With the onset of Industry 4.0, the push for new technology to automate workflows and improve the daily lives of workers is stronger every day. Investing in technology to improve worker safety, productivity, and ultimately improve the bottom line are all critical focuses for manufacturing leadership in this day and age. When thinking about ways to improve productivity, paper forms and paper processes are often a big part of the data collection and processing still occurring in industrial industries today. Time spent using paper forms is wasted time away from hours of work that is productive to the company or increases billable time with clients. However, the processes that paper forms are a part of cannot go away. This understanding is why digital transformation of the paper form process is one of the first digital solutions many companies proceed with first. However, the ‘gut reaction’ of many leaders is to invest in form builder solutions, which pose many challenges to attempting to digitally transform business operations. Here is why form builder solutions are not the best option when starting digital transformation:
Digital Transformation and Paper Forms
When thinking about the necessary processes surrounding paper forms today, processes like recording client data, site safety checks, equipment assessment, and more, It’s clear that while the information captured by these paper form processes is critical, its not scalable or sustainable. Inevitably with paper forms, data gets missed through even one form forgotten, paper gets damaged or misfiled, and forms are even skipped all together all due to the physical instability of paper and the natural human desire to put-off and forget tedious tasks. At their core, paper processes represent necessary workflows. Digital transformation in the age of industry 4.0 can drastically improve many aspects of those workflows all together. By taking the information captured by paper forms and transferring that same information fill to a computer, iPad, or other digital form, the process workflow has already improved tremendously from its paper origins. Digital form builder solutions are a popular option for many companies in the manufacturing or other frontline focused industries. However, they do not bring the flexibility and dynamic nature that guided, digital workflow experiences like Anvl bring.
The Challenges of Form Builder Solutions
Form builder solutions like iAuditor are rising in their popularity and usage across the manufacturing world. There are also, however, reasons why they may not be the best long term solution for a business as it continues to undergo digital transformation to improve their efforts across the frontline.
Form builder solutions can be rather stagnant and not as much of an upgrade to the paper process as one might initially think when adopting said tool. Form builder solutions are not flexible to grow with your business. A new digital form will have to be built for different situations and different channels as your business evolves and the needs shift. Most digital form builder solutions are self-help and don’t receive expert advice along with their tool. At their core, basic digital form builder solutions are just your paper forms in almost a digitized format, not engaging for workers and overall not a good digital experience.
Workflows are a Viable Replacement to Form Builder Solutions
While digitizing the form can be a good first step for companies undergoing a digital transformation, the key to successfully utilizing technology is to invest in a platform that offers dynamic workflows to run your business. Workflow automation is the future of work. Beyond just taking a form from paper to computer screen, dynamic workflows can digitize many different processes on the frontline. They can also be set-up in a way that shift and change as your business needs shift and change, even offering technology that responds real time with AI. Beyond the upgrade from stagnant digital forms, dynamic workflow technology has world-class support from technology companies helping customers build out workflows specifically for their businesses.
See Anvl in Action
Pushing for digital transformation is important, but taking it a step forward to see how technology can not just replace current solutions at your business and solve minor inconvenience, but rather how it can change the dynamic workflow of your frontline each and every day.
Anvl offers a dynamic workflow solution. See all of the solutions that Anvl has to offer for you, and take the first step to making safety a priority in your business. Our team will work with you directly to get your business acclimated to the technology at your own pace.
