Going green is no longer a luxury. Compliance to the King III code requires that organisations incorporate environmental issues as a vital component of their integrated sustainability efforts. The paperless office seems to be a solution to help us on this journey, yet most industry veterans are of the opinion that this goal remains elusive, if not impossible. Yet there are things that we can and must do to reduce the volume of paper that flows throughout our organisations and out to our customers.
If we can manage a process electronically, then for many organisations the immediate temptation is to implement a scanning project. This in itself is not a bad thing, and may resolve the flow of physical paper through the offices. The challenge we have is that it doesn’t get rid of the paper. This still flows into the mail room, from whence it is gathered and scanned, and often then stored in its original paper format. So despite having an improved internal process, we haven’t resolved the environmental issue. To compound this, most outputs from the process are still in the form of paper.
Analysing the process must include understanding the nature of the inflow of documents. If most of the incoming documents are in paper format, then the organisation should look for ways to reduce this. At least two current technologies will help a great deal here. E-Commerce allows transfer of information between organisations and systems without it being transformed into paper during the process. This has been around long enough, yet still isn’t used enough. E-forms should also be considered, as this can significantly reduce the volume of paper. SARS e-filing is a superb example of how organisations should be thinking.
The technology already exists, so it is our mindsets that are the limiting factor at the moment. Negotiation with our major trading customers and suppliers, a willingness to change, and a phased approach towards green processes will take us a long way towards meeting Mr Kings requirements, and a cooler climate.
Paul Mullon is Managing Director of COR Concepts, an information management consulting company focusing on Enterprise Content and Records Management
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