Steve Bandrowczak - CEO of Xerox Global, and Warren Mande - Managing Director, Altron Document Solutions

The interplay between physical and digital information has been core to workplace productivity for decades. The revolutionary idea that documents could be copied instantly has evolved into workplace environments where information flows seamlessly between the physical and digital realms. Throughout this journey we've witnessed firsthand how the management of information in all its forms can drive operational excellence, and how it remains, at heart, a deeply human endeavour.

The amount of information in the world is doubling every 22 months, and 90% of the world’s information was generated within the last three years. Statista estimates that the amount of stored data globally will reach 175 zettabytes this year, which is nearly 30 times the volume of data in 2018. For all this information to do any good, it must be accessible by the people that need it.

This is the role of document management, and recently, intelligent document processing (IDP). The journey of document management mirrors the broader evolution of business technology. When Xerox pioneered copying technology nearly a century ago, we established a foundation for workplace efficiency that continues to this day. The partnership between Xerox and Altron Document Solutions in South Africa, spanning over 60 years, has allowed us to combine global innovation with deep local expertise and understanding to bring global best practice to South African workplaces.

Today's workplace productivity challenges extend beyond simply moving from paper to digital. Modern organisations require solutions that intelligently bridge these worlds. Paper isn't disappearing; billions of pages are still printed monthly worldwide, with many regulations still requiring physical copies and signatures. In 2025, the market for hardcopy print devices in South Africa has shown 3% growth – though in comparison, spending on IT services has grown by 8%. The key is to create intelligent systems that allow for seamless transitions between formats while extracting maximum value from information, regardless of how it's stored.

According to the Association for Information and Image Management, about 80% of organisations report experiencing some form of backlog in digitising physical records, particularly in industries with high volumes of paper-based records, such as government, healthcare, and legal. For example, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society reported that 75% of healthcare organisations face a backlog in digitising medical records. In South Africa, despite digitisation initiatives, it’s estimated that 35-45% of healthcare facilities still store physical records.

The good news is that through recent advances in IDP solutions, document management professionals – especially those with a proven mix of knowledge and knowhow – are well positioned to address those backlogs, streamline processes and reduce costs. According to Gartner, IDP can deliver up to five times faster processing, enabling quicker service delivery, improved customer retention, and a better employee experience. IDP can reduce operational costs by up to 90%, errors by up to 67%, and exception resolution by 40% – provided you partner with a company that understands how existing processes might be impacting the experience of customers and employees.

The most exciting developments in workplace productivity today are happening at the intersection of artificial intelligence and human expertise. AI-powered tools are transforming how we extract value from unstructured data (including contracts, handwritten forms, invoices, and emails) without requiring massive capital investments or complex implementations. These solutions learn from experience, continuously improving their accuracy and capabilities. Yet human insight, oversight and understanding remain essential for understanding, analysis, handling edge cases and ensuring proper governance.

Xerox set out an agenda for AI as far back as 2017, and today offers a suite of AI-powered technologies and robotic process automation tools aimed at helping businesses automate and streamline their document-processing workflows. Xerox Intelligent Document Processing will classify and extract information, Gen AI prompts enable almost 100 percent accuracy on highly unstructured data to optimise what’s extracted, and bots are used to automate processes downstream.

Another frontier is augmented reality, which is revolutionising maintenance and support services. Today, a remarkable 65%+ of service calls into the Xerox Global Contact Centre are resolved remotely. Technicians can now troubleshoot equipment remotely with expert guidance overlaid in their field of view, dramatically reducing downtime and physical travel. This blending of physical and digital represents the next evolution in how we support mission-critical business processes.

In our decades working side by side, Xerox and Altron have observed that the most successful implementations begin with understanding an organisation's current capabilities and building systematically around them. Digital transformation isn't about the wholesale replacement of existing systems; it’s about thoughtful evolution that respects an organisation’s culture and capacity for change.

The public sector offers compelling examples of how intelligent document processing can transform service delivery. Government organisations in South Africa and other developing countries report backlogs ranging from 500 000 to five million pages per department. Many governments have initiated e-Government initiatives, which aim to reduce backlogs over the next 5-10 years, but progress has been slow, particularly in rural areas. By automating routine processing while maintaining human oversight for complex cases, agencies can dramatically improve service levels within existing budget constraints.

Or consider a leading South African retailer who wanted to pay suppliers early to capture payment discounts. By implementing our intelligent document processing solutions to automatically scan invoices and extract critical data into their SAP system, they cut invoice processing time from 30+ days to three days, and achieved a remarkable 1 500% return on investment in the very first year. What made this possible wasn't merely the technology, but the strategic application of that technology to a specific business challenge.

Security remains paramount in this journey. As information flows more freely, protecting it becomes more complex. The hybrid environments that most organisations operate in today might span data centres, cloud services, and physical infrastructure, creating multiple potential vulnerability points. This complexity is the reason that, according to the IMF, cybercrime has increased by 17% since 2022, and will cost the world $23 trillion by 2027. This is where expert knowledge of global best practices becomes essential to identify and address security gaps before they can be exploited.

Trust is the currency that makes all of this possible. Altron Document Solutions is a part of the JSX-listed Altron Group, and a trusted partner to 50% of the JSE Top 100. ADS proudly boasts the largest service footprint in our industry, with tenured partners of +30 years. After decades of safeguarding our clients' most sensitive documents, we've earned the privilege of helping them navigate the complexities of digital transformation. This trust isn't built on technology alone but on relationships, integrity, and a consistent commitment to delivering on promises. When you're transforming mission-critical business processes, you need partners who understand the stakes and who have demonstrated their reliability over time.

The evolution of workplace productivity isn't a linear journey with a defined endpoint, it’s a continuous process of adaptation and improvement. As leaders of organisations with a combined history of over 150 years in document management and workplace productivity, we've witnessed tremendous change. Yet certain fundamentals remain constant: the need for trusted relationships, the importance of solving real business problems, and the value of experience in navigating complex transformations. The technologies may evolve, but success will always depend on humans understanding what matters most to clients and their customers.