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Go ahead, scan it yourself!
by kathy land
Go ahead, scan it yourself...The tribulations and pitfalls of scanning yourself.
This article talks about all the things you will run into if you scan the document yourself. Please email me if you would like a copy. kathy@smoothsolutions.com.
Document Scanning, and Imaging? Go ahead scan it yourself! NJ, NY, CT Kathy Land ArticleID: 18469 Hits: 3456 Date Submitted: 04-Mar-03 More Details at: http://www.smoothsolutions.com/
Go ahead scan it yourself!
By Michael Harris
After owning and operating a document scanning service bureau for 17 years I'm finally ready to say, "fine, do it yourself". I'm tired of constantly telling customers the benefits of outsourcing their document back-file conversion.
Yes, every organization should have a scanner for on-demand capture and distribution, but do you need to be in the business of high-volume document conversion? You think it's easy running a labor-intensive business that requires the implementation of state-of-art and constantly changing technology?
If this is what it's going to take to get you to understand, then please, go ahead and scan it yourself!
The novice "imaging expert" thinks that you install a scanner and assign an operator and everything just runs smoothly. I guess it's not until you undertake a large document conversion effort that you actually learn how many things can go wrong. Just how many things can go wrong;
let me count the ways: · Poor Quality Documents
o It's shame when you lack the proper equipment to capture the best quality image. Like if every other page is a photograph or colored graph, pie chart or onion skin paper or card stock or plastic or film. Does your scanner handle every media and image format necessary?
· Lack of Database Schema
o When minimal thought is given to indexing and the database schema, things either get lost electronically or just can't be logically retrieved
o Too many data fields can slow indexing to a crawl
o Do you realize the effort required to fix a database when image filenames mysteriously become out of sequence or jumbled?
· Minimal QC
o It's too bad when every image has an anti-phantom line down the right-side of the image or when the scanner inserts a ¼" black bar stripe on the image, or when half the images are too light, or when pages are skipped because of scanner mis-feeds or double-feeds, or when images are cut-off, or when they need to be cropped or de-skewed or de-speckled.
o What percentage QC do you need to perform? 100%, 50%, 10% ? Does your software accommodate QC or re-scans, inserting pages or blank page suppression?
· Poor document preparation and re-assembly
o Isn't it terrible when documents are combined erroneously, or staples jam the scanner or the order of pages is mixed up? Don't you just hate when after the documents are scanned they no longer resemble the original document sets? Imagine missing the image of 1 of 100 pages, still 99% accurate but that could have been an important page.
· Did I mention that sometimes the scanners go down? Or what about when the PC no longer sees the SCSI card or the Firewire card. What about when the scanner control software needs a new driver or you upgrade to the latest operating system and nothing works. What about something so simple as keeping the intake rollers clean so that pages get fed individually.
Did I ever tell you that the scanner glass gets scratched when you forget to remove a staple and every image has a line down the middle?
· Don't even think about running at the rated speed of the scanner, what rate can you expect? How about half or 1/3 or even 1/10th.
· Did you ever actually use bar-coded separator sheets? Did you ever process them correctly?
o Does your software allow for auto-indexing via bar-code sheets?
· What about converting all your documents to PDF, is it built into the process? o When you do process to PDF are all the files compressed, optimized, set to open in a consistent view? Are there any bookmarks, links? Are you using the OCR capability, etc.?
· What about getting a specific project done on time. Are your operators, supervisors, IS people, is anybody going to be on vacation, out sick, could the scanner need repair, is the server up? Is there a documented project specification sheet? A project workflow summary? A set of instructions? Is there enough disk space, memory, network bandwidth? How big are the files? How much storage for 2.5 million pages? How much time does it take to prep 2 million pages for scanning? Is the index consistent for every document type? Did I mention QC…
Now I'm beginning to have fun. What if I told you that our primary business is document conversion and we still have to worry about every problem stated above. What if we didn't have the management or procedures in place or the necessary equipment? Is your company in the document conversion business?
The fact of the matter is that document scanning and conversion can be complicated. Granted, it seems easy and involves relatively simple tasks, however when these tasks are combined and the volume begins to grow and the technology changes and people need to be managed, it's not so easy.
In twenty years from now, when people access documents that were scanned in present times, can you imagine the look on their faces if the document is illegible? What if page 6 and page 22 of a 100-page document are missing? What if a document is indexed incorrectly? What if the image is corrupt and won't open? What if the electronic media becomes unreadable? Are those the worst possible scenarios?
What if you can only point your finger at yourself when confronted with "who scanned these documents?"
Michael Harris is President of Smooth Solutions, Inc., a high-volume document conversion services company. Contact Kathy@smoothsolutions.com for sales quotes, free samples and technical related questions.
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About the Author
Document Imaging, Document Scanning, microfilm, microfiche, large format, drawings, maps aperture cards, roll film, 35mm 16mm, manuals, marketing literature, research, and R & D, Document Imaging... New York, New Jersey, PA, CT ...Scanning Onsite or mail them to SI!! HIPAA, DARM, OPRA, you have lots of filing cabinets, then going paperless is the answer...and have most of your documents on your computer!
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