How technology can reduce costs in the workplace

Is your organisation looking to reduce business costs? For many companies in the UK, optimisation of spend and cost reduction have become vital steps in ensuring that their business continues to operate effectively. Competitive performance is critical, and keeping costs under control and finding ways to reduce costs are important steps in healthy business operations. This article examines investment in technology and how it can aid cost reduction.

Cost Reduction Strategies - Monitoring company spending and activity

Understanding the cost of doing business is an important first step when monitoring company spending. Before making cost-cutting decisions, leaders should first understand the processes currently employed within their organisations. Clear visibility of business operating costs is key to discovering where inefficiencies occur. 

Data and knowledge around working practices are some of the most productive ways to understand costs and the opportunity for cost savings. If you want your organisation to save money - using data makes it easier to identify cost reductions without significant adverse effects to employees, customers or your business as a whole.

For example, manual processes often involve unnecessary or duplicate tasks. Managers and finance leaders can make more efficient spending cuts when they have sufficient knowledge and visibility about a company’s production processes. As part of your cost reduction strategy - it’s a good idea to identify and map processes and areas of inefficiency. These areas are good places to start when considering how to reduce business costs.

The role of technology in a cost reduction strategy

Investment in technology and innovation is fundamental for organisations today and is just one of the ways to reduce costs. Even small companies need to keep pace with increasing consumer demand and disruptive competition. The use of cloud computing software and digital tools has directly been able to contribute to financial management and control. From an operational point of view, technology has been utilised to optimise profitability and cut costs in many companies.

How technology can help cut company costs

Here are some key best practices for implementing technology to increase operational efficiency and reduce costs. 

• Reduction of material costs

One of the simplest and most effective ways to cut costs within the company with the support of technology is to reduce material costs. A clear example is moving towards digital documentation and working to make your organisation paperless. Lowering the cost of paper, ink, printing, postage, and transportation can reduce costs significantly. Digital transformation of manual, paper processes can also accelerate the speed of doing business.

• Better use of time

Increasing productivity is an obvious way of maximising profit, and using technology offers a clear path to increase the amount of work an individual can do. Automating manual processes can speed up vital processes like collaboration, employee onboarding, contract negotiation, acquisition of new customers, and more. Adopting technology to increase productivity can help to make entire teams more agile and effective. 

• Reduction of bureaucracy

Bureaucracy and administration is often one of the main drains of company resources. The cost of doing business can impact company performance. In a Forrester study commissioned by DocuSign called the State of Systems of Agreement, respondents who had begun to implement automated digital agreements to replace administrative tasks highlighted the improvements that had been made to efficiency. 45% of respondents reported time savings, and 48% reported a reduction in the rate of errors. Technology can help to simplify business processes and reduce the amount of administration required to complete tasks.

Next steps for adopting technology

It’s easy to see how an investment in technology can reduce costs and increase profitability. There are so many options available that allow you to improve the efficiency of your operations. With DocuSign, you can eliminate paper, automate processes and connect to other systems you already use. See how the DocuSign Agreement Cloud is helping Unilever, or learn more about it and how it can help your organisation. 

Using DocuSign eSignature helps you sign agreements on the go and eliminate paper. There’s no need to post or print documents or any requirement to be available in person to obtain a physical signature. DocuSign eSignature lets you send, sign and track any document from any device, wherever you are. DocuSign also offers online signature apps native to every major mobile platform.

Signing contracts remotely with eSignature is a legally valid way for multiple parties to sign documents. But DocuSign eSignature only the beginning, as DocuSign provides the most comprehensive set of applications to transform your entire agreement process digitally.

A summary of how to reduce costs in your organisation 

What should I know to reduce costs?

Start by ensuring you have clear visibility of business operating costs, which is key to discovering where inefficiencies occur. Cutting production and operation costs can be an excellent cost-reduction strategy. As part of your cost reduction strategy - it’s a good idea to identify and map processes and areas of inefficiency. 

How can I start to reduce costs?

Once you have identified inefficiency in your business, you can start looking at ways to reduce costs. Investment in technology and innovation can be a good place to start improving operational costs and reducing material costs. Manual administration is often one of the main drains of company resources. Adopting technology can increase productivity and make teams more effective. 

What is the best way to reduce costs?

Reducing material costs, increasing productivity and automating manual administrative tasks are some of the best ways to reduce business costs. 

A clear example of this is working towards a paperless organisation and implementing digital practices. Digital tools can help you reduce costs and increase productivity quickly. Organisations should consider implementing new tools to automate manual processes like those available as part of the DocuSign Agreement Cloud, including simple electronic signature technology from DocuSign eSignature, which has already increased efficiency for many organisations. See more at DocuSign customer stories.