Integrating AI for Intelligent Document Management in the Digital Workplace
Human error remains the most common cause of data and document loss in the digital workspace. According to M-Files research, the average worker spends 50% of their working hours manually preparing documents, and approximately 25% will end up missing during transfer. Although adopting a document management system reduces this workload and loss ratio, the real game-changer is leveraging AI to automate the process, boosting efficiency by 21%. Despite this projected increase in productivity, only 3% of organizations have adopted intelligent document management solutions. This leads to the question, why?
According to a Tata Survey, many organizations recognize the value of an intelligent management system but grapple with adoption. However, adopting a document management system that leverages AI is not as daunting as it may seem. If your organization is in a similar predicament, consider this: By integrating AI and automation, you could potentially overcome these adoption challenges and reap the benefits of streamlined document management.
The Intelligent Document Management System
Electronic Document management systems (EDMS) are digital solutions that capture, track, store, process, and share electronic documents within the digital workplace. However, digitally transforming how documents are managed involves more than storing, tracking and sharing information. Intelligent document management systems expand the capabilities of traditional EDMS to include gaining insight from data and achieving workflow automation.
Gartner states that intelligent EDMS leverage artificial intelligence and its subsets, such as machine learning and natural language processing, to extract information from textual data, primarily documents, for analysis and workflow automation. Consequently, intelligent and automated workflows help enterprises eliminate errors, save time and costs, and build resilient document management capabilities for future applications.
Leveraging AI and Workflow Automation to Optimize Document Management Processes
AI-driven document management systems enable organizations to streamline traditional document management and document processing activities. The intelligent document management system achieves this by automating repetitive tasks, eliminating manual data collation processes, and reducing human error. Examples include:
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Streamlining Regulatory Compliance
Regulations are constantly being updated across diverse industrial niches, such as manufacturing, healthcare, and insurance. Failure to remain compliant may lead to financial and reputational damage of approximately $14 million for large corporations and $4 million for SMEs. Consequently, organizations expend enormous resources to capture, update, and ensure employee access to updated regulatory information to remain compliant. Integrating AI to automate workflows relating to compliance empowers organizations with the tools to track outdated documents, update them, and send them to the relevant parties.
Leveraging intelligent document management systems ensures these outdated documents are automatically flagged for updates. Workflow automation and access control features can also be leveraged to determine the employees who have read through updated documents and to send push notification reminders to those who haven’t. For example, Singapore's healthcare and insurance service providers must comply with the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). The act requires seeking and recording user consent, inventorying collected data, and ensuring sensitive data is removed within specified timeframes.
Enterprises can successfully comply with PDPA regulations using an intelligent EDMS. The EDMS will automate repetitive tasks such as seeking and recording consent, analyzing why and when consent was sought, and enforcing time limitations for storing personal data. Automating and streamlining regulatory compliance saves employee time and ensures compliance is enforced without the need for human intervention.
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Streamlining Customer and Supplier Onboarding Processes
Intelligent document management allows enterprises to automate stringent and time-consuming onboarding processes. For example, supplier onboarding in manufacturing requires multiple documents to get started. These documents include application forms, proof of ID, contract forms, etc. Intelligent document management systems automate the sharing and processing of these documents to speed up the onboarding process.
Integrating AI within the document management system takes auditing the onboarding process a step further. AI automates checks for fraudulent documentation or other discrepancies during the onboarding process. Automating onboarding speeds up the entire process and ensures employees in customer-facing businesses spend more time focusing on their core business operations.
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Streamline Inventory Management and Report Generation
Intelligent documentation management systems provide enterprises with a single source of truth for managing diverse reports and records. For example, manufacturing, logistics and supply chain enterprises leverage intelligent document management systems to keep a digital inventory of supplies, purchase orders, and invoices.
The pharmaceutical organization Accord Healthcare's example highlights how intelligent EDMs can be leveraged. In this case, the organization struggled with managing the documentation associated with increased customer demand. According to the manufacturer, large monthly orders arrive by fax, email, and post. This meant order reconciliations involved extensive manual and repetitive labour digitizing orders and managing the workload.
Leveraging Esker Order and Document Management solutions, Accord Healthcare effectively reduced its manual workloads by embracing automation. The manufacturer was able to streamline its order and invoice documents into a single platform. Creating a single source of truth that drastically reduced the time spent on manual reconciliation. Embracing EDMS freed up 190 hours per month across its workforce by automating 68% of its order reconciliation tasks.
In 2019, Accord Healthcare embraced an AI-driven DMS to improve its document reconciliation process and detect anomalies. The intelligent EDMs analyzed archived documents against recent orders, enabling line managers to detect potential order errors in real-time and address them.
Actionable Steps to Integrate AI in Your Document Management Process
EDMS are critical transformation tools within the digital workplace, and the integration of AI extends their capabilities to automate workflows, gain actionable business insight, and streamline compliance. Here are some timely tips for embracing the advantages of intelligent EDMS:
- Define outcomes – Create a roadmap detailing the challenges you intend to solve with Intelligent EDMS
- Research partners —Find intelligent EDMS service providers offering turnkey services with the features your operations require, including AI.
- Request a demo – Gain insight into service providers' solutions that fit your business case.
- Choose Solutions that Fit—Your peculiar use cases deserve an intelligent EDMS with the capabilities and support system to optimize your business.
Successful integration of intelligent EDMS is essential to building an optimized digital workplace. Getting it right, along with implementing an end-to-end cybersecurity framework and a robust collaboration and communication process, ensures that your digital workplace is resilient enough to handle future challenges and beat the competition.
How can we help?
As a pioneer in document solutions for over 50 years, FUJIFILM Business Innovation Singapore has a deep understanding of how businesses operate. Our mission is to empower organisations to work efficiently and effectively in the digital age. We offer a comprehensive suite of digital transformation solutions and services, partnering our customers in managing data to automate workflows, leverage data intelligence, and build exceptional customer experiences.
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