Paper Data Tranfser
Join Tokairo in an article about how to make the move to a
more paperless office. Learn what steps are needed in order
to transfer your paper hardcopy into digital files.
Bridging the Gap between Paper and Data
The cornerstone of successful automated office systems is the
ability to convert printed information into electronic data.
Document processing applications need to capture and index data
accurately and efficiently to bridge that gap.
This capability can be enhanced with the integration of Optical
Character Recognition (OCR) software. By this means, extracted
data is used to index and save the document into the document
management application.
This intelligent document recognition and classification is
central to Tokairo’s new contract with a major UK supplier of
dairy products. The delivery and receipt procedure works like
this:
• When an order is received from a customer a despatch note
is issued listing product description, quantities, weight and
code
• On delivery the note is signed by the customer along with
the customer’s Goods Received Note (GRN) which details the goods
actually delivered
Problems arise if goods are damaged, lost or delivered piecemeal,
as discrepancies can occur between the despatch note and the
customer’s GRN.
The system has been set up so that these documents can be automatically
read, matching delivery line items with corresponding items
from the company’s despatch notes.
After every delivery, despatch notes, GRNs and any other delivery/receipt
documents are scanned by the delivery driver at any one of the
company’s 20 depots in the UK.
Coping with different document styles and formats
The company’s system is configured to recognise every GRN’s
header and footer, so it can read each item’s line code and
quantity. This process is made complicated because each customer
uses a different GRN style, format and layout. Also, there can
be multiple GRNs for one despatch note – typically when a single
delivery goes to several different customer sites.
However, once the OCR software has been correctly configured
to read the lines in the different styles of document, accurate
reading of forms is high – ranging from 85% to 90%. A threshold
can be set by users so that any document that falls below a
certain level (e.g. 80%) is entered manually. So any document
that can be read less than 80% accurately is flagged up for
manual indexing. Anything above this value is saved automatically.
The system automatically consolidates this process by matching
the different documents and line items in the original order,
and stores all documents in the appropriate order folder.
Automatic invoice amendment
Any discrepancy is automatically flagged up and investigated.
This generates an amendment to the sales invoice issued to the
customer, which in turn reduces the company’s debtor days by
ensuring that the sales invoice matches the customer’s GRN.
Should there be any discrepancies or delays in receiving payment,
staff have online access to all delivery information stored
in the order folders.
Integrating intelligent document recognition and classification
technology provides significant customer benefits:
• Reduced administrative overheads
• Improved business visibility
• Reduced invoicing errors and attendant disputes and delays
• Increased cashflow by minimising debtor days
• Improved customer service
• Enhanced corporate image
About the Author
Tokairo is an international solution provider of electronic
document management systems and education solutions.
Visit http://www.tokairo.com
for further information
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