How Document Scanning Services Help Overcome The Global Microchip Shortage

For many business sectors, the challenges created by the COVID19 pandemic have been compounded by the current global microchip shortage. The printing industry, for one, has struggled to match demand for electronic office printers. But document scanning and offsite storage solutions are providing a reliable alternative to traditional office printing practices.

COVID19 restrictions forced many factories that make microchips to temporarily cease operations, which has resulted in microchip supplies drying up. But as companies have opened their offices again, this shortage is impacting on the manufacture of critical electronic components for a vast range of technological items.

From automobiles to smartphones to inkjet printers, the manufacture of anything that needs these tiny semiconductors is being curtailed. And for everyone the question now is how long this shortage is set to exit for.

Microchip manufacturer STMicro CEO Jean-Marc Chery suggested it could continue until early 2023, while Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger has said the shortage could last to the end of 2023. Ford Europe’s Herrmann estimates the chip shortage could continue through to 2024, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk has simply said that “it’s hard to predict”.

It means the printing challenge could last for as much as two years more, creating prolonged problems for everyday office operations at organisations that require a considerable amount of document printing and storage.

The Printer Challenge

The printer industry is facing all the problems every other manufacturing sector is, with shortages in the availability of materials and labour hampered further by lockdowns and logistical issues.

What is more, limited microchip supplies are forcing prices upwards, with the The Wall Street Journal reporting a jump of 20% over the past 12 months. So, whenever businesses can finally get their printing practices back to normal, the cost is set to be much higher than pre-COVID19.

With such long-term uncertainty, finding a cost-effective alternative to the traditional office printing practices has become a critical issue. And this is where document scanning and capture solutions and offsite document storage expertise can provide a practical answer.

Benefits Document Scanning Services Deliver

1. Reduced Onsite Printing Reliance

The obvious advantage to turning to offsite document storage and document scanning services is that stored documents can be retrieved either electronically or in hard copy on demand. With original documents housed safely in fully-managed record centres, businesses can get printed hard copies delivered it to the office whenever needed, greatly reducing the reliance on office printers.

2. Simple Electronic Distribution

Document scanning makes it possible to safely store potentially millions of documents in the Cloud, each one of which can be retrieved in seconds. And because these documents are electronically stored, e-copies of them can be distributed to as many people as necessary via email. This also means that recipients can view and closely analyse copies on their own devices, whether phone, notepads or laptops, removing the need for any hard copy printing at all.

3. Genuine Cost Savings

Estimates can vary, but in general the costs involved in searching for and printing out a copy of a document. Research has suggested costs can be as high as double an hourly wage (1 hour spent searching, and 1 hour distracted from normal work tasks), while printing costs comprising paper, ink, printer maintenance are also drastically reduced.

4. Greater Searchability & Access

A McKinsey Survey revealed that the office worker can spend on average 1.8 hours daily searching for documents, or almost 25% of their work time. Because document scanning services can intelligently capture documents, they can convert the text into a readily searchable format allowing the documents to be retrieved using  keywords almost instantly. What is more, authorised employees can access these documents from anywhere, greatly boosting time efficiency.

5. Better Security & GDPR Compliance

Under GDPR, Personally Identifiable Information (PII) relating to customers, suppliers, staff and third parties need to be protected. Document scanning helps to keep PII data away from prying eyes by storing them in the Cloud, making it much easier to protect data rights under GDPR. Access to these documents can also be carefully controlled though authorisation options, while documents are further protected against physical damage (like flood or fire), as well as sophisticated encryption protecting them in the Cloud.

If you would like to talk to a member of the Kefron team and learn more about our Scanning & Capture or Storage Solutions click here.