PFU (EMEA) Limited has today unveiled the findings of the Scanning As An Enabler For Digital Transformation report in which Quocirca, the print industry’s leading source of market insight, explored IT employees’ views towards scanners and paper use in the workplace. The report1 finds that almost half (44%) of businesses consider scanning as an important part of their digitisation strategy, whilst 75% of businesses are intending to invest further in scanning technology.

 

The research also found a stark difference in pre- and post-pandemic digitisation projects. According to the 2022 report, 6% had no clear plan towards digitisation – in contrast to PFU EMEA’s previous research, released in March 2020, which showed that 35% had no clear plan towards digitisation. Today, 68% even have budgeted plans for digitisation projects, citing pressures of increasing customer experience demands and market uncertainties, which require more sophisticated and scalable IT infrastructures. This suggests that COVID was a huge factor in the shift towards organisations stepping up their digital transformation plans.

 

Another change is the shift in reasons for digital transformation. Pre-pandemic, the Fujitsu Image Scanners Organisational Intelligence Research Report 2020 showed top drivers included efficiency and profitability. In 2022, the number one reason (53%) is having a more agile and scalable IT infrastructure to allow for contingencies. This is reflected in the fact that 36% think that digitised data is easier to deal with, 30% recognise it as being easier to share, and 30% say it simplifies processes.

 

When asked about their daily scanning operations, 77% of all organisations now scan all, or the majority of paperwork directly into business processes – whilst speed, integration into enterprise systems (both 45%) and quality images (44%) are among the most important capabilities in scanning solutions. On the flip side, the most disappointing aspect of respondents’ existing scanning solutions is time wasted from misfeeds and paper jams (33%), while the top four biggest negative impacts all arise from interruption to expected operation – such as having to rescan for various reasons, or unexpected downtime.

 

“Many organisations still rely on paper to conduct their day-to-day business, meaning that scanning has become a key foundational step towards digitisation, especially post-COVID. Using the right tools to digitise documents can help organisations better optimise their business workflows, enabling them to keep in line with company-wide digital transformation goals by managing paper coming into the business,” comments Louella Fernandes, Director at Quocirca.

 

“Despite the explosion of digital transformation, paper still plays a huge part in businesses today, with a large amount still coming through the doors from external suppliers and customers. This means that scanners play a crucial role in converting that information into a convenient, usable, accessible format – so there continues be a place for scanners in any business transition journey. However, the systemic impact of poor user experience on expected ROI, makes it more important than ever to choose the right feature set, to make a scanning solution fit for end users’ purposes,” concludes Hiroaki Kashiwagi, President & CEO at PFU (EMEA) Limited.

 

To download the full report visit https://www.pfuemea.com/en-gb/quocirca