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Scanners
The Plustek SmartOffice PS286 Plus
is a versatile scanner for documents,
technical drawings and photos up to
A3 in size, as well as rigid cards, such
as a credit or loyalty card. It scans at
up to 25 pages/50 images per minute
and resolutions of up to 600 dpi in
black and white, greyscale or colour.
Useful productivity features include
a 50-sheet automatic document feeder
(ADF) and single-touch scanning to nine
destinations/profiles, such as searchable
PDF, scan to e-mail, OCR or file. Blank
page deletion, colour drop-out for forms,
auto-crop and de-skew reduce processing
times and enhance image quality.
The combination of a versatile feature
set and compact design makes the
SmartOffice PS286 Plus ideal for a wide
variety of applications and industry sectors.
Searchable PDF
One contented user is Rockwert Co. Ltd.,
an office furniture manufacturer based in
Bangkok, Thailand. It manufactures chairs,
desks and computer desks to order,
but also holds a number of products in
stock, which it advertises online and in
showrooms.
Product details and photographs
are scanned by the art department and
uploaded to the company website. They
are also held in a central document
repository, so that visitors can see
Rockwert’s entire product range on the
showroom computer. This information
can also be emailed to sales prospects.
Rockwert found that its existing
scanner was creating unnecessary
bottlenecks. It was slow and bulky and
scans were hard to search, which created
unwelcome delays for customers, as IT
manager Charoensuk Jarruwat explains:
“One problem with the scanner was
that it did not have a fast searching aid.
To find a specific design from thousands
of designs was really difficult.We wanted
something fast and clever, so we don’t
keep our customers waiting,” he said.
After evaluating numerous
alternatives, Jarruwat selected a
SmartOffice PS286 Plus, which seemed
to offer the perfect combination of high
performance and affordability – qualities
that have transformed the way Rockwert
manages its product information.
“Today, furniture designs are scanned
and uploaded in a searchable PDF
format immediately after their creation,”
Jarruwat said. “Whenever a customer
asks for a design, we are able to either
send them the PDF file or show them the
physical file if they are in our office. It is
easy to trace the files now because all
the files or designs are tagged properly.”
Command button
The Plustek PS286 scanner has also
changed the way François Pimbert, a
professional-bookkeeper, works. One of
the founders of the société Fiduciaire
de Paris, Pimbert provides consultancy
and accounting services to a range of
clients, from individuals to medium-sized
enterprises, including the preparation of
bank reports.
Pimbert uses a Plustek PS286 scanner
for its scan quality, its OCR capabilities
and for the command button with nine
programmable buttons that makes it
possible to set output and scanning
parameters. Pimbert uses the Excel format
for data output. This matches his book-
keeping software and ensures that data is
always presented in a consistent format.
“The manual phase, the editing, after
capture is essential: it allows us to attain
a quality that is 100% reliable. This work
is done in Excel before the data are input
to our bookkeeping program,” he said.
This, combined with a scan speed
of 25 pages/50 images per minute and
a labour-saving automatic document
feeder, has transformed the
preparation of company
accounts, reducing
processing times by as
much as 75%.
Right on the button
Close to hand
For start-ups and small businesses, a
scanner is an essential labour-saving
device.When Karen Marratche, of the
Marratche Law Offices in Paris, set up her
law firm, one of the first things she did
was buy a Plustek PS286 scanner.
Marratche was already familiar with
scanning, but the PS286’s user-friendly
design means she now makes more
use of it than ever before. “Before this,
I had a multifunction photocopier, but I
seldom used the scanner function. The
smaller size of the PS286 allows me
to have it always at my disposal in my
office,” she said.
“Eighty per cent of the time I use
my scanner to communicate with my
colleagues and especially with my
clients. For example, when I have official
documents like judicial rulings, I digitise
them and send them to my client.
The client is then immediately aware of
decisions and he can, without wasting
any time, act on this information.”
Marratche has found integrated
optical character recognition (OCR) to be
particularly beneficial.
“Sometimes I pick up a colleague’s
case for an appeal. I don’t need to re-
type all of the documents any more:
I digitise the file and it is automatically
converted toWord format. Then all I have
to do is add any new information, like
names or new modifications, to the case.
I save a lot of time that way. I must save
at least a day and a half of work every
month, and that’s just the beginning!”
Apart from its impact on productivity
and customer service, Marratche says the
scanner has saved her money – always
welcome for a start-up.
“The scanner allows us to reduce our
mailing expenses, which in my profession
are far from negligible. More significantly,
since I just recently set up my practice,
I have to stick to a tight budget. I can’t
afford to hire a secretary. The scanner
lets me perform many tasks that a
secretary would perform, without taking
up too much of my time!”
Diverse organisations explain the benefits of using a
Plustek SmartOffice scanner
The scanner
allows us
to reduce
our mailing
expenses,
which in my
profession
are far from
negligible.
