Without a doubt, when companies started to apply new technologies, they marked a before and after in virtually every business process, including document generation. As technology evolved, document production enhanced with new, more user-friendly tools and more automated processes that have made tasks much easier and have opened up new business opportunities.
Over the years, document production software has become more sophisticated and has increased its ability to allow for multiple functions. While often understood simply as mere text processing tools, these applications are far more complex and enable companies to add static as well as dynamic data, include different types of charts, automate the generation of electronic documents that comply with international standards – such as PDF format -, etc.
Document Production: Mass Improvement
Acquiring full control of resources in every stage of the document process, from design to production and composition, is critical to a business. Therefore, document management solutions are particularly important to ensure that all the data can be tracked and monitored. As such, document production software allows any user to create interactive documents that meet the needs of both individual users and organizations around the globe.
As technological innovations have been expanding, the features of this type of software have multiplied. For example, one of the main advantages of these solutions is that users can design their own customized templates, which they can easily convert into interactive documents to be published or printed. Thus, corporate users can use their templates to create complex documents and deliver them through multiple channels, without having to lose time in manual processes.
However, customized templates are meaningless if they do not include one crucial feature: a simple and user-friendly design. Therefore, document production software should be provided with a user-friendly environment that ensures ease of use at any time and for any user.
Flexible and Automated Processes
Typically, document production software also presents another characteristic, closely linked to the ease-of-use of these tools, which is the creation of automated processes. All document production solutions simplify and automate the production of paper and electronic documents as required by each individual company, by allowing corporate users to control the process directly from the provided interface. This software also enables organizations to deliver standard-based documents, such as PDFs, which drastically increases customer loyalty and reduces their costs.
These features guarantee a user-friendly environment when they are coupled with an intuitive interface based on the concept of WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) or the ability to generate and display a document while viewing the final result. With the right document generation software, companies not only benefit from all of these features, but they may also go much further and increase the overall efficiency, productivity, flexibility and performance of their document production and distribution processes.
However, the needs that arise when managing the entire document life cycle require advanced solutions to monitor, control and manage the supply chain of documents. This can be compared to the way in which ERPs manage the resources of a company to meet similar goals. For this reason, some companies define these tools as DRP (Document Resource Planning) software. The concept of DRP software covers all applications that manage and coordinate the resources and information related to the life cycle of business documents. Their goal is simple: to increase overall efficiency and flexibility in the current document production industry while maintaining control.
High Volume Production
Although the concept of document production software refers to all kinds of document generation solutions and contexts, it is actually closely linked to high volume document production environments. In any organization, certain departments or experts, due to the nature of their tasks, may require production and printing of large amounts of high-quality documents with a professional finish. For example, data processing departments, administrative workers and sales executives generally work in environments in which large amounts of documents are printed each day, and they obviously require a software tool that meets these specific printing needs.
As DocPath offers document production solutions that meet the needs of any customer, the company´s product portfolio includes High Volume Docs Generation. This solution is especially designed for companies that need to print and process large volumes of documents within a reasonable time frame, and also performs automated post-processing tasks. Thus, users can take full advantage of document production software, with the associated benefits of DocPath solutions.
Julio A. Olivares
DocPath CEO