Although 2020 began with the U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union, by March, news of the COVID-19 pandemic had largely overshadowed Brexit. Now, as the business world copes with the economic repercussions of both, the two appear to have something in common. Both Brexit and the pandemic have left businesses in the U.K. and Europe struggling to establish a new order – one where many organizations are going to need to make important decisions about automation.
For example, while the U.K. customs office currently handles 55 million paper declarations annually, it is estimated this number will rise to 255 million as a result of Brexit – a 363% increase. How will they handle this surge in volume?
Between the public health burden resulting from the pandemic and Brexit’s impact on labor supply, adding the headcount necessary to cover that kind of increase in workload is unwieldy, if not impossible. A more efficient and workable solution is automating those business processes related to handling declarations, beginning with digitization at the point of intake.
Automating with Digital Mailroom
That’s precisely what Exela’s Digital Mailroom and related industry-specific solutions such as Medical Records Management do. Using state-of-the-art smart technology, including OCR-powered data extraction and proprietary AI-powered scanning for which we were recently awarded a patent, Exela’s Digital Mailroom digitizes, indexes, and sorts incoming documents and e-routes them securely, whether into downstream workflows or to intended recipients.
Mailroom operations requiring the work of 10 people can now be completed with just six. In addition, those operations can be handled by our fully-trained staff at our designated processing centers, freeing up valuable real estate for our clients.
Business Digital Solutions Manage Inefficiencies
As Exela’s Simon Stackhouse points out, all of this dovetails nicely with the government mandate for “innovation as a solution to managing workforce issues” in the wake of Brexit. However, it’s just a small window into the sort of efficiencies businesses can achieve by digitizing and automating processes; and it’s certainly just a small part of how Exela enables our customers’ digital transformations.
For example, our fixed asset management solutions begin with digitizing lease and service agreement data in order to consolidate all the moving parts that make up a customer’s infrastructure into one user-friendly dashboard. Our logistics solutions do the same thing with regard to shipping, receiving, and fulfillment tracking. Further, our human resources management solutions help respond to HR challenges, which may be particularly salient in the wake of major events like Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Relying on digital solutions benefits companies and employees by streamlining operations, increasing productivity, and helping to manage workforce issues.
Conclusion
As you work through these challenging times, we hope you’ll find these best practices for making remote working work for you helpful. If you’re managing a team that’s had to adapt to a remote work environment, check out our special edition of PluggedIN, COVID-19: A Tipping Point For Remote Work, to learn about remote work trends before, during, and after the pandemic, as well as best practices for business leaders and managers to ensure productivity and efficiency while employees are working from home.
If there is any way you think we can assist you, please do not hesitate to contact us at covidresponse@exelatech.com.
