At DSM, we’ve learnt that the real cost of paper isn’t storage alone; its time lost, increased risk and opportunities missed. In regulated sectors across Ireland: healthcare, legal, logistics, and public services; paper‑heavy processes slow teams down and complicate compliance.
Our job is straightforward, help you move from paper dependency to digital agility, without disrupting how you work.
Why Paper Holds You Back
Managing physical records typically means:
- Delays finding the right information when it matters
- Higher operational costs for storage and retrieval
- Increased compliance risk when audits come around
We see this in practice; teams juggling filing cabinets and offsite boxes, chasing documents across departments, and spending hours on tasks that should take minutes. Every minute searching is a minute not serving a patient, a client, or a member of the public.
What DSM Actually Does
Document imaging isn’t just “scanning”; we combine high‑resolution capture, OCR (Optical Character Recognition); and intelligent indexing to turn static paper into secure, searchable digital records.
What that gives you:
- Instant access: find the right record in seconds; not after a phone call or a walk to the archive
- Compliance confidence: audit trails, retention rules, and access controls aligned to GDPR; Ireland’s Data Protection Act 2018 and ISO 27001
- Sector fit: workflows that reflect HSE guidance, HIQA information management standards, and local authority records obligations
- Cost control: less physical storage, faster retrieval, fewer delays
- Continuity: resilient backups and recovery so a flood, fire, or outage doesn’t stop the work
We integrate with common case management, finance and operational systems so digital records fit into your day, not around it.
OCR: The Difference Between a Picture and a Record
A scanned document without OCR is just an image; with OCR, it becomes searchable and ready for automation. Type a patient ID, a docket number, or a case reference and land on the right record—no flipping through folders or guessing filenames. OCR also supports consistent indexing, deduplication, version control, and quality checks that matter in regulated environments.
Compliance; Built In
We design programmes with Irish regulation at the core:
- ISO 27001: information security management, risk registers, and continuous improvement aligned with audit expectations
- GDPR & Data Protection Act 2018: lawful processing; purpose limitation; data minimisation, retention and disposal, role‑based access, encryption at rest and in transit
- HIQA Information Management Standards: consistent metadata, access controls, and stewardship for health records in Irish settings
- HSE Guidance: practical handling of sensitive data, secure transmission, and retention aligned to clinical governance
We document processes, retention schedules, and permissions so your audit evidence is clear and repeatable.
A Practical Approach (No One‑Size‑Fits‑All)
We tailor the programme to your workflows:
- Understand the process: where paper slows the work, where risks sit, who uses what and when
- Set clear goals, faster access, lower costs, cleaner compliance—or all three
- Design for people: training and change support so the team feels confident; not overwhelmed
- Secure by default: encryption; role‑based access; logging and retention that stand up to scrutiny
Most organisations start small: one team, one document set and scale from there.
ROI You Can See
Typical improvements we see once the new process beds in:
- Document retrieval; up to 90% faster when indexed and searchable
- Physical storage; reductions of around 75% as archives are consolidated
- Labour savings; ~1.5 hours per employee per week reclaimed from searching; re‑filing; and chasing
- Compliance posture; fewer findings; cleaner audit evidence; clearer ownership.
Time‑to‑value depends on scope; but meaningful gains often show within the first quarter.
Why DSM?
We’re a practical partner; not just a storage or technology vendor. We understand the realities of regulated work—paper trails, retention rules, audits and we build programmes that are secure, sensible, and sustainable. The shift to digital is no longer optional, it’s already here. The only question is whether you’ll lead it or be dragged by it.
