Document capturing: Capture, read and classify documents
Reliable, digital document capture through text recognition is the basis for all downstream processes. A digital document that forms the basis for all further processes can only be created through an error-free reading of the source document. Text recognition is the first step towards digitalisation for companies and their accounting departments.
What are documents?
To put it simply: Documents are the digital reproduction of business records; they are facsimiles of invoices, delivery bills, etc.
Capture documents in no time at all
Digital document capture is a core feature of a document management system. This function is just as important for contract management as it is for everything from incoming invoice processing to archiving. easy Capture Plus makes these steps particularly efficient, automated and fast.
The process looks as follows:
- Digitise documents
- Capture documents and recognise text content using OCR
- Classify, i.e. automatically assign to a document class
Process
Capture documents as a process
Scan paper documents to create digital ones: Records and documents that arrive on paper are digitised by the user with a scanner. A system like easy Capture Plus even recognises barcodes contained in the documents. The document reader merges individual documents into a single one, removes blank pages and also offers extensive options for process control using barcodes. The solution automatically acquires content from the fax server or email attachments. The digital documents are read using OCR technology and transferred directly to an ERP system such as SAP.
Document recognition: The ERP system automatically recognises the content of the captured digital document and compares it with the data records in the database. A filing proposal is generated.
Classification and assignment of digital documents: As a rule, the digital documents are automatically assigned to the existing database object. If necessary, manual assignment is also possible.
Document management: When a user searches for the digital document, it is located via full-text search and intelligent filter functions, allowing it to be called up by any user with the appropriate access rights, regardless of time and place.
The benefits of digital document capture at a glance
- Enormous time savings thanks to convenient text recognition and automatic extraction of information during document capture.
- Error reduction by largely dispensing with typing and manual input.
- Easier adherence to compliance rules and legal requirements.
- Better document organisation, easier traceability
- The extracted information can be automatically compared with existing data sources such as directories or supplier lists.
- Using one integrated solution instead of many separate ones reduces costs.
- Reliable transaction processing in the course of digital document capture: process monitoring and seamless logging ensure maximum reliability.
easy Capture Plus: the all-rounder for document capture
The intuitive operation ensures a short training period and reduces the number of operating errors. easy Capture Plus has an interactive validation service for checking the captured documents. The easy solution will point out any doubts to you and let you make corrections. But the true highlight is the offline mode. This allows content to be captured even without a connection to the server.
In addition, easy Capture Plus allows you to convert documents in a wide range of formats and display them true to the original. Capture Plus currently processes 300 different file formats.
You only need this one solution to convert any source record into digital document that can even be edited afterwards. This saves on licensing costs and processing power. The trick is that the conversion does not take place on the client but on the server. As a result, the number of local installations is reduced, as is the administrative effort involved in document capture.
The starting situation
In the information age, it is becoming increasingly complex to capture, index and classify content from paper or electronic records – in other words: to create digital documents. Possible reasons for this are:
- The volume of documents is increasing immensely.
- At the same time, the number of sources from which documents enter the company is increasing.
- The number of source types from which documents need to be captured is also on the rise.
This is why fast yet reliable extraction for document capture using OCR software is one of the key technologies of modern, automated document management. With Capture Plus, easy offers one of the most powerful solutions for digital document capture on the market.
Highlights of digital document capture
What makes easy’s document capture so unbeatable for accounting? easy Capture Plus uses powerful OCR technology for text recognition to ensure that the basis for further processing is correct. Document classification and digital document capture with easy Capture Plus works with files from all sources. Paper documents are quickly digitised and captured, while easy Capture Plus automatically extracts electronic documents. This means that digital documents are available for subsequent digital workflows in no time at all.
- easy Capture Plus integrates seamlessly into operational processes and transfers digital documents to the archive, the ERP system or the downstream workflow without any problems.
- easy Capture Plus requires virtually no training. After receiving only brief instructions, employees can work confidently with this intuitive solution for digital document capture.
The solution for document capture
easy Capture Plus is more than just a tool for automatic text recognition (OCR). The solution integrates itself into operational processes, reliably transfers documents to easy archive, to your accounting software or to workflows. Capture Plus is just as suitable for centralised digital document capture as it is for setting up decentralised document capture in companies with many locations.
The performance spectrum includes capturing a wide variety of documents from diverse sources. It all starts with the document arriving via various input channels:
- Paper records are easily converted into digital documents via scanning.
- You can also capture documents from Office applications.
- The same applies to email systems and email attachments.
- Import files from the file system.
- Capture documents from print data streams.
easy Capture Plus integrates into these data channels and supplies business applications with the necessary digital documents.
Practical example
Digital document capture in pharmaceutical wholesale
The starting situation
Manual document capture presented a leading pharmaceutical wholesaler with enormous challenges: Every year, 1.2 million delivery bills with a total of 5 million pages had to be processed. Employees spent much of their time manually extracting PPE numbers, quantities and expiration dates from the delivery bills and entering them into a third-party ERP system. This time-consuming process was not only prone to errors, it also led to considerable delays in responding to supplier inquiries about unpaid invoices as the data was only available in the system after manual processing.
The objective
In order to increase efficiency, the company decided to introduce a digital document capture system. There were two main goals: to significantly increase the transparency and speed of the processes and improve accuracy in data collection. After the search for a suitable solution, the choice fell on easy software. Several factors were decisive here: the deep integration capability into existing ERP systems (e.g. SAP), the high precision of the OCR document reader and the company’s more than 30 years of experience in process digitalisation.
The implementation approach
The implementation of digital document capture took place in several well thought-out steps. First, a prototype was developed to test the accuracy of the OCR reader. The results were convincing: 80% of the data on the delivery bills could be automatically recorded without errors. This successful test was followed by a three-month pilot phase in a selected branch. The positive experiences from this phase led to the decision to roll out the solution company-wide.
The implementation
The company-wide rollout of digital document capture began with workshops for detailed implementation planning. The introduction started at the head office, followed by a gradual connection of all branches. It was determined that only 10-15% of delivery bills still required manual checking, mostly for simple tasks such as validating supplier data with the master data in the external system.
The results achieved
The implementation of automated document capture led to impressive improvements. Processing time was reduced by 90%, resulting in considerable efficiency gains. One particularly positive side effect: Thanks to the accelerated processing of delivery bills, the company was able to pay its suppliers much faster and thus benefit from early payment discounts, which had a positive effect on the profit margin. Overall, the company estimates the cost savings from digitalisation at 20-30%.
This use case is an example of how the introduction of digital document capture can lead to substantial improvements. The success was based on several factors: a structured implementation approach with a prototype and pilot phase, the choice of an experienced technology partner and a solution that integrated seamlessly into the existing system landscape. The savings and efficiency gains achieved exceeded the original expectations and created additional added value, such as the use of cash discounts. This case impressively demonstrates that investments in the digitalisation of document processes can quickly pay off not only operationally but also financially.
Frequently asked questions about digital document capture
What does digital document capture mean?
Document capture is a process of collecting, organising and processing business documents in companies and organisations.
How does digital document capture work?
Assuming we’re starting from paper records, 4 steps are required:
- Scanning: In other words, paper documents are digitised to create a digital image.
- Optical character recognition: The image is converted into text, a digital document is created.
- Data extraction: Relevant data is taken from the document.
- Storage and organisation: The digital documents are put in an archive.
What are the technical requirements for digital document capture?
A software solution that can manage the documents is required. Many ERP systems have accounting functions, e.g. accounts payable. In addition, business documents are subject to certain retention obligations, so an archive should also be available for document storage. If it is predominately paper documents that still have to be managed, it is necessary to create a practicable scanning workflow.
What does OCR mean?
This abbreviation stands for optical character recognition, i.e. converting text in images into digital data.