The Role of Print in Digital Transformation

Perhaps one of the most enduring images of workplace printers and copiers comes from the 1999 cult classic film “Office Space.” In the movie, three white-collar workers, fed up with indecipherable error messages like “PC LOAD LETTER,” take out their frustrations on a malfunctioning machine (with help from a baseball bat). 

That was then. This is now. 

Today, printers and multifunction devices aren’t merely helping employees to streamline and simplify their paper-based process. They’re actually assisting organizations with their digital transformation efforts, making it possible for them to unlock valuable data that is currently trapped inside paper documents, and enabling new workflows that improve efficiency, security and productivity. 

“Manufacturers are increasingly positioning multifunction printers as workflow solutions, and as a vital part of an organization’s processes — not just as a box that copies, prints and scans,” says Valerie Alde-Hayman, an analyst with Gap Intelligence. “That’s important, because we’re at a point where you can’t simply launch a product that is faster or has larger paper tray capacities. At this point, these features are expected. Vendors are differentiating themselves by incorporating workflow solutions.” 

Wasim Khan, head of global digital solutions and general manager of DocuShare for Xerox, says that — far from being an afterthought — printers and multifunction devices are where the digital transformation journey begins for many organizations. With the help of tools such as Xerox’s DocuShare content management platform, Khan says, the devices are “a bridge” connecting the paper-based and digital worlds. 

“There’s a lot of content out there, but we don’t always have the right tools to extract the meaning from that content,” he says. “Using a multifunction printer with DocuShare, we’re not just seeing static content. We’re using optical character recognition, we’re indexing it, we’re attaching meaning to it via tagging and assigning metadata. That content is now dynamic.” 

New Workflows 

When organizations can use printers and multifunction devices to digitize their paper-based data, they can create new workflows that simplify existing processes, save users time and help protect data. 

“Think of something as simple as a scan-to-email function,” Alde-Hayman says. “You can scan a document to your email and distribute it electronically. You’re reducing costs, you’re not using paper and you’re able to distribute information in a way that is timelier.” 

Dan Waldinger, senior director for business-to-business marketing at Brother, says that the ability to scan paper-based documents and turn them into searchable PDF files is particularly attractive to organizations looking to make better use of the information in their existing paper files. “When we start to have those conversations with customers, that’s when they start to get excited about our devices,” he says. “In their eyes, the device becomes less of a commodity, and more a valuable tool to improve business processes.” 

Many industries continue to rely heavily on paper-based processes, says Matt Raab, Xerox’s manager of global product marketing for workplace solutions offerings. He gives the examples of medical histories and registration forms in healthcare, as well as the mountain of paperwork that new homeowners sign at closing. But, he says, many organizations miss out on opportunities to automate workflows by connecting these paper-based processes with their digital environments. 

For instance, Raab says, a billing department might scan a pile of 50 paper documents and automatically input the data into a digital billing system. Or, an organization might find ways to pull information from paper-based forms into their accounting or enterprise resource planning software. “It’s not one or the other,” Raab says. “It’s the intersection between the physical and the digital, and making that convenient and frictionless for the user.” 

A number of organizations are opting for managed print services (MPS) as a way to automate the ordering of supplies and simplify device maintenance and management. Although prompt toner deliveries might not seem intrinsically linked with digital transformation, MPS programs take away much of the hassle of supporting physical devices, allowing employees to focus their energy on more important tasks. Also, MPS efforts typically result in a consolidation of the printer fleet and policy changes that require workers to be physically present to pick up their print-outs and copies — changes that can result in less waste and improved security.