What Are Disadvantages of a Paper-Based System?
For most industries, a paper-based system is costly and insecure. Paper-based systems for managing documents and information is expensive because the company must allocate financial resources for both the cost of the materials and the labor power of managing them, including printing, collating and filing costs. This could mean employing additional workers who require salaries and benefits.
In addition to the high cost of employing a logistical manager for print-based documents and the cost of the materials, management must consider the cost of disposing print-based documents. Shipping paper-based documents is also expensive. Safe disposal or recycling is costly, unless the company manages a department that does these things internally. Additional disadvantages include the security threat. It is difficult to know if a document has been copied or mishandled. Similarly, paper-based systems make it difficult to share documents. When a company has offices nationally or internationally, the ability to send and share documents quickly is key. With digital-based systems, this becomes much easier and faster. Additional considerations include storage and maintenance. With paper-based systems, storage requires a lot of space. Filing and re-filing is time-consuming. A final consideration includes the impact on the environment. Paper-based systems pollute the environment in their production and then fill landfills after they are disposed of, creating more hazards for future global health.
