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Zero paper: what are we really talking about?
‘Zero paper’ is not just about scanning piles of documents. It’s a complete chain: capturing information as soon as it arrives, extracting and filing it automatically, then archiving it reliably and making it accessible to those who need it.
For an SME in French-speaking Switzerland, the goal isn’t to print less on principle, but to streamline day-to-day operations: finding a document in seconds, avoiding repeat data entry, and securing archives that must, in any case, be kept for years.
Successful digitalisation doesn’t start with a scanner, but with an organisational decision.
Why SMEs are making the shift
The reasons are practical: time lost re-entering or searching for a document, paperwork mislaid between an email inbox and a binder, the space taken up by paper archives, and remote work, which requires access to documents from anywhere.
There’s also a Swiss reality to consider: certain documents must be kept for ten years. All the more reason for this retention to be organised, searchable and secure, rather than scattered across boxes.
Five steps to success
Start by defining the scope: choose a high-volume, low-complexity workflow — supplier invoices are an ideal candidate. Then capture at source: the earlier a document is captured (by scanning, from an email or a photo), the fewer manual steps it generates.
Structure your filing with clear categorisation, letting automatic extraction populate the key information. Archive in a legally compliant way, to guarantee that a document cannot be altered without it being noticed. Finally, embed the approach into your processes and train your teams: best practice needs to become the easiest option.
Pitfalls to avoid
Three traps come up again and again: trying to digitalise everything at once, neglecting retention requirements (a poorly archived document has no evidential value), and forgetting to bring teams on board — a tool nobody uses saves nobody any time.
Where to start
The most effective approach is to start small and measure: one workflow, one quantified gain, then expand. It’s also the best way to build internal buy-in.
Looking for a concrete starting point? Request a demonstration: we start from your real documents to design the workflow that’s most useful for your organisation.
