UK businesses still bogged down in paper, claim FDs
23.04.2003

Large UK companies are still bogged down by inefficient, paper-intensive business processes, according to a new survey of finance directors. This is despite the productivity improvements resulting from a decade of investment in enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other IT systems aimed at streamlining business processes.

The independent survey, conducted on behalf of global software company, Macro 4, questioned finance directors at companies with ERP systems already in place. The majority of respondents (72 per cent) admitted that many of their core business processes were still heavily paper-intensive. Half of those questioned (48 per cent) also agreed that many of these processes, such as accounts payable, accounts receivable and credit control, remained highly labour-intensive.

Given these inefficiencies, it is perhaps not surprising that a third of finance directors questioned (30 per cent) complained that they are forced to spend too much time on low-value operational activities. Similarly, lowering transaction processing costs is seen as a key priority by around 60 per cent of companies over the next 12 to 18 months. Meanwhile, a further 38 per cent also highlight printing and postage costs as a significant cost that they would like to see reduced.

These findings highlight one of the most commonly experienced shortcomings of ERP systems, which is their failure to stem the tide of paper output. Although the majority of companies (86 per cent) reported that their ERP investments had generated significant productivity improvements, these same systems are generally responsible for generating large volumes of documentation - printed, as well as electronic - that then has to be managed and delivered to the relevant business users.

" Despite investment in ERP, both paper and electronic documents remain an essential part of virtually all business processes. Companies should therefore consider document management and delivery as an integral part of their ERP strategy. Otherwise the efficiency gains from their ERP investments are likely to fall short of their full potential," explains Lynda Kershaw, market manager, Macro 4.

" For example, a single document such as a delivery note might drive many different aspects of a business process. If the document goes astray at any point it could have significant business repercussions - just imagine the ensuing chaos if a delivery note fails to print at the warehouse, and lorries are backed up, unable to make a delivery. Or if there's a payment dispute, and the credit control department can't locate the signed delivery note. These types of problems can only be avoided if all documents are tightly controlled, tracked and managed throughout the business process," adds Kershaw.