How can human error in business processes be avoided as far as possible?
Who hasn't heard the expression "To err is human"? And with good reason: we are all entitled to make mistakes. Stress, fatigue, pressure or a reduced workforce are all factors that can exacerbate this problem. Even if most of these mistakes are unintentional, they can cost your company dearly. Let's take a look at how IRISPowerscan can help you and your employees!
Prevent human error
Whether your company is made up of two or dozens of people, human errors can take many forms and have many causes.
When we talk about human errors, the first things that come to mind are :
- Coding errors,
- spelling mistakes or typos,
- and lastly, oversights.
We're all confronted, despite ourselves, with these kinds of problems. And for good reason: we also want everything to go faster and faster.
Many of us work with two screens, retyping from one screen to the other data taken from digitised but non-indexed documents. Worse still, if we don't have two screens, it's common practice to write down on a sheet of paper the data that needs to be copied, and then change programmes to retype the data that we've transcribed by hand.
It goes without saying that these practices are commonplace in many companies, and many people will recognise themselves or colleagues in these situations.
While these errors may be harmless, in some cases they can put the company at risk. A mistake in a file can be critical. Imagine that you have made a mistake in a stock statement, in contracts or in customer documents. The impact on your company and its third parties could be considerable.
Imagine also that, on the basis of this same inaccurate data, you are drawing up reports used to make financial or strategic decisions... The accuracy of the data you enter is a real priority.
In the context of business processes, whether we are talking about purchasing, sales or logistics processes, the dematerialisation and indexing of documents, as well as data capture, are crucial.
With IRISPowerscan you have a complete solution that will enable you to manage all your incoming documents and process their content as you wish.
How can you avoid errors in your accounting?
Let's take a concrete example: every day you receive invoices from suppliers. Some you receive digitally, others you scan in. You then have to save these documents, name them so that you can find them easily if you need to, and finally enter the data from these invoices into your accounting system or ERP.
The good news is that IRISPowerscan will do all this for you. The software will allow you to automate the management of incoming documents. Depending on the rules set, your invoices will be renamed and saved where you want them. Finally, after validation, the extracted data can be sent directly to your ERP.
We're using invoices here as an example, but the same applies to any type of document. Whether we're talking about contracts, dispatch notes, identity documents or medical prescriptions, IRISPowerscan will recognise any document as long as it is digital.
The challenge of collecting and managing form data
Another very telling example is the management of forms or satisfaction surveys. Have you carried out a survey in the field with prospects or customers and would like to see the trends that emerge?
Processing this kind of data manually is simple when you're talking about 10 forms, but when you want a representative sample, you have to face facts: that's not enough. The number of hours spent coding these surveys is enormous, and here too there is a real risk of error.
With IRISPowerscan, you can manage the template of your form and configure the detection of boxes ticked by respondents. The software can then intelligently output the results in the desired format.
Thanks to the time you save on encoding, you can analyse your data in detail. Suppose you export in Excel format, you can then rework your data as you wish, by inserting graphs or using pivot tables. All that's left for you to do is to implement the actions arising from the results.
Managing sensitive data: 0 error tolerance
A final example: identity documents. In many areas, identity documents have to be scanned or encoded, and the data extracted has to be sent to secure servers or adapted software. We're talking here about receiving visitors, hiring cars, signing contracts, medical records...
It goes without saying that when it comes to respecting privacy and sensitive data, security is a must. But it also goes without saying that in these specific cases, data accuracy is essential.
IRISPowerscan will enable you to process data from passports, driving licences, health cards and identity cards. With just a few clicks, this data can be extracted and exported to an SFTP server, for example.
And what about the human element?
We are hearing more and more about sectors in which digitalisation and automation are taking over from the human element.
Let's be clear: IRISPowerscan is not going to replace the human being. The software aims to optimise business processes while allowing people to devote themselves fully to other, less operational tasks. There is no question of replacing a person with software. For example, some critical data requires human validation.
IRISPowerscan also enables you to facilitate the transfer of skills and ensure continuity in your business. Is someone changing jobs or leaving your company? Of course, they will need to be trained in the tool, but the ease of use will enable you to run your business on a daily basis and the new person in post will not be stressed by complex processes. A win-win situation for you and your new recruit!
Are you convinced or would you like to find out more?
Don't hesitate to consult the IRISPowerscan product sheet and request a free 15-minute online demo. We'll be happy to help you and explain how we can meet your needs.
Article translated from French