Are Rubber Stamps Dangerous for Your Business?

Paper or electronic document identification is often overlooked because it is assumed that the document will be maintained inside the office. The lack of identification becomes the rule rather than the exception. Sometimes, the use of a rubber stamps or a watermark on the document is assumed to adequately protect it. The thought of manually marking multiple copies — and particularly every page of the document — with appropriate indicia is far too much work and therefore, dismissed. So begins the lifecycle of the unidentified paper or unmarked PDF document created from Word that will be copied approximately 19 times based on substantial published research.

Efficient document management cannot be done manually without inviting risk into the document’s lifecycle. Moreover, the manual process usually involves using a remote copy machine that results in substantial wasted time. If only one trip per day to a copy machine is eliminated, the savings per year/per worker approach $800. Further, the only way a rubber stamp can truly be effective at preserving the intent or purpose of a document is to obliterate part of the text — that’s not exactly a recipe for effective communication. Similarly, electronic documents like PDF can be printed with the same quality as a Word document. And that is the reason that electronic documents, like paper, should be labeled and identified when they are created.

If the content or purpose of a paper or PDF document is to be protected, each page should be marked in a manner that prohibits alteration of content or purpose. This is particularly important for multi-page documents. While a rubber stamp conveys a message, it is pretty much useless for this purpose. The use of recipient-specific marking is particularly indicated where there are different destinations for each copy of the document, i.e., “Accounting,” “Sales,” “Finance,” etc.

In most business settings, this process requires a collection of standard and custom rubber stamps which is neither efficient or economic. And, they’re messy. Some enterprises have adopted the “header/footer” form of identification which, while identifying the document, offers minimal if any real protection or document security similar to the rubber stamp in the margin that is minimally effective, if at all. Others have employed the use of manually inserted and removed watermarks.

When a multi-page document is marked with a rubber stamp on just the first page or marked with a visible gray watermark, the document’s purpose or content can be easily changed. While this may not be of concern most of the time, when it does happen, there is always the “we could have…..” Today’s scanner and copiers make it possible to duplicate a document to the degree that it is almost impossible to distinguish between the “copy” and the original.

A recent review of the Epson GT-S50 scanner on Amazon noted: “. . .The Epson also has the ability to drop out colors, which is useful when scanning something printed on colored paper. It would also be useful if you need to remove a red “confidential” or “top secret” stamp from a borrowed document. ” See the Epson GT-S50 review by W.B. Halper.

Each business document is copied almost 20 times. Given this fact, it is difficult to comprehend why any document is produced without some marking reflecting the document’s purpose or intent. Rubber stamps in the margins do not protect the document from alteration or misuse for obvious reasons. Further, since the rubber stamp process of document identification requires manual application, it is usually not done because of the inherent inconvenience.

While electronic documents provide a partial solution, a PDF file cannot protect the data of a paper document. Let’s not forget that most all PDFs likely originated from a Word file. As long as we continue to generate paper, today’s business environment demands paper document integrity. Because a document is most vulnerable at the time of origination, its marking should be done when it is created. Graphical, non-contrast sensitive marking by the word-processor and the printer is the only secure method of preserving the integrity of paper documents when they are printed. While this type of marking can be done manually in most word-processing programs, it is the manual nature of the process itself that interferes with its accomplishment.

Not identifying the purpose or intent of a document is a choice that is made when the document is created. Leaving the document unidentified is taking an unnecessary risk. The costs of such risk can be astronomical not to mention the resulting embarrassment and/or inconvenience. All the tools to effect proper paper and PDF document labeling and branding are there. StampIt makes the simple, smart and easy to use.

StampIt is an automated method for dealing with the paper element of document management. Rubber stamps can be discarded and fidling with headers/footers or watermarks is over. Get the FREE TRIAL and see how your paper and PDF documents should be protected.

Support Us:

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Deluxe Edition) (1961 Original Broadway Cast)

Understanding Business

No related posts.