Document Scanning vs. Storage, Purging

The following is a msg posted on the newsgroup comp.doc.management.

Document scanning takes on average 2 minutes per sheet (that is, both sides) to scan and catalogue properly. Many people believe the process is extremely fast because of the speed of computers, scanning equipment, etc.

The truth is, very few applications require scanning large amounts of data and categorizing it in very large groups. Most documents must be scanned and accurately identified in a master index, meaning they must be read, understood and cataloged properly. If they are to be cataloged by their content, making them searchable as you would search for a web site on google - then attention must be paid to the accurate graphics - to - text conversion that takes place.

For inactive records, it is far more economical in almost all situations to go with an off-site storage company. For large records departments struggling under the weight and burden of hard to find files - there are other solutions which are far more cost effective.

One such solution is converting file folders to a standard color code format. In North America we have an industry standard color code that many businesses are still upgrading to, or are completely unaware of. The difference between filing times and accuracy when looking at a visual representation of the alphabet, or numeric files - is absolutely astonishing.

One other solution is purging your records department for inactive records and putting them into storage, with a reputable storage company that has a good retrieval system in effect. One local company we deal directly with offers software to its customers, so that they may request documents directly from their office at any time of day (extra fees apply of course for after-hours document retrieval). Generally speaking, the following statistics are true across all industries:

• 1/3 of records are inactive
• 1/3 of records are completely useless (will not be accessed again for any reason)
• and 1/3 of records are active.

This means your average records department is 300% larger than it is required to be. If reducing your records department by 2/3 would solve many problems you foresee, then hiring on extra staff for purging and paying the relatively low cost for document storage might be a much better solution than document imaging and cataloging.

Everybody would like to have a CD with every important document they may ever require on it - but the truth is, that is a major, major undertaking. And any of you with experience doing document scanning and cataloging can attest to the amount of work involved. For even a few thousand records and larger - it is a major undertaking for most businesses.

--Doug Styles
Infofile Systems Inc.
http://www.infofile.ca