Will a paperless office truly come to fruition? Read on to hear some of our members‘ perspectives on this topic.
Mike Scrutton, Director of Print Technology & Strategy, Adobe
No, in the same way, that digital eReaders didn’t result in people not reading paper books. Research shows that reading information from a paper document is more efficient than reading from a screen. People spend a higher proportion of their time looking at a screen now than pre-pandemic – meetings are on screen, email is on screen, information comes from the screen. Reading a printed document allows complete focus, without other onscreen notifications and distractions. Some current paper-based tasks will become 100% digital, but not all.
Eric McCann, Manager, Software Marketing, Lexmark
Paper will continue to be required for compliance and convenience. While we don’t expect a paperless office, we do anticipate an efficient and secure office that leverages paper for essential workflows and scenarios. Adoption will vary by customer and by industry, but we also see trends of customers pushing the envelope for digital transformation efforts with paper for both printing and scanning.
Dilinur Wushour, Manager, Software Applications Development, Kyocera Document Solutions
The way we work is changing. Many companies have made a change from standard offices – where everybody would have a designated desk with a PC and a set of drawers – to hot-desking. Hot-desking makes it harder for employees to collect paperwork themselves, as they are usually working from a laptop and do not have designated desk space. And this is not even to mention the number of people now working from home, where they may not even have a printer, or be able to store vast amounts of documentation. Going completely paperless might not yet be a reality, but the changes that come with the modern office are encouraging companies to make appropriate adaptations.
Philip Mazzilli, Staff Product Manager, Printers & Imaging, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
Digitizing documents has accelerated in recent years, due to both the convenience of digital workflows versus paper-based processes and the necessity of enabling access to distributed workforce during the global pandemic. While digital processes will continue to grow, a truly paperless office is a long way off. Many processes will continue to be paper-based for a variety of reasons – recordkeeping, government regulation, privacy concerns, personal preference, customer need, or just entrenched habit. And in some cases, it’s just easier to work with paper.
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