Two-thirds of businesses regularly need to scan more than 50 pages a day to transfer information to a digital format

Anoto, the creator of digital pen and paper technology, conducted a survey across the US and the UK focusing on the state of scanning. Businesses both large and small were surveyed and found to have significant scanning requirements due to a continued reliance on paper. Some of the major reasons for this include the need to keep an electronic record (71%) and because the data is easier to work with in digital form (55%).

Other reasons were:

• More cost effective than maintaining a paper archive (45%)
• The need to backup printed files (41%)
• The increasing plethora of legal requirements (31%)

Of the companies surveyed, the vast majority (81%) of employees said they had a scanning requirement and noted that time spent on the process each day is significant, with 44% of employees spending between one and five hours or more a day just scanning paper documents.

When asked how many pages per day that equated to, more than 61% of the businesses surveyed stated that scanned documents amounted to anywhere between 50 to well over a 100 pages per day. Considering the average cost for scanning a single document is approximately 5.4 pence per page and the lost time in productivity that it takes an employee to process each document, the cost to a business can rise to many thousands of pounds per year.

“We asked respondents if they would be interested in an alternative solution to scanning to ease the cost burden, particularly in a solution as simple as a pen instead of a scanner,” said Joakim Nydemark, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Anoto. “Almost half of these organisations expressed interest in this type of option to revise current processes. This proves that although the paperless office is not yet a reality, businesses are looking for new more portable alternatives to current processes.”

The survey also broke out vertical markets where paper is still particularly heavily used including legal, financial services and insurance. The numbers for the need to transfer paper to an electronic form through scanning are staggering:

Legal - 88% of employees have a scanning requirement

• Reasons for scanning: 43% said it is due to a legal requirement; 100% of survey respondents cite they scan because they want an electronic record; 57% said they want to back up printed files and 43% said it is easier to transfer the data.

 Financial Services - 92% of employees have a scanning requirement

• Reasons for scanning: 73% of survey respondents cited they scan because it is a legal requirement; 91% said it is because they want an electronic record, 64% said it is to back up printed files and 82% said it is easier to transfer the data.

Insurance - 100% of employees have a scanning requirement

• Reasons for scanning: 78% of survey respondents cited they scan because it is a legal requirement.