The Rise of Document Automation

Document automation is the process of streamlining the creation, management, and distribution of digital content at a scale to improve quality and efficiency. Essentially document automation involves the process of accessing and assembling complex, data-driven documents such as contracts, reports, and legal documents. The global document processing market is set to exceed $60 billion by 2030. 

Originally introduced in the 1980s to store copies of various file in one place, document automation has come a long way. Document automation depends on the compatibility with productivity tools most commonly used and integration with the existing Business Process Management (BPM) system. Two features of document automation that are commonly mentioned when discussing what document automation is are merging and customization. 

Merging in relation to document automation refers to the integration of data from external sources like CRMs and databases to populate templates. Customization refers to incorporating conditional logic into a template, allowing content to adjust automatically based on the conditions. For example, I am sending out an email blast and I would like it to say, "Hello {Customer First Name}" this condition will automatically insert the customers first name unless the data is unknown. There will likely be a "global asset" you can assign in the case of unknown data, which will automatically insert a preset condition like "Valued Customer" to put in place of the first name. 

Top 5 Benefits of Document Automation:

Why would you need to automate document processes? Well, 62% of workers report time wasted recreating content that is not easily assessable (this could be email templates, email signatures, flyers, etc.). On top of this, 94% of workers regularly find mistakes in "finalized" content. 

1. Increased productivity (by up to 60%)
2. Greater profitability (save up to 80% compared to manual processing)
3. Improved accuracy & consistency (the manual data-entry error rate is 3% while the automated is only 0.5%)
4. Streamlined workflows (up to an 80% reduction in time spent processing)
5. Better customer experience 

Document Automation & AI:

• Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) incorporates AI into document automation to comprehend and interpret unstructured data within documents. IDP is an integrational process that reduces time, errors, and manual processes. In 2024, the IDP market was valued at $2.56 billion and is expected to grow to $54 billion by 2035. 
• Optical Character Recognition (OCR) converts printed text into machine-readable data which reduces manual needs and enables keyword searches. 
• Document automation and AI utilize Natual Language Processers (NLP) and machine learning algorithms to analyze and extract data. 
• IDP and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) integrations will continue to advance document automation. 
• Security and privacy will be at risk as AI-driven processes are not secure unless encrypted, so security risks will need to be evaluated regularly.

Generative AI

Generative AI can go a step further in the IDP process, creating completely new content instead of pulling information from existing documents. For example, in document automation generative AI can draft contracts, summarize complex reports, and respond to customer inquiries. This technology is not commonly used in document automation processes but will surely be the standard in the coming years. Generative AI is already widely used in creative processes like image and text generation for social media, blogs, and company websites. 

Sales Enablement

Sellers only spend about one-third of their time actually selling without document automation. A majority of their time is spend locating, editing, and recreating company documents to share with customers. Integrating document automation processes could create a centralized digital space for important company files, automate marketing emails and workflows. Document automation would save time, reduce risks, and personalize sales content at a large scale. 

How to Get Started?

1. Identify areas where document automation is needed.
2. Establish clear objectives and measurable metrics.
3. Research various software/technology partners (ensuring integration with most commonly used tools).
4. Prioritize data security and compliance (consider using a blockchain to track document changes and verify authentication). 
5. Train staff (start small with one process and slowly integrate intelligent workflows).

Document Automation Software:

• AI Builder which extracts information from documents. 
• Power Automate which orchestrates the overall process.
• Power Apps which manually reviews and approves documents. 
• Microsoft Dataverse manages the document queue, files, and configures information. 

DocFusion "Low-Code Enterprise Document Generation Platform"

• Eliminate complexity with simply document generation. 
• Edit without being an expert developer with a low-code platform. 
• Fully automate workflows and easily integrate software. 

DocuWare "Document Management & Workflow Automation"

• AI-Powered Document Processing automatically classifies, sorts, and files documents with data extraction including handwritten text (HTR), automatically splits individual documents from batches and crops documents to standard size. 
• Invoice Processing Automation can cut data-entry time by 95% using AI-powered document processing. Automatic validation ensures correct payments which eliminates error and invoice duplicates. Invoice approval time improves by 80% with automated workflows which takes the invoice through the proper chain of command. Integrates with accounting systems to automatically export booking, allowing you 100% control and cuts time with instant access. Finally, apply retention rules with secure centralized archiving allowing easy access to important documents. 

Sources

Everything you need to know about document automation - Templafy
https://www.templafy.com/what-is-document-automation/

The Future of Document Processing - 5 Trends to Watch - Parseur  https://parseur.com/blog/future-of-document-processing-trend 

History to Modern Era: The Evolution of Intelligent Document Processing
https://www.amygb.ai/blog/history-to-modern-era-the-evolution-of-intelligent-document-processing 

What is Document Automation? A Complete Overview - Bigtincan
https://www.bigtincan.com/what-is-document-automation/ 

7 Ways to Automate Document Processing & Improve Efficiency - PDF.ai https://pdf.ai/resources/automate-document-processing