Production Scanning Still Hot

By Mark Brousseau

Don’t let the growth of workgroup and distributed scanning fool you – there is still a need for production scanners, particularly among companies implementing shared services organizations. That’s according to Mark Fairchild, senior vice president, technology portfolio management, at BancTec, Inc. Fairchild noted that many shared services programs begin with financial business processes, but expand to include general document processing.

Demand for production scanners is particularly strong in the accounts payable space, Fairchild told me, where manufacturers, utilities and retailers, among others, are looking to automate invoice processing. Meantime, declining check volumes has created an opportunity in the financial services arena for scanners that can handle documents and checks comingled, he said.

Not surprisingly, Fairchild says BancTec continues to see growth in its high-speed scanner sales, with financial services and educational testing companies and service bureaus leading the way. The draw? Reductions in labor and customer service costs, and improved quality.

What do you think? E-mail me at m_brousseau@msn.com.