Digitisation is the process of converting information on paper or pdf files into digital form that can be processed by a computer - and is therefore the first, necessary step in digitalising business processes.

Digitalisation is the use of digitised data to convert (manual) business processes through the use of digital technologies.

The benefits of digitalisation are many (and will depend upon the manual processes being converted) but can be summarised as follows:

• Cost Reductions: - Processing data digitally is far more efficient, more productive and faster than using manual processes.
• Disaster Recovery: - It is much easier to copy and back-up data.
• Improved Data Access: - The information in documents can be published and shared in a number of ways - and is no longer restricted by location.Integration: - Records can be integrated and shared with digital systems - eliminating the need for data re-entry.
• (Near) Elimination of Errors: - Automatic checks and controls can be employed to ensure that incorrectly formatted data cannot be entered into the system.
• Searchability: - It makes finding relevant content much easier and maximised research efficiency.
• Stronger Resource Management: - Digitalisation consolidates information and provides a central basis for the deployment of Business Intelligence tools.

Although most companies now use software to issue and process invoices, the reality is that much of business is still driven by paper and pdf documentation. What can you do about it?

What will be right for your company will depend largely upon:

• The types of documents that you are processing.
• The volumes of documents that you are processing.

Here we describe services that can help you to digitise your documentation and then create secure workflows to process that documentation.

To replace shipping documents with digital templates and create secure, transparent workflows using the blockchain see: International Logistics.