fit your business needs visit www btohio com products services imaging solutions INTERVIEWED BY JAYNE GEST INSIGHTS TECHNOLOGY