Due to the advancement of data science technology, data extraction, and data processing is helping large organizations tremendously in managing complex data sets. A 2020 study by Domo estimates that 1.7MB of data is created every single second for each human being on the planet. This requires strong data processing tools to process such a huge amount of data.
But what precedes data handling is a tedious process of data extraction and collection which is not yet worked much upon. Still, data extraction is done manually in the majority of organizations dealing with data. This eventually laid down the foundation of the Intelligent data processing market.
Slowly and steadily, technologies are advancing toward accurate data extraction tools which are going to change the data industry tremendously. One such technology is “Intelligent Document Processing” which is pioneering in the field of automatic data extraction. Although IDP software has been around for ages, today they are a wonder for data-driven organizations with its automated document processing.
Read on to know more about Intelligent Document Processing Solutions and why it’s the need of the hour for businesses.
What is Intelligent Document Processing?
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Intelligent Document Processing software (IDP) is a type of technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques to automatically extract, classify, as well as process information from documents. Ideally, Intelligent Data Processing Solutions are designed to improve the efficiency and accuracy of document-based workflows by automating tasks that would normally be done manually. It mainly helps to automate processes such as data entry, data classification, and document routing.
Intelligent Data Processing Software typically works by using machine learning algorithms to analyze and understand the structure and content of documents. They can be trained to recognize and extract specific types of information, such as names, dates, and addresses, and to classify documents based on their content and purpose.
IDP systems can also be integrated with other systems, such as customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, to facilitate the flow of information between different departments and systems within an organization. Here’s how the whole IDP system flows through various steps.
| Step No. | Process Name | What it includes |
| 1. | Pre-processing data | Noise Reduction, Binarization, and Deskewing |
| 2. | Intelligent Document Classification | Google Vision, Supervised learning, and OCR |
| 3. | Data Extraction | Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Google Vision |
| 4. | Domain Specific Validation | Rules, Script, and Funny Logic |
| 5. | Enhanced Validation | Robotic Process Automation (RPA) |
| 6. | Human-in-the-loop Validation | Supervised Learning |
All of these steps are meant to be used accordingly as per the domain of the application.
IDP technology is used in a wide range of industries and applications, including
- finance,
- healthcare,
- government, and
- legal professions.
It is used to streamline processes such as invoice processing, customer onboarding, and contract management, and can help organizations save time and reduce the risk of errors in document-based workflows. Here are a few examples where IDP shows the advantages of its use.
Why Intelligent Document Processing?
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IDP solutions can be beneficial for businesses in several ways:
Increased efficiency:
Intelligent document processing can help streamline business processes by automating the task of extracting information from documents. This can save time and reduce the need for manual data entry, allowing employees to focus on more high-value tasks.
Improved accuracy:
Intelligent document capture can improve the accuracy of data entry by automatically extracting information from documents with a high degree of accuracy. This can help reduce errors and improve the overall quality of the data being entered into business systems.
Enhanced data management:
Intelligent document processing solutions can help businesses manage their data more effectively by organizing and categorizing information in a structured manner. This can make it easier to access and use the data for business decision-making and analysis.
Reduced costs:
Automated document processing can help businesses save on labor costs and reduce the need for physical storage space, as electronic copies of documents can be stored and accessed more efficiently. A study mentioned that organizations adopting IDP solutions for automating their workflow have not only reduced processing time significantly but also lowered labor costs by as much as 20%.
How can Intelligent Document Processing be beneficial for your business?
IDP as a Technology Disruptor
While all of the above-listed benefits will be derived by the organization for data extraction, there are a few areas where Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) will revolutionize the traditional approach. It is much more likely to disrupt the growing problem of Information Overload. Read more about Information Overload and how to deal with it here
IDP is mainly popularised due to its USPs which mainly include
- cost-effectiveness,
- accurate information and
- Time benefits
IDP as an Integrating Mechanism
Apart from the above-discussed features, IDP simplifies the whole data processing system by integrating core business applications with complicated data reading by fulfilling compliance requirements. Since data reading involves both, semi-structured and unstructured documents, IDP has an inbuilt feature to process both types individually for better accuracy and reliability.
After reading the raw data from brochures, emails, and faxes, IDP involves a three-step process that includes
- detecting the information
- segregating the information, and
- extracting the distilled information from the documents.
Respective departments receive this collected information.
The importance of IDP can be gauged by looking at the below image, which is projecting the increased usage of IDP solutions as we move forward.
Image source: here
As we can see the adoption of IDP across various industry sectors is a key factor that uplifts the work processing going forward.
In this way, IDP involves a detailed process including data capture and data extraction from sources, data validation from external databases, and then data integration at last through DMS solutions.
The Bottomline
Witnessing the way in which Data science and AI can make business operations smoother and more competent, it has become non-negotiable to use them thoroughly. But their usage isn’t a cakewalk either. These technologies come up with complex working modules and manuals, but not anymore.
To simplify AI for your business, Nowigence has come up with a comprehensive data-science-backed tool called Pluaris which is a comprehensive knowledge management tool that can extract and analyze data from public and private data sources and help in processing it. To make it clear, it’s a technological version of the human ability to scan through documents, but accurately and quickly. With Pluaris, just submit the documents and it’ll take care of the rest of it by itself.
Pluaris uses IDP behind the curtain to make sure that the information retrieval process is paired with AI methodologies to put together a solution that can simplify the work processes. It’s like having a layer of intelligence over the information retrieval system. It makes sure that the whole query processing is fast and works with efficiency.
