Changing Scanner Business Case

By Mark Brousseau

There's no question that the business case for distributed scanners is changing, says Don McMahan, vice president of sales and regional general manager, US&C, Document Imaging, Graphic Communications Group, for Eastman Kodak Company.

"Since introduction, distributed scanners have provided a way for all organizations to take advantage of dedicated document capture solutions," McMahan told me. "These technologies were previously only available to organizations whose budgets could support both costly equipment as well as trained personnel to operate it."

"That said, the benefits of distributed scanners are also being realized within the broader market. Even larger firms that have centralized scanning operations have recognized the additional benefits in implementing distributed capture," McMahan explained. "Why should having a budget for production scanning capabilities and skilled personnel be detrimental to continued growth and success? Combining an existing deep bench with distributed scanning at the right points within an organization can enhance efficiencies many times."

McMahan said that equipping field offices with distributed scanners enables employees at these locations to quickly share documents they receive with the main facility for processing. These technologies immediately alleviate the cost and hassle with overnight mail, including delivery delays, or losing documents altogether.

"Furthermore, capturing information at the point of acceptance enables companies to quickly get it into their document management systems. This promises faster access to information, decision making, and by extension, increased customer satisfaction ultimately making the business more efficient and profitable," he said. "Technical innovations equate to enhanced capabilities, ease of use, and improved system connectivity for distributed scanning. We’re observing how distributed capture is not only changing how document capture better serves current end users, but also the landscape of who the average end users will be in the future."

McMahan said Kodak expects to see more pre-packaged solutions for a variety of vertical industries. The continued advancements in imaging hardware and software will move distributed capture beyond the primary benefits of document scanning towards highly specialized applications for information management solutions, he added. Many of these solutions will be equally at home in both distributed and centralized scanning operations.