How To Run A Super Document Scanning Project

Ready, Set, Go
In most organisations, in a dark dusty corner, a
physical document archive lives that has grown
over the years. This can include bookshelves,
filing cabinets, archive boxes and compactus
shelving units.
Most companies have introduced electronic
document management systems (EDMS) that
have replaced physical document archives as
the storehouse of business files documentation.
Document King - Page | 2

As this transition to electronic documents
continues, organisational leaders now face a
dilemma.
How can physical and electronic systems work
together?
The case is usually clear to get a portion of
these physical records imported into an EDMS.
This process of scanning physical documents
and preparing them for importation is called
Digitisation.

This eBook handles the questions and issues
that can arise when digitising large quantities of
documents.
It addresses fundamental steps. You will learn:
1. The requirements for designing and
resourcing a scanning project
2. How to construct an effective scanning
project.
This document will not be applicable to every
facet of your scanning project but will provide
broad guidance on issues your organisation is
likely to encounter.

Looking at the Business Case
Most office managers agree that the case for
physical archiving is not the best way of storing
documents.
Its understandable if the decision for digitisation
for has been put off. Document archives arent
always the highest priority for organisational
leaders.
This decision can be delayed but ultimately a
choice must be made whether you are going to:
Destroy the documents

Stockpile within long term storage
Digitise the documents.
The documents in storage are not all important
to the day to day operations of the business. For
the documents that are, the case for digitising is
very strong. The benefits of your EDMS will
automatically be extended to all of these
physical documents.
Here are five important reasons why businesses
choose to digitise their important documents.

Reason #1: Reducing Storage
Costs
Ask anyone in Melbourne about the cost of
space and youll find its at a premium. Costs
associated with filing cabinets and its related
cousins include the floor space they occupy.
Considering that the average office space rent is
$800 per year/sqm (Cushman & Wakefield
2014), reducing the number of physical
documents in your office can translate into
thousands of dollars in savings.

You can downsize your premises, or use that
space in a way to generate revenue. Offsite
storage can be a consideration but introduces its
own unique problems and ongoing costs.
Reason #2: Reducing Retrieval
Costs
Another important consideration of the cost of
your archive is the time that it takes to retrieve
documents, which is particularly significant if
stored offsite. An electronic document takes
considerably less time to retrieve from your
EDMS than a physical document.

Reason #3: Surviving a Disaster
Physical archives are particularly vulnerable to
fire & water damage in the event of a disaster or
accident. With electronic documents, you can
create multiple copies of your documents and
store them in separate locations. When a black
swan event occurs, business interruption is
reduced to a minimum.
Reason #4: Keeping Integrity
Physical documents deteriorate over time. Loss
of images can occur, files can go missing and
paper can get returned incorrectly. As a result,

indexing becomes less reliable. All this means
lost time and money to you. Digitisation upholds
the integrity of the archive from the time it is
scanned and stops your indexing problems.
Reason #5: Preparing for the
Future
Your organisation cant predict the future. Legal
challenges might require evidence of original
documentation. Design flaws may need to be
referenced. Its unlikely your predecessors will
be able to find the physical blueprints they need

from the year 2006 in 2056 unless theyre in a
searchable place.
Eventually all organisations will have to make
the decision to either destroy, store or digitise
their physical archives. This eBook aims to give
you an understanding of the decisions you need
to make when managing a large scanning
project.

Project Outline Six Steps
to Success
Unfortunately, a scanning project is more
complex than going to Officeworks, buying
yourself a generic scanner and generating
images. For a success project outcome, you
must ask yourself if scanning is the right choice
for you.
Strong rationale behind the project is key to
getting a successful outcome. Below are six
basic steps to ensure you get what you want out
of the process.

Step #1: Clarify your Intent
Ask yourself these questions to ensure going
down the scanning path is right for you.
1. What is the purpose of the project?
2. What is the desired outcome of a
successful project?
3. What pathways are there to reach your
outcome?
4. What are the technology needs of your
project and how will it be set up?
5. What quality control processes are
needed?

Step #2: Management Support
With the purpose of your project now
understood, you must understand if it will work
with the organisation. The project must align
with the business strategy.
The project could end up affecting many
different areas of the business, so ensuring
cooperation in the transition to the new system
is key.

Step #3: Risk Management
Like all projects, a scanning project will create
new risks to your business. Most risks fall into
one of two categories.
Dealing with Business Process Risk
How will digitising effect existing
business processes?
What are the risk of digitising different
types of records?
What level of risk is acceptable?

What are the risks associated with
disposing of hard copies?
Compliance & Legislative
Requirements
What are the legislative requirements
around storing digital documents?
What will happen if we need to take or
receive legal action? Will digital
documentation hold up in court?

Step #4: Technology Options
As digitising is a technology-based project, youll
need to understand the technological
requirements of the project. Think about the
following:
Budget(s)
IT Maintenance Staff Requirements
Data Storage Requirements
Hardware & Software Requirements
Can you handle this completely in-house? Will
you need extra resources? Do you have
sufficient management experience for all

aspects of the project? You may need to find
reliable sources of information to aid you with
the process.
Step #5: Scanning Processes
You will need a detailed workflow for the entire
scanning process. See the example below to
see a simple flowchart that details the basic
process for a scanning project.
Step #6: Quality Control
Quality control is fundamental for any scanning
project. If you are lapse on quality, the images

produced may not be fit for the intended
outcome. This goes beyond checking the quality
of images and includes issues such as IT
improvements, equipment calibration and
training. Your project can be put into chaos if
you neglect the quality control aspect of the
project.

Simple Scan Flowchart

Scanning Processes
Here are some basic elements to consider when
looking at designing your scanning process.
Sorting
Your physical archive can be filled with lots of
relevant and irrelevant documentation. Rather
than scan every item, pre-sorting the documents
to find the important stuff can help reduce the
amount of scanning required. This process can
be a time-consuming job and requires a

knowledgeable person who understands what is
important and isnt important.
Secured Transportation
Consideration must be given on how to securely
transport your documents, especially if youve
got offsite storage or multiple locations. Archive
boxes should be tracked carefully so that you
know where they are at any point in time.
Document King provides courier services to and
from your business. This simplifies the process
to allow secure, fast and easier retrieval of
documents. Storage is available on site for all or

part of your physical documents. Documents
can be picked up and returned on completion at
regular intervals.
Exceptions
You will need to provide instruction to the
operator on how to handle older formats like
Floppy Disks, USB and CD. Some boxes can
include damaged documents. How will these be
dealt with when it comes time to scan them?

Disassembly & Reassembly
Archives contain various types of documents.
Loose sheets of paper, plans, bounded items,
booklets, folders and more.
You need to know up front how to deal with each
item you encounter. If scanning a book, you can
choose either to guillotine to spine and scan the
loose pages or if the book needs to remain
intact, each book page by page.
Each decision you make will have implications
on the time and cost of the project. Consider
what is going to happen to the originals after

scanning. Will they be returned or securely
shredded? Reflect on what will be the most cost
effective process for your project.
Error Checking
Checking for errors is a fundamental process for
successful scanning. Not every page will be
scanned correctly the first time. Special skill and
attention to detail must be given to finding errors
and ensure a successful outcome. The project
will need to establish how much time you wish to
spend checking scans.

Its all up to you. General content may be
sufficient. Other times perfection is crucial.
Document King can provide different levels of
service depending on the requirements of the
organisation. Look for systems that have fail-
safe mechanisms to ensure that scanning has
taken place.
Technology Requirements
Different archive items will require different
technological equipment. Scanning incudes A3
sizes and smaller. Anything larger will require a
larger format scanner. Irregular items or items

that require special care may require
photographic service or specialist services. This
is significant when it comes to historic
documents.
Quality Considerations
The outcome you expect from your project will
influence the image quality of your project.
Certain companies will require the highest
quality that preserves all information, including
colour, borders and notes.
Alternatively, companies might opt for a lower
quality scan that is black and white and excludes

the margins. The choice should consider the
current needs of the business and the future
needs of anyone who uses the EDMS.
Processing Instructions
Basic scanning projects require decisions on the
following points:
File Format e.g.; Pdf, Jpeg, Tiff
Naming Convention e.g.; File #, Title,
Invoice #
Colour or Black & White
OCR data for search ability
Metadata

Bookmarks
Rotation of Landscape Images or kept in
Portrait Orientation
These are the basic settings to consider before
initiating the project.
Re-assembly of Documents
Every document in the scanning process will
need to be stripped in order to fit within the
scanning device. Choosing not to re-assemble

the document can have significant time and cost
savings.
Storage
Document Scanning can generate copious
amounts of data. Youll need to know where this
data will be stored. Uploading the data onto a
storage site is often the most cost effective
method. Document King can integrate with any
storage site or EDMS. Hard drive, USB and disc
storage is also an option.

Treatment of Originals
After the scanning process has completed, you
must decide what will be done with the originals.
Document King can arrange the secure
destruction of all physical documents.
Alternatively, organisations may choose to retain
the documents and store them.
Resourcing
Once youve got the reasoning and scanning
process down, you need to figure out who is
best to operate the project.

Contract a scanning service
The easiest and fastest method is contracting a
scanning service. This allows for;
No demand on project management
resources.
Experience operators for smooth
execution.
Industrial rated scanning equipment.
Continuous processing.
Quality Assurance process.
Advanced processing options.
Externalised management risk

This method is recommended when there is
limited experience within this area, the physical
archive is too large, too intricate or the timeline
is too restricted to be completed with the
organisations resources.
A contractor will eliminate the need to hire and
train human resources. It ensures a successful
and smooth project which will require minimum
input from the management team.

Use existing staff & premises
Some organisations have the size and
experience to run a scanning project on their
own. These organisations should consider;
Project management resource
requirements to ensure a successful
outcome.
Requires dedicated office space,
increased budget to rent or purchase
industrial scanners.
Can impact the day to day workload of
your document control team.

Large corporations with dedicated document
control teams should consider this option. It can
require both internal and external training from
equipment specialists. The process of scanning
documents can be laborious which can make it
hard to retain dedicated staff. Deploying
document management staff on scanning
projects may be an ineffective use of resources
given their highly skilled nature.

Casual staff and obtaining
scanning equipment
Small projects can be completed by part-time or
casual staff. This option allows the most hands
on approach but is often the slowest. These
workers often have lower speed and accuracy in
comparison to experienced scanning operators.
Management should consider that;
Management staff will be required to
make all high-level judgements.
Office space requirements.
Scanning equipment requirements

Quality Control ability.
When image quality and quality control isnt
priority, this method will work suitably for small
projects.
Tips for Quotes
If you choose to contract a scanning service for
your scanning project, there are several tips to
follow;
Tip #1: Specialist experience
Companies must consider the experience and
references of suppliers to ensure that they get

the most cost effective service. Dont just go with
the lowest quote. This lowest cost approach can
often lead to headaches in the near future with
timeline delays, poor quality and poor service.
Suppliers should be prepared to visit and inspect
your archives in person. If this is not possible,
send a sample or photographs of your archive to
the supplier.

Tip #2: Provide sufficient
information
You should be prepared to provide basic
information on the amount of documents, type of
documents and state of the documents within
your archive. Be able to provide the percentage
of A4, A3 and documents larger than A3 in your
average archive box. The more information you
provide, the more accurate the quote is likely to
be.

Tip #3: Look for value
Scanning projects require continuous
management and are labour intensive. Low scan
quotes can mean slack management and
compromised quality and security. Quotes
should be detailed and provide an itemised list
of what is included in the price. Hidden fees on
basic items can leave you a nasty surprise when
you find out youve got more to pay.

Our Approach
A systemised scanning approach can provide
you good bang for your buck. Document Kings
processes are designed to be reliable so that
you receive a successful project outcome. The
Process includes;
Questionnaires to clarify needs about
the expected project outcome.
Site & Document Inspection.
Project Plan.
Customisable Service to suit all the
needs of an organisation.

Scanning Trial to validate image quality
and timeframe

How To Run A Super Document Scanning Project

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Ready, Set, Go

In most organisations, in a dark dusty corner, a

physical document archive lives that has grown

over the years. This can include bookshelves,

filing cabinets, archive boxes and compactus

Most companies have introduced electronic

document management systems (EDMS) that

have replaced physical document archives as

the storehouse of business files documentation.

Document King - Page | 2

continues, organisational leaders now face a

How can physical and electronic systems work

The case is usually clear to get a portion of

these physical records imported into an EDMS.

This process of scanning physical documents

and preparing them for importation is called

Document King - Page | 3

that can arise when digitising large quantities of

It addresses fundamental steps. You will learn:

1. The requirements for designing and

resourcing a scanning project

2. How to construct an effective scanning

This document will not be applicable to every

facet of your scanning project but will provide

broad guidance on issues your organisation is

Document King - Page | 4

Most office managers agree that the case for

physical archiving is not the best way of storing

Its understandable if the decision for digitisation

for has been put off. Document archives arent

always the highest priority for organisational

This decision can be delayed but ultimately a

choice must be made whether you are going to:

Destroy the documents

Document King - Page | 5

Digitise the documents.

The documents in storage are not all important

to the day to day operations of the business. For

the documents that are, the case for digitising is

very strong. The benefits of your EDMS will

automatically be extended to all of these

Here are five important reasons why businesses

choose to digitise their important documents.

Document King - Page | 6

Ask anyone in Melbourne about the cost of

space and youll find its at a premium. Costs

associated with filing cabinets and its related

cousins include the floor space they occupy.

Considering that the average office space rent is

$800 per year/sqm (Cushman & Wakefield

2014), reducing the number of physical

documents in your office can translate into

thousands of dollars in savings.

Document King - Page | 7

space in a way to generate revenue. Offsite

storage can be a consideration but introduces its

own unique problems and ongoing costs.

Reason #2: Reducing Retrieval

Another important consideration of the cost of

your archive is the time that it takes to retrieve

documents, which is particularly significant if

stored offsite. An electronic document takes

considerably less time to retrieve from your