Every year, organisations produce, manage and store billions of documents, yet little time is spent on finding ways to streamline workflow and eliminate the day-to-day inefficiencies that are slowing businesses down and costing them money.

With people continuing to work from home, remote workforces need to access, edit and approve documents digitally and securely, and, while digital transformation was already high on the agenda before the pandemic, many businesses are unsure of the best digitisation approach.

In addition, the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) and other legal requirements are placing more pressure on business to improve the management, costs, control and security of their documents.

A total document solution (TDS) assessment comprises of a hardware review, a needs assessment and use assessment to help determine how an organisation uses printers, how it prints, what it prints and what happens to those printed documents. This information can then be used to save your business time and money.

Here are eight reasons to do a TDS assessment:

Improved productivity: Find out whether your workflow is as seamless as you think it is.
Growth: Growing your business requires growing your infrastructure.
Customisation: Your company is unique, so why settle for cookie-cutter solutions?
Security: Security is an issue in every office. Make security and privacy a priority!
Optimised data: Data optimisation maximises the speed and efficiency with which data can be retrieved, helping to drive innovation.
Lower overheads: Even small savings are big when they’re multiplied across the organisation.
Control: Taking control of your document workflow will make business processes more efficient than ever.
Reduced footprint: Turn your document workflow into an economical and environmentally sustainable process.

The author, Werner Engelbrecht, argues that a TDS assessment can save a company real money

Let’s look at how a TDS assessment works:

Understanding costs: Business printing costs more than you think. A TDS assessment will help you understand where you are spending money and why. Individual desktop multifunction printers (MFPs), for example, can be extremely costly. Print costs, individual supply costs and costs of maintenance all add up significantly. A TDS assessment will identify what you are spending on these devices and why.
Reviewing waste and document use: Organisations use little of what they print. A TDS assessment can review where and how documents are being used across your organisation, allowing you to reduce costs by looking at where you are spending money. If the accounts department is a high-volume printing division, for example, automating invoicing and payroll can significantly decrease total print volume.
Understanding your document environment: A TDS assessment will help you understand your document environment, including the total number of MFPs on the network. Creating a complete picture of document workflow across the business gives you the tools to understand where complexities occur and what can be improved.
Understanding MFP contracts: Managing MFP lease relationships can be difficult, especially when you have shorter-term contracts, or auto-renewing contracts. An MFP analysis can help you determine where you’re spending money. This can help you decide if you are benefiting from existing contracts or if you might benefit from a single, consolidated contract from a managed print services provider.
Optimising print per location: A print needs analysis will give you a good idea of what printers the business has in various locations, and what they need. A TDS assessment can tell you how each department is printing in each office, which you can align with the needs of specific business units.
Consolidating devices: Most businesses have more printers than they need. A TDS assessment will highlight where printers are being used and not used, so you can consolidate them into smaller, more cost-effective number of MFPs or look at digitising the process further. This reduces rental costs, service costs, and maintenance. With fewer devices, you can also streamline print network architecture, and simplify antivirus and anti-malware solutions.
Aligning MFPs with staff and customer needs: Businesses change all the time; new processes are set up, and new teams are created. It’s important to run a TDS assessment regularly to gauge whether your document needs are being met. This is especially important when automating and digitising documents.
Improving security and compliance: Whether your industry is bound by security and compliance issues, or you want to reduce costs and risks by improving security, a TDS assessment can help by identify risks, identifying potential issues and recommending ways to solve issues.

In conclusion, a holistic approach to supporting your company’s workflow will take into account your document needs and workflow challenges, then look at implementing a unique combination of hardware technology, customised software and cost-effective business solutions, thereby streamlining workflow and increasing workplace productivity companywide.

About Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa
Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa is a group company of Kyocera Document Solutions Inc, a global leading provider of total document solutions based in Osaka, Japan. The company’s portfolio includes reliable and eco-friendly MFPs and printers, as well as business applications and consultative services which enable customers to optimise and manage their document workflow, reaching new heights of efficiency. With professional expertise and a culture of empathetic partnership, the objective of the company is to help organisations put knowledge to work to drive change. For further information visit www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.co.za, or connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or YouTube.

About Kyocera Document Solutions Inc
Kyocera Document Solutions Inc is a core company of Kyocera Corporation, a leading supplier of semiconductor packages, industrial and automotive components, electronic devices, solar power generating systems and mobile phones. During the year ended 31 March 2019, Kyocera Corporation’s consolidated sales revenue totalled ¥1.62-trillion (about US$14.6-billion). Kyocera appears on the “Derwent Top 100 Global Innovators 2018-19” list by Clarivate Analytics and is ranked 655th on Forbes magazine’s 2019 “Global 2000” list of the world’s largest publicly traded companies.