The use of paper in industrial companies is still widespread. Whether it’s documents, test reports, contracts or invoices, paper is still an important part of many companies’ day-to-day work.
However, digitalization has had a major impact on paper consumption in industrial companies in recent years. More and more companies are turning to digital technologies to optimize their business processes and achieve greater efficiency.
Status quo of paper consumption in industrial companies.
The use of paper in industrial companies is an indicator of the inefficiency of administrative processes. Despite increasing digitalization in many industries, paper documents still play an important role in the execution of business processes. A recent survey by Bitkom gives us an insight into the current state of paper consumption in industrial companies.
Proportion of administrative processes that are paper-based.
The survey of industrial companies revealed that only 8% completely dispense with paper-based processes. The rest use paper partially or almost exclusively, with 4% of companies still working 100% paper-based.
Letter post is replaced by digital communication.
72% of industrial companies can already replace some of their letter post with digital communication. Even more companies, namely 86%, have the goal of increasingly replacing letter post with digital communication in the future.
Large companies mainly work with little paper.
Large companies with more than 500 employees work predominantly with little paper. 16% of these companies already work completely paper-free. For companies with 100 to 499 employees, this proportion is 14%, and only 6% for companies with 20 to 99 employees.
Digitization of paper files.
The study also shows that the digitization of paper files is still in the early stages in many industrial companies. Nevertheless, 14% of companies have already digitized all their files. A further 13% have digitized around 75% of their files, 24% have digitized around half of their paper files and 20% have already transferred a quarter of their files to the digital age. Unfortunately, 27% of companies have not yet digitized any files at all.
Trend towards digital alternatives.
The use of paper in business is changing. Digitization offers many advantages for companies that adapt to the changes early on. To benefit from the advantages of digitization, companies need to optimize their processes and use digital technologies.
One in twelve industrial companies already works completely paper-free, as the study above shows. This reflects the trend towards digitalization.
Digitization not only offers companies the opportunity to optimize business processes and save costs, but also contributes to a more sustainable environment. Avoiding paper saves raw materials and reduces CO2 emissions.
Data security is an important aspect of using digital technologies. Companies need to invest in the right infrastructure and security technologies to protect their data.
Companies that embrace digital technologies at an early stage have a competitive advantage and can position themselves well for the future.
Conclusion
In summary, it can be said that the use of digital technologies is becoming increasingly important and that the economy is slowly but surely moving away from paper.
By using digital solutions, companies can optimize their business processes, save time and costs and also help to protect the environment. However, it is important that companies also take the necessary precautions to ensure the security of their data.
