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The exchange of documents is essential to how daily business activities are conducted, especially in manufacturing and distribution. In fact, how well an organization optimizes document processes directly impacts profitability. This is especially true in the food and beverage industry, where FDA regulations and product shelf life make efficiency and accuracy particularly important. It is also true then that the promised gains from automation are often amplified in this space.
The Pitfalls of Manual Processes
Each and every day, warehouse distributors and manufacturers handle faxes, emails and other paper-based supply chain management documents that cause problems such as:
* Data entry errors associated with the manual rekeying of data, resulting in delayed/incorrect shipments
* Inefficiency in getting fax/email data into a back-office system, resulting in production delays and overstocks
* Concerns about the cost for increasing staff and infrastructure to handle high volumes and peak periods
Management Concerns
The struggles associated with manual processing affect a business at multiple levels -- particularly at the managerial level. When document entry cycle times are long, managers cannot grow the business without adding staff. Additionally, there is no easy way to prioritize and monitor document entry, meaning high-priority and time-sensitive processing can be delayed. Document processing errors are also a common problem that cause a domino effect of issues for managers. Errors can lead to delays in fulfillment and cash collection, additional shipping costs, waste (especially with perishables) and repetition. Furthermore, processing errors can cause returns, which a business must pay off in credit notes, restocking or write-offs. Finally, archiving poses a major concern for management. The cost of printing and the space to store documents, combined with the time it takes to file and retrieve records, can hold a company back. Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) are often unable to find documents to answer customer questions, and information is not readily accessible for auditing purposes.
The Promise of Document Management Automation
The more efficient a company's billing and cash collection methods are, the faster documents are handled, processed and tracked, which accelerates the...