Input Management solutions are characterized as a central entry point for all documents and business correspondence via a wide range of input channels. Incoming correspondence and documents are classified using artificial intelligence, the relevant information is extracted for each document type and, where necessary, manually validated. Successful Input Management solutions support the automation of downstream business applications.
The four pillars of Input Management
The Input Management solutions from Arcplace are grouped into four pillars:
- Digital Mailroom
- Invoice Scanning
- Initial Scan
- Consulting
All solutions and services of the individual pillars support our customers in their Digital Transformation, always looking at the end-to-end business process and focusing as enablers for automated business applications. On the journey from physical to digital business processes, Change Management must be actively lived, employees must be involved at an early stage and the sensible and optimal mix of technology and people must be chosen when finding solutions. To make the journey a success, the initial step is to develop a Target Operating Model with the involvement of external specialists in the area of Input Management.
Input Management phases
Successful Input Management can be divided into four main phases: conception, input channels, classification & extraction and processing.
The basis is the conception of the new Input Management solution with the result of a Target Operating Model. In order to successfully implement an Input Management project, it is essential to have a well-founded Target Operating Model that takes into account all stakeholders and the constant focus on the end-to-end business processes. Involving affected employees in the transformation at an early stage and actively living the Change Management are further success factors.
Modern Input Management solutions act as funnels for all incoming documents and all input channels (multi-channel approach). Physical documents are digitized using the latest scanning technology (one-step processing) – existing digital documents are imported directly into the capture platform via email, SFTP server or web portals.
The scanning or import process is followed by classification & extraction of the relevant information. For classification, the Capture Platform uses artificial intelligence to classify documents automatically. Through continuous self-learning, the quality is improved daily and the automation is increased. Subsequently, the relevant data is extracted from the document for each document type. The focus here is on process-relevant data, which optimally supports automation in subsequent business applications. If documents cannot be automatically classified or the necessary data extracted, the document is enriched with the needed data in manual validation by humans. The standard output from the Capture Platform is a PDF and an XML or JSON file.
Arcplace Scanning Services
Despite the fact that an increasing number of companies are moving from paper to digital documents, many organizations still have large paper archives and a significant amount of time-consuming paper-based processes. The Arcplace Scanning Services allow companies to benefit quickly from the advantages of digital documents without the need for setting up and maintaining internal scanning infrastructure and resources.
Arcplace Scanning Services include:
- The latest scanning hardware
- Leading capture software for indexing scanned documents
- Design, installation and configuration services
- Services for the digitization of existing paper records (on-site at the customer’s premises or in the Arcplace Scan & BPO Center)
Capture: Classification and Data Extraction
The central tasks of the Capture Platform are the classification of documents and the extraction of the relevant process data. For powerful and automated classification, Arcplace uses artificial intelligence components that are integrated into the Capture Platform. The artificial intelligence is trained and continuously optimized by means of prior learning with training sets or by continuous self-learning. Learning with training sets is very easy and can be done in a very short time. There is no need to enter additional keywords or define layouts. The artificial intelligence learns automatically on the basis of the training sets and independently saves the necessary patterns for recognition.
Data extraction aims to correctly extract and validate the relevant information from the document. Ideally, master data is used to validate the read values. The process-relevant information is extracted and validated for each document type. If not all data can be extracted or if the confidence of the read values is too low, the document is finally validated by a human in the manual validation. This ensures high data quality.
Arcplace Scan & BPO Center
The Arcplace Scan & BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) Center in Glattbrugg, Switzerland processes documents of all types for companies all across Switzerland. It is on one hand used for recurring scanning activities such as the scanning of supplier invoices, orders or the complete mail traffic. The Scan & BPO Center is also used for the digitization of larger paper archives that are then typically transferred to DMS, ECM or ERP systems.
The Arcplace Scan & BPO Center is certified to the ISO 27001 security standard and uses state of the art technology for the digitization and capture of documents of all types and sizes. A professional team consisting of project managers, engineer and scanning operators helps customers to define and implement the scanning processes that best suits the requirements.
Arcplace technology partners
Arcplace has strategic partnerships with different capture technology vendors of which two important ones are:
- TCG
- Hyland Software
- Parashift
With these technology vendors, Arcplace is able to cover requirements going from simple capture stations to advanced multichannel classification and extraction solutions.
