Intelligent Document Automation – Scaling enterprise digital transformation end-to-end

Document-heavy enterprises struggle with managing high volumes of documents and files entering their system daily. Document management is cumbersome and requires at least two or three dedicated resources. Their struggles are endless but recurring, which often transcends into missed or replaced crucial files, missed data for entry, or errors while entering them in a shared excel format. And poor-quality data reflects badly in data-driven strategies. This is why an Intelligent Document Automation solution is crucial for enabling end-to-end digital transformation.

Intelligent Document Automation – A step beyond the conventional approach

The traditional methods of maintaining documents and extracting data have been proven inefficient in terms of operational efficacy and productivity of resources. The time spent searching for desired files or documents from shared servers, folders, or email trails is immense. And manually scanning each file, extracting data, and updating the data entry file is labor-intensive. So many productive hours are spent that could have been better utilized for executing more critical tasks. In addition, employees are likely to lose track of documents to be processed; hence, deadlines are not met eventually. Further to this are the confusing file server structures and misfiled or wrongly filed papers. The challenges are never-ending, and the companies are at the losing end.

The advent of new-age technology solutions like AI and Automation has streamlined the intricate document management process. Company files are digitized, processed, categorized, and stored in a centralized network easily accessible by all. These cloud-based Intelligent Document Processing platforms simplify document processing and data extraction workflows and complete tasks in lesser time. As a result, employees are benefited most in terms of their efficiency, productivity, and speed.

Compared to legacy systems, Intelligent Document Automation is what companies need to scale their automation journey end-to-end. The reason behind this would be data, which is paramount in transforming an aging process into a smart one with the help of RPA tools and other AI solutions. Data is central for any digital transformation and for AI tools to work effectively. If accurate data are available on time, then automating key processes becomes easy.

These are reasons strong enough for companies to step beyond the conventional approach and make Intelligent Document Automation a part of their work culture.

What is Intelligent Document Automation?

Intelligent Document Automation process enterprise documents, regardless of document types and formats, and unlock empirical data from customer-submitted files. Powered by advanced AI capabilities like Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Computer Vision, scattered and unstructured data are converted into machine-readable formats.

This innovative tech-enhanced platform leverages the OCR tool to identify critical data from documents. ML/AI capabilities are harnessed to extract, evaluate, and transform it for auto-updates into backend systems. Document and data-centric industries like banking and finance, hospitals, and retail, can benefit from Intelligent Document Processing tools. These sectors can effectively improve and accelerate operations to serve customers faster and amplify their satisfaction.

Strategies for implementing Intelligent Document Automation

Today, businesses are generating more documents than ever before. The task of processing vast volumes of documents in different formats and originating from multi-sources is overwhelming. And the task gets more intricate when data needs to be extracted from each file, image, PDF, or email. In addition, the pressure to meet deadlines adds to the never-ending problems of dedicated resources. For instance, banking employees face the same daily challenge while processing customer documents and verifying their details for KYC. Such recurring tasks are unavoidable because businesses have shifted towards data-driven processes recently. Hence, the transformation to intelligent technology should commence from document-heavy and data-centric operations.

However, the implementation of Intelligent Document Automation entails a comprehensive strategy and complete preparedness of resources. Moreover, it’s a given fact that employees can never adapt to change overnight for multiple reasons. So, the first stride towards the shift would be the identification of a pilot project, and the rest of the steps would follow sequentially, as stated below:

Obviously, the above-mentioned steps are not one-size-fits and can vary depending upon the objectives of enterprises.

Use cases for Intelligent Document Automation

Again, as mentioned before, document automation tools have found their way into different industries; Banking and Finance being one of them. Here’s a rundown of some of the essential use cases:

All these above use cases are document-centric and involve extensive paperwork. And these documents come in bulk at a time. Such hefty and recurring workflows that are vulnerable to human errors, data theft, or damage of documents need an intelligent and heavily secured software solution. Document intelligence automation tools can effectively prevent such instances, saving the company millions of dollars in loss.

Key benefits of Intelligent Document Automation

Intelligent Document Automation – The way ahead

Many enterprises are still consumed by paper-intensive processes. Regardless of technological improvements, most companies are reluctant to embrace the change. However, increasing competition and market demand have compelled others to join the bandwagon. The most rudimentary AI-based data extraction tools can save business time between 30%-40% of the hours typically spent on such processes. Therefore, investing in such smart tools will garner higher returns for the company.

Intelligent Document Automation is the need of the hour and is likely to stay for a long. Its benefits and applications are immense, not necessarily industry-specific. Since enterprise documents will only increase in volume and complexity, traditional methods would fail to keep up. Document automation tools are the missing link for enterprises in their quest to scale digital transformation end-to-end.