Xerox Touts the Power of the Document in Driving Worker Productivity, Business Results
Monday February 2, 9:00 am ET
Chief Xerox Strategist Discusses Need for Smart Document Management at Information Work Forum
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2004--Smart document management is imperative to unleash a new wave of information worker productivity in the American workplace.
That was the message Jim Firestone, Xerox Corporation's (NYSE:XRX - News) chief strategist, delivered to technology companies and partners gathered here for the first Information Work Forum, co-sponsored by Microsoft, Xerox and other members of the Information Work Productivity Council.
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An independent group of companies and academics, the IWPC is researching and developing strategies for maximizing business productivity in the workplace. Executives and researchers at the daylong forum described the group's initial findings from a series of in-person and online studies among hundreds of information workers within large U.S. companies.
"The research demonstrated that the information within documents is needed thousands of times per day -- to satisfy a customer, to close a deal, to make the most of an opportunity, to minimize a risk," Firestone told forum attendees. "Businesses that improve the way they work with documents improve the way they do business -- resulting in additional benefits to the bottom line."
Based on research from Xerox's document consultants and the initial findings of the IWPC, Firestone offered the following tips to businesses that want to achieve greater productivity through documents.
1. Assess how documents impact the business. People spend up to 30
percent of their workdays creating and looking for information
in documents. It is a competitive advantage for companies to
make that time more productive and less costly. Take the time
to assess how your people create, share, store and access
documents.
2. Review current processes. By understanding where knowledge
exists and how it is transferred, businesses can identify
inefficiencies before adding new technology. Ask: Are
employees spending valuable time writing, editing and printing
documents that become outdated within a few weeks? Can
employees access the documents they need when they need them?
Are obsolete documents taking up space in a warehouse?
3. Evaluate customer communication. Ninety percent of customer
communication is through documents, making the content and
distribution of these documents vital to the way the company
wins and keeps customers. Review your current communications
activities to determine how to best get the right information
to your customers in a way that will have the greatest impact.
4. Understand new technology options. Multifunction devices that
copy, print, scan and fax are now offered at a price range to
fit every budget. Assess document output needs and consider
outsourcing as a way to free up time to focus on core business
objectives.
5. Go beyond print management. Printing and output is only part of
the equation. The real productivity advantages come in
re-thinking the whole way that work flows through the office.
Combining software programs and XML (eXtensible Markup
Language) tools with the new output devices can result in a
solution that helps people more quickly understand and route
information within documents -- significantly decreasing time
spent on document processes.
6. Remember your employees. Billions of dollars are spent on
technology without considering the impact it will have on
employees. To ensure new technology is deployed most
effectively, consider work habits and cultural norms that will
be affected, and train employees so they understand how the
implementation will integrate with your current processes.
7. Measure return on your investment. Establish metrics and
benchmarks for productivity improvements before making
technology decisions. Companies that improve management and
control of documents and the information they hold have
demonstrated reduced print and output costs up to 40 percent.
For more information on Xerox, visit www.xerox.com. For more information on the Information Work Productivity Council, visit www.iwproductivity.org.
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