Office software technology has come a long way in the past several years. Projects that used to take weeks or months, and require teams of workers can now be automated to the degree where perhaps only one person is required, and the project timelines are a fraction of what they were prior to automation.
One area of tremendous progress has been the process of converting paper documents into digital documents. Organizations with file cabinets full of legacy documents can now quickly and easily convert their bulky and potentially delicate paper documents into secure, compact, and easy to locate digital documents.
The legacy paper documents are organized and placed into high-speed production scanners that are capable of scanning hundreds of pages per minute from input trays that can handle as much as 1000 sheets of paper. A powerful OCR (Optical Character Recognition) engine can convert the printed contents into digital text and automatically index the document by keywords for easy location and instant access once the documents are registered into the digital repository.
Security and protection of digital content is further enhanced by encrypted, redundant storage in the cloud instead of risky on-premises digital storage.
We once implemented a very large “back file” scanning project for a major food processing company that had dozens of large file cabinets full of important legacy documents like FDA inspection certificates, and HR data. The customer had been keeping the documents in banker boxes on wooden pallets in their warehouse prior to the initiation of the scanning project. A tornado ripped the roof off of their warehouse right above where the documents were being stored. Had the pallets not been securely shrink-wrapped in plastic wrap, all those records would have been lost. This event added impetus to the rapid completion of their scanning project!
Production Printing is another area where automation can be leveraged to automate repetitive manual tasks that are time and labor-intensive and prone to human error.
One of the most commonly utilized automated processes is imposition, which is the arrangement and adjustment of page position for multi-page publications like booklets, magazines, and catalogs. Imposition arranges pages in proper order for the creation of signatures, which are flat press sheets that are then folded, stapled, and trimmed to create finished booklets. Imposition also makes subtle adjustments to the position of pages in the signature layout to account for signature “push-out” which becomes important for longer page counts and heavier papers.
The actual finishing of printed documents like booklets is also a frequently automated process. Imposed sheets of paper exit the production print engine and are fed into various in-line finishing equipment. These sheets can be printed, folded, collated, bound, and trimmed in-line with the production print device, yielding a fully finished, carton-ready booklet, brochure, or other folded or bound pieces.
Automation is important because it increases efficiency and reduces errors and overall cost. In commercial printing, labor is a major cost component, and automation reduces the labor contribution to the overall cost of production.
If you are a commercial printing company, and you have not already looked at digital production printing as a way to leverage automation in pre-press, personalized printing, and automated in-line finishing, you should contact Virginia Business Systems and request an appointment or demonstration of our Commercial and Industrial Printing offerings.