The first rumblings of the paperless workplace started some 40 years ago with the introduction of personal computers. The screen and Computer were thought to replace the necessity for paper-based records and papers by technologists. As we fast-forward to the present, everyone is still talking about it, and paper consumption as a whole is still increasing. The paperless office: is it fiction or are there signs that it will eventually become a commonplace reality?

The answer isn’t “yes” or “no,” depending on your perspective; it’s really someplace in the middle. With the variety of technology available, it is reasonable to assume that using less paper in the workplace will become more prevalent, but it is still irrational to suppose that it will likely ever be fully abolished.

The early users of personal computers began to comprehend and see the potential for significant productivity increases via the usage of newly developing software applications in the 1980s if we go back in time. Also, on the road towards digitising many analogues, and hard-copy components of typical office operations began to emerge, which gave rise to exaggerated assertions about the idea of the “paperless” office.

We are all aware that there are many fantastic ideas concerning workplace, individual, and workflow automation, but regrettably not all of them are really viable in practice. Numerous things may go in the way of these ideas, but most often it boils down to implementation costs, employee preferences, and how disruptive the “new” brilliant concept is.