What is Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) and what is it used for?
What is Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) ?
Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) is an advanced solution that automates the acquisition and management of data contained in unstructured or semi-structured documents, such as PDFs, emails, and images. Thanks to technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), IDP allows you to automatically extract, classify, validate and record data in company databases, drastically reducing human intervention.
Why adopt IDP?
Manually managing data from unstructured documents is inefficient and error-prone. With IDP, you can automate these processes, improving the speed and accuracy of document management. For example, IDP software can capture images of paper documents, apply AI algorithms to extract relevant data, and automatically record it into business systems, eliminating the need for manual entry.
How Does IDP Work?
1. Document Acquisition
The IDP process begins with the acquisition of documents, which can be in digital or paper format. For paper documents, high-resolution scanners are used to digitize them. Computer Vision technologies improve the quality of the acquired images, making them more readable and ready for processing.
2. Data Extraction
Once acquired, documents are subjected to optical character recognition (OCR) techniques to extract text. In the case of handwritten documents, handwritten text recognition (HTR) technology is used. OCR and HTR algorithms convert text images into machine-readable data, allowing for further processing.
3. Document Classification
Then, documents are classified using natural language processing (NLP) algorithms and deep learning techniques. These algorithms analyze the content of the document to determine its type (invoice, contract, report, etc.) and category, facilitating automatic organization and archiving.
4. Data Validation
The validation phase ensures that the extracted data is correct and reliable. This is done by comparing the extracted data with existing databases, semantic vocabularies and predefined business rules. Validation is crucial to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the information before it is recorded in the company systems.
5. Automatic Registration
Finally, the validated data is automatically recorded in the document management systems and company databases. This step eliminates the need for manual entries, further reducing the risk of errors and improving the overall speed of the process.
Advantages of IDP
The implementation of IDP offers numerous benefits:
- Speed and Efficiency: Automation of document management processes, reducing processing times and increasing the volume of documents that can be managed.
- Accuracy and Precision: Reduction of human errors thanks to automated processing and data validation.
- Reduced Costs: Savings on operational costs related to manual document management.
- Scalability: Ability to manage an increasing number of documents without a proportional increase in human resources.
- Compliance: Improved regulatory compliance thanks to standardized and traceable processes.
IDP Applications
IDP has applications in a variety of industries, including:
- Banking and Finance: Automating invoice management, loan application forms, and compliance documents.
- Healthcare: Managing medical records, insurance forms, and prescription documents.
- Legal: Automatically organizing and archiving contracts, court documents, and legal documents.
- Insurance: Automatically processing claims and policy forms.
Intelligent Document Processing represents a significant advancement in modern document management. By automating data capture, extraction, classification, validation and recording, IDP enables companies to improve efficiency, reduce operational costs and increase data accuracy. In an increasingly digital world, IDP is not just a convenience, but a necessity to maintain business competitiveness and innovation.
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