IDP enables all data in any format to be extracted, categorised and verified for automated business processing. Intelligent Document Processing is more advanced than Digital Capture and OCR (Optical Character Recognition).
As per International Data Corporation estimates, in less than four years, worldwide enterprise data will exceed 175 zettabytes. More than 80% of business data is stuck in unstructured, uneditable formats like PDF, text documents, and images. With businesses looking to digitise completely, there are sectors that need to mine deep into the wealth of information that they hold. Business processes, finance operations, customer research, market analysis, academics, logistics, and healthcare are some sectors that are now heavily dependent on data extraction and automation for speed and efficiency.
Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) sorts information from any unstructured source – be it invoices, orders and receipts, emails, claim forms, registries, contracts, scanned documents or printed books – into structured, easily accessible, validated data as required by any business.
What is Intelligent Document Processing?
IDP helps humans access and integrate unstructured data through AI-driven technologies like Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Computer Vision (CV), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML).
These data extraction technologies have mostly been used in isolation for specific purposes. But what makes Intelligent Document Processing impressive is that it uses a combination of these data tools as a singular solution to transform how we work with data.
In short, Intelligent Document Processing makes automated data extraction possible. IDP provides modern enterprises a unified, seamless, scalable platform to identify, extract and organise information from any source of data.
Intelligent Document Processing has revolutionised traditional Data Capture by integrating AI into its platforms. Data Capture had once changed the way any or all information was stored and made readable by a computer. Electronic data capture extracted information from digital or scanned documents and converted them into machine-readable data. IDP has taken this data extraction a leap further by organising the captured data intelligently and making it suitable/relevant for business workflows.
How does Intelligent Document Processing work?
IDP platforms are designed to efficiently and accurately manage the multiple steps of data extraction and integration:
Document Capture – This is performed by integrating the IDP solution with high definition, high-speed scanning hardware for printed paper and images; and software to read digital content like text and PDF files, and office productivity documents.
Image Processing – The IDP platform processes images with OCR and computer vision algorithms. Two versions of the digitised documents are created – one for machine reading and the other for human viewing for content management.
Optical Character Recognition – The text on scanned documents is read using OCR technology. An efficient Document Processing solution uses multiple OCR engines for a layered approach to achieve near 100% accuracy.
Natural Language Processing – NLP makes the IDP platform quicker and more intelligent in understanding data. NLP techniques like sentiment analysis, and tagging of parts of speech, named entities and other language elements help detect specific meaning & context. This helps in identifying relevant data in unstructured document formats.
Document Classification – Classification of information is what sets Intelligent Document Processing apart from other data automation solutions. The automatic document recognition features of a proficient IDP solution enable very competent categorisation of data. Classification engines are trained to recognise document types (invoices, receipts, bills of lading, bank statements etc.) through intelligence-based techniques and machine learning.
Data Extraction – Extraction of categorised data from a document requires artificial intelligence. A successful Document Processing platform is designed with an AI system that can be trained to detect and extract all relevant information within a document.
Validation of Data – A resourceful IDP solution leverages external databases and Humans-in-the-Loop workflows to verify/validate extracted data. Any information that does not match the specified requirements is highlighted for manual review.
Data Integration – The ultimate test of efficacy of a Document Processing platform depends on how well it integrates with other business platforms. For enterprises, IDP platforms must seamlessly integrate with ERP and other business software or processes. The classified data and metadata converted to human-readable formats can greatly benefit accounting systems, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), ERP and Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems.
Since the data revolution is here to stay, companies with intelligent data processing capabilities will have the cutting edge in staying ahead of innovation. End to end business process automation is the new norm, with unobtrusive IDP solutions that can be integrated and applied across business functions and industries.
Applications of Intelligent Document Processing
The best way to harness the full potential of a Document Processing platform is to develop document data literacy. Before developing a solution, a business should ideally look closely at the type of information available and the business outcomes related to that data. With this understanding, the IDP solution can be trained to organise and integrate available data and anticipate similar data in future. This integration of IDP’s capabilities with the company’s business values and goals will ensure that the right kind of data is extracted for a designated purpose. It is therefore important for a business to have an overall understanding of their data and use it to chart an intelligent workflow with the help of automation and process redesign.
Apart from governments and large organisations with huge data mines, innumerable industries are fast taking to Intelligent Document Processing to transform enormous depositories of documents into millions of data extractions on critical day-to-day workflows. Banks, Healthcare businesses, Consumables manufacturers and Industries are just a few sectors that use IDP for extracting information from:
ID CARDS
– Passports
– Driver’s licence
FINANCE
– Purchase orders
– Invoices
– Receipts
– Bank statements
– Bills of lading
HEALTH CARE
– Case histories
– Test reports
– Prescriptions and procedures
RENTING AND LEASING
– Contracts and Leases
BANKING AND INSURANCE
– Mortgage documents
– Claims forms
– Accord forms
INDUSTRIES
– Industrial blue prints
– Production analysis
TRAVEL
– Airline data
– Hospitality information
– Tracking leisure and holiday activities
EDUCATION
– Libraries and laboratories inventory
– School, college, university examination result analysis
– Fees, tuition and examination schedules
– Sport and games training, schedules and inventory
TELECOMMUNICATION
– User /usage data analysis
FOOD INDUSTRY
– Agriculture production
– Processed food consumption
MARKET ANALYSIS
– Consumer preferences
– Sales trends
Features of an effective IDP platform
IDP platforms are designed for efficiency at every stage of converting paper based and digital documents into precisely organised data. So, an effective Intelligent Document Processing solution is:
– industry neutral
– flexible to read, segregate & organize structured and unstructured information
– scalable
– compatible for integration with ERP systems and other software
– cloud-based and on-prem support
– equipped for classification and training with a visual interface
Empower your business with IDP
Intelligent Document Processing is a key component of business process automation today. Effective data extraction and categorisation of information are essential to automate the majority of business processes that are now done manually. For businesses of all sizes and nature, data automation through Document Processing will save time and effort. In addition, it will empower businesses through various benefits like:
– Cost saving by drastically reducing the cost of processing large volumes of data. Knowledge workers can be utilised in other areas of business rather than in the resource consuming data entry sector.
– User-friendliness through intuitive GUI enables organisations to set up faster and automate more processes.
– Enhanced accuracy in data processing with the use of AI. Human errors, omission and duplication of data can be completely avoided.
– Higher Straight-Through Processing (STP): reducing the need for human intervention for manually processing documents. This in turn leads to reduced manpower, greater efficiency and significant cost saving.
– Process efficiency that enables end-to-end automation of document-centric processes.
– Supporting Business Goals: automated data processing boosts business goals like improving customer experience, enhancing product efficiency, reducing business costs, saving time on less productive processes and investing it on innovations.
Article: IDP for Digital Transformation