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5 Tips for Indexing Files Across Your Enterprise

Written by Alex García, OpenKM USA staff member on 5 June 2020

If you’re looking to go paperless with your business, you need to get started in the right way.

To get a reliable database of your electronic documents and have the massive efficiency improvement you are hoping for, you should make sure the document indexing process is well-structured.

Having no plan at all can be a source of anxiety and for all the right reasons. Even small businesses may stumble upon a more substantial number of files than they expected, so you need to put the right things in place to make sure your enterprise is growing by creating a virtual document repository. Creating a framework going from point A to point B is one of the best tools to grow your business, and the same principle can be applied to your document scanning and indexing process.

Our main goal is to declutter your path to a successful document management workflow as much as possible. The following plan starts with the big picture and goes into smaller steps. Without further ado, here are 5 indexation tips for getting your data together and indexing your files across your enterprise in 2020

1. Establish a reverse hierarchy

To start, you need to lay down your primary purpose for doing a document digitalization.

The main goal is to imagine that document hierarchy and strip it down to the smallest implementable actions. This way, we can be sure our indexing structure is in coherence with our business ideal workflows.

This may be the perfect time for keeping in touch with your customers and employees. On the one hand, they can provide you with valuable information about the way they usually deal with documents from your enterprise and what their suggestions are to improve their workflow experience. On the other hand, this indicates that you care about them and value their opinions.

2. Detail the future structure

Once you have established tangible goals and objectives, you’ll need to sort your documents for scanning and labelling. For this process, you can ensure the main categories of your physical upload, match your ideal digital repository.

You may prioritize your information management by date, file format, document security levels, invoice numbers, document types, and others. This process can vary massively among companies. It is vital to keep your business priorities in mind.

There are many document indexing options. If you have any doubts or you are dealing with a complicated process, you can always reach out to your Document Management System provider. They will usually have experts to help you structure the document scanning process with minimal delays.

3. Plan Batches

Bulk data entry can be complex and unreliable, so once your documents are prepared, and you have already outlined your document repository and document workflows, you can focus on prioritizing the accessibility of these documents. 

By doing the document indexing in batches, you allow for the immediate correction of file paths, scanning errors, and better categorization of all related files across your company.

You can also consider the frequency of the data searched and may want to have immediate access to the most useful information to keep your operations running smoothly.

It’s important to understand that further business efficiency will depend on your ability to index your company’s documents properly. Therefore, you should take the necessary time and caution for this process.

4. Document preparation

Now that everything is in the right place, we must start the actual document scanning process, but we need to take into account the smaller sub-processes involved to be efficient.

Take the necessary time to remove any pins, staples, folders, and paper clips from your files. This preparation phase also includes the organization for future retrieval or disposal processes. As an example, there may be documents you will want them to be scanned and indexed for further disposal. At the same time, critical physical records may have to be stored at a different secure location for future legal or compliance purposes.

5. Quality check

Proper document storage and manageability are key. As we stated before, you need to keep track of the location of where are your document layouts after doing the data indexing. This goes for both digital documents and physical documents, so once you’ve scanned and indexed all of the necessary documents, you need to assess their status and location before moving on to the next batch. This is especially important and will save you lots of time by ensuring every single index of the process is being done correctly, and you get the expected search results.

Takeaway

There’s never a better time to organize your business than during the 2020s economic shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, implementing proper document indexing and management can quickly get out of hand and become a frustrating task if not done correctly. A reliable way to achieve your goal of switching to a paperless office is to plan and think about the big picture and break it down into smaller steps. If you are still struggling to reach a clear path for indexing your documents, high-end Document Management Systems offer customized solutions and project management for bulk data entry.

The expertise of DMS providers in dealing with this process may alleviate the workload when it comes to indexing your documents. This can bring you further record management benefits like storing all of your documents in the cloud and shred the extra papers to optimize your workspace, adding document metadata, and ultimately preparing you for further economic endeavors.

When it comes to the business world, you can never be 100% risk-free. Still, document digitalization and indexing through an efficient Document Management System can create predictability so that you can aim your resources towards what matters for your enterprise.