Enlist in the Paperless Revolution: Gain the Digital Advantage

Revolutions often start with a single act. Whether it’s the rebellious Boston Tea Party that helped kick off the American Revolution or concerned young people demanding greater freedoms via social media that helped ignite the Arab Spring in a score of Muslim countries in 2011, it often takes only the smallest spark to lead to change in the world.

Arboreally Speaking

And so it was with J. Sterling Morton. A newspaper man, Morton and his wife, Caroline Joy French, heeded the call to “Go West” and in 1854 transplanted themselves from Michigan to the fertile plains of the Nebraska Territory. (1) The only this missing was trees. Morton rallied residents to begin planting trees to improve the local environment and beautify the landscape to attract more settlers to Nebraska. In April of 1872, Morton declared a special day for planting to bring greater awareness to the need for more trees resulting in Nebraskans planting roughly one million trees and marking the world’s first Arbor Day.

“Arbor Day is not like other holidays,” Morton said at the time. “Each of those reposes on the past, while Arbor Day proposes for the future.”

Today, Morton’s single act has evolved into a worldwide movement to promote and educate people about the importance of trees to our ecosphere and the environment. Trees provide many of the necessities of basic human life; “they clean our air, protect our drinking water, create healthy communities, and feed the human soul,” according to the Arbor Day Foundation. (2) But that revolution is threatened by global deforestation caused by:

• Wildfires;
• Insect infestations;
• Disease;
• Severe weather;
• and human development.

This past Monday, people around the world stood shoulder to shoulder in observance of Earth Day. And tomorrow, April 26, is Arbor Day in the United States. By 2022, the Arbor Day Foundation plans to plant 100 million new trees in forests and communities around the globe. That’s an ambitious but incredibly worthy goal that could have a significant impact in protecting our environment and stemming deforestation.

Join Us in the ‘War on Paper’

So, what does the Arbor Day “revolution” have to do with you? In the life sciences and manufacturing sectors, a similar worldwide revolution is taking place that involves, well, trees.

With many clinical, quality and manufacturing professionals still leveraging paper-based or hybrid solutions utilizing Microsoft Word and Excel — we need to ramp up a call to arms for going paperless.

Why? Chronic dependence on paper is actually killing innovation. To ensure high levels of quality, document control and data error reduction,  organizations can no longer rely on disparate legacy paper-based and hybrid data management process systems.

The alternative: Interconnected, close-loop data systems that create a digital flow of information across departments and workflows for greater intelligence at every stage of the product development life cycle. In essence, digital systems aren’t just edging ahead of paper-based systems; they’re effectively leaving them in the dust.  You’ll find strategies and insights about what a fully digitized system delivers in “The War on Paper: A Corrective Action Plan for Going Paperless.”

Planting, Paperless and Progress

In the spirit of J. Sterling Morton’s vision to create a better world by spreading saplings, your organization can capitalize on the opportunity to leave paper processes to the history books and embrace a digital solution that will keep your company on the cutting edge of innovation, get your products to market faster and generate greater ROI. Join the paperless revolution and take a great leap forward in your company’s competitive advantage and continued success.

References:

1. https://www.mortonarb.org/visit-explore/about-arboretum/mission-and-history/arbor-day-history

2. https://www.arborday.org/