Workflow Optimization Requires A Good Scanner

From the Sept. 2008 Issue

I’m writing this article after finishing my second day as a concession stand volunteer at the PGA Open golf tournament at Oakland Hills Country Club in Birmingham, Michigan. And I got to thinking about the similarities between the food preparation process and the scanning process. Despite the fact that we were a group of inexperienced volunteers stumbling over ourselves, we successfully satisfied our patrons’ needs by serving a quality food product. The analogy is that the higher the quality of your scanning images, the more successful the “scan, organize and populate” process will be in transferring data from your paper documents directly into your tax and accounting software.

This article is written as a supplement to Isaac O’Bannon’s review of scan, organize and populate products (see www.cpatechadvisor.com/go/2079 to help you optimize the scanning process with maximum quality and efficiency in creating the scanned images that those tools require. The objective is to help you develop a better understanding of what’s important to look for in selecting your scanner equipment and provide some insight into “best practices” for establishing your scanning workflow.

Let’s start with an explanation of the alternative types of scanners. The flatbed scanner was the original scanner configuration. As the name implies, the scanner is a flat unit that processes a single page at a time and requires a lot of inefficient paper handling, due to the need to move pages in and out by hand. Fortunately, some of the newer models do offer an optional automatic document feeder, but they are typically large devices designed for one-up or low-volume scanning operations. One key benefit of the flatbed scanner is that it may give you the ability to scan over-sized documents.

The sheet-fed scanner has automatic document feeding engineered into it as a core component. These scanners can handle document batches ranging in size from a few dozen sheets to a few hundred sheets, depending on your requirements. They can be extremely fast because of the integration between the feeder and the image processing component. These scanners come in a wide variety of models with various ranges of speed, capacity, portability and more. This is the optimal scanner type because it allows you to set up a high-speed dedicated scanning operation.

The third scanner type, and perhaps the most popular form, is the MFD (multi-function device.) These devices serve multiple functions: scanning, photocopying, printing and sometimes even faxing. Their most appealing feature is price, because the cost is allocated among all of the features. The biggest drawback to the MFD is that it requires you to get up from your desk and walk over to scan your documents. This may seem like a minor inconvenience, but in peak workloads it can create real inefficiencies. The bottom line is that if you have already invested in a MFD, you should try to leverage it as your first choice for scanning, but realize that you may want to switch gears as you begin to appreciate the benefits that come with a dedicated scanner.