Brother PDS Scanners: An Opportunity for the Enterprise

Brother PDS Scanners: An Opportunity for the Enterprise

Introduction The digitalisation of business can be a daunting task for most enterprises, but with the advent of Big Data and analytics, it s a critical step for facilitating proper record keeping, increasing security, and organising and accessing information. An enterprise with the right tools and workflows can perform Electronic Content Management (ECM) more efficiently, saving both time and resources for more essential everyday tasks. In this white paper, we will be focusing on the benefits that can be realised when using Brother s high-speed scanning products for the first crucial step of the ECM process: digitising paper documents.

Scanning Market to Grow: Believe the Hype For many companies, there is a reliance on Multi- Function Centres (MFC) to conduct all scanning tasks. However, when the scope of scanning requirements eclipses the capabilities of an MFC, dedicated hardware will provide a well-rounded and highly beneficial solution. There is a strong case for dedicated hardware that can be applied to any field in which heavy scanning is required, be it legal firms, financial institutions, insurance companies, transport and logistics companies, the education sector, and all levels of government offices. In its Hype Cycle report for Imaging and Print Services 2015 1, Gartner analyst, Tomoko Mitani, cites an increasing need for document digitisation and document management to enhance productivity, security, and data protection, and that this need has rejuvenated the demand for the document handling capability of scanners. Businesses are craving devices that can be used to expertly handle scanning tasks, rather than solely relying on the more limited capabilities that can be found in many MFCs. Gartner describes the market for specialist scanning hardware as adolescent, meaning there is plenty of room for growth, with a potential market penetration of between 5-20 per cent of the target audience. In Australia and worldwide, the scanner market is poised to grow in the next five years, with scanning being the first step to producing digital documents that can be inserted easily into a company s ECM workflow. Bringing Paper Records Online When thinking about the reasons for digitising documents, the centralisation of data for the benefits of search, sorting, and analysis, all form a big overall picture: a Big Data picture. IDC research on the Big Data technology and services market forecasts growth at about six times the rate of the overall information technology market through 2018 2. Indeed, Big Data is on paper, too, and there is tremendous opportunity to plug in to this growth trend to facilitate the extensive data collection from forms, invoices, logs, and other printed material. Bringing paper records online can not only make a business offer better service to its clients, but also improve the efficiencies of its own employees. Keeping data centralised can allow workers to more easily access the latest versions of documents, thereby improving productivity and the timeliness with which all data can be gathered. Bringing paper records online can not only make a business offer better service to its clients, but also improve the efficiencies of its own employees 1 Gartner Hype Cycle for Imaging and Print Services 2015: https://www.gartner.com/doc/3093219/hype-cycle-imaging-print-services 2 IDC Big Data & Analytics: http://www.idc.com/prodserv/4pillars/bigdata

Gartner classes document management as commanding a 20 per cent weighting in an enterprise ECM strategy, with records management having a 10 per cent weighting 3. These aspects of ECM alone require the use of a capable, dedicated scanner that can work with a firm s chosen software packages to provide speed, versatility, and accuracy on a daily basis for improved efficiency in the document management process. Furthermore, the scanning hardware has to be intuitive so that it can empower employees from the outset. In a survey of legal professionals conducted by software company, Nitro 4, at the ALPA (Australasian Legal Practice Management Association) Summit in Melbourne, Australia, 52 per cent of respondents cited set-up and support to be among the most important factors when implementing a paperless solution for their office. Up to 40 per cent of respondents wanted better access to the latest documents, while 30 per cent cited digitisation as being important for security reasons; they were frustrated with the risk of document tampering that s present in traditional paperwork. Other security implications include the possibility of physical documents being stolen, lost, or misplaced in the filing system. Lost paperwork represents inefficiencies that manifest as wasted time for searching or re-creating documents. Brother s Position In This Growing Market Brother has a distinct advantage in its ability to offer a complete, high-volume imaging solution to enterprise customers. High-spec capabilities that are found in the PDS series of desktop scanners can allow businesses to streamline their information processing. The PDS scanners offer speed, reliability, and ease of set up and use. The compact size of these scanners also makes them suitable for use on office desks, putting them within easy reach of employees, and even makes them capable of being transferred to other locations within an office on an as-needed basis. They plug in to a computer simply via USB, and use standardised drivers that can be harnessed in Microsoft Windows, Apple OS, and Linux environments. The PDS-5000 and PDS-6000 scanners are not only high speed, they are capable of scanning double-sided documents in one pass, and they can be used to scan a variety of different types of documents with ease. From awkward business cards to stacks of invoices, the paper tray can be adapted and used for all sorts of jobs. They are compatible with advanced optical character recognition (OCR) and image processing software such as industry leading Kofax VRS. Users can clean up scanned pages, remove unwanted blank pages from a scanned document, scan in three colour formats, remove colours, detect colours, and align scanned images. Scan-to functions can be used to streamline scanning tasks. Jobs can be sent to various locations, including to a file, to OCR, or to a specific application or network folder. Cloud infrastructure such as SharePoint can also be utilised as a destination. With Brother, the other advantage that is of immense value is local customer support and strategy. It is possible for an enterprise to work out a custom imaging solution with Brother that includes PDS scanners as part of its workflow. When support is needed, enterprises need to know that Brother will offer help from a local team of experts. 3 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management: http://www.project-consult.de/files/gartner_ecm_mq_2014.pdf 4 Nitro: Making a Case for a Paperless Office: http://blog.gonitro.com/2014/09/alpma-paperless-office

A Need for Scanning Speed In a recent independent product review by Australian PC World, the Brother PDS-5000 was put on test for its speed and capabilities. PC World s tests showed the PDS-5000 as being capable of meeting the 60 page per minute speed for which the scanner is rated, and it scanned pages at a quality of 300 dots per inch (dpi). A video of the scanner in action is available for viewing on PC World s Website 5. The PDS-6000 is a higher-end scanner that adds more speed: it s capable of scanning sheets at a rate of 80 pages per minute, at 200dpi for colour input, and 300dpi for monochrome input. With the use of automatic duplex, single-pass scanning, up to 160 impressions per minute (ipm) are possible. For an office looking for maximum efficiency, this is the scanner to recommend. Both the PDS-5000 and PDS-6000 sheet-fed scanners include 512MB of RAM, a two-line LCD panel, and paper handling comprising a 100-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) with guides for paper up to 218mm wide, and a 100-sheet output tray. Scanning resolution is 600x600dpi, the technology is dual CIS, which is what allows for single-pass duplex scanning, and the colour depth is 48-bit input and 24-bit output. The Bottom Line Legal firms, financial institutions, insurance companies, government departments, and even school classrooms, all require a way for paper forms, invoices, and other documents to be digitised. They need this way to be quick, easy, and reliable, in order to bring about efficiencies that can increase productivity in other areas. For Brother, this means offering a bespoke solution that includes the PDS series of desktop document scanners. Dedicated scanners are a beneficial product for the target markets identified in this paper, in which the digitisation of paper records is a top priority. The key traits of these scanners are their speed, ease of set up and use, ability to work with a large range of software solutions, and a small footprint that makes them usable on just about any desk. Legal firms, financial institutions, insurance companies, government departments, and even school classrooms, all require a way for paper forms, invoices, and other documents to be digitised. 5 Australian PC World review: Brother PDS-5000 http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/brother_international_aust/pds-5000/579471

Identifying the Target Markets Legal firms Financial institutions Accounting Human resources Insurance companies Healthcare All levels of government Transport and logistics companies Education sector Key Features & Benefits High-speed scanning No warm-up time Ease of set up and use Duty cycle of 6,000 pages per day Multi-page document scanning Single-pass double-sided scanning Versatile media handling Scan destinations Kofax VRS compatible Price competitive Small footprint of 316x187x183mm (WxDxH) Energy Star compliant (59W peak power consumption; under 1.6W sleep mode) Advanced Image Processing Page Clean: rids a page of unwanted background marks such as ink and punch holes Multi Stream: scanned images can be saved in colour, monochrome, and greyscale, to facilitate filing and referencing Blank Page Removal: blank pages can be automatically detected and removed from a scan Colour Dropout: unwanted colours can be removed from a scan to improve a document s readability Colour Detect: colour and monochrome documents can be scanned without pre-sorting, saving time Page Align: scanned pages can be auto-rotated and auto-cropped for a professional finish For more information on Brother s PDS scanners, contact the Brother Commercial Division on: Tel: 1300 885 989 E-mail: corporatesales@brother.com.au Website: http://corpsolutions.brother.com.au/solutions/scanning-solutions.html