Document Data Extraction: What It Is and Why Do You Need It

If you have a business, you already know it: businesses deal with a staggering volume of documents daily – invoices, receipts, legal contracts, health records, and more, and more, and more. Extracting valuable information from these documents manually is time-consuming, error-prone, and costly. This is why, today, we are going to talk about document data extraction: a game-changing solution that leverages advanced technologies to automate the process, transforming unstructured data into actionable insights.

What is document data extraction?

Document data extraction refers to the process of retrieving relevant information from various types of documents, whether digital or printed. 

This involves identifying and capturing specific data points such as names, addresses, invoice numbers, and more. 

The ultimate goal is to convert unstructured data into structured formats that can be easily stored in data warehouses or relational databases, fueling business intelligence (BI) initiatives.

Types of documents for data extraction

Businesses typically handle a wide array of unstructured documents, including:

✅​ Invoices and purchase orders: extracting supplier details, tax information, invoice and PO numbers, item descriptions, and payment terms.

✅​ Legal documents: contracts, service-level agreements (SLAs), and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), where key clauses and terms are identified.

✅​ Health Records: electronic health records (EHR), prescriptions, and lab reports, where patient data and medical information are extracted.

✅​ Financial documents: Bank statements, loan applications, and account opening forms, where transactional and personal data are retrieved.

✅​ Insurance documents: Insurance applications, policy documents, claim forms, and medical records are processed to extract policy details and claimant information.

Technologies behind automated document data extraction

➡️​ Optical character recognition (OCR): OCR converts scanned images or printed text into machine-readable text. This technology enables businesses to digitize and extract data from physical documents and scanned PDFs.

➡️​ Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR): an advanced form of OCR, ICR specializes in recognizing and converting handwritten text into digital data with high accuracy.

➡️​ AI-Based Technologies such as:

• Machine Learning (ML): ML algorithms learn from data patterns to improve extraction accuracy over time. Template-based extraction is a common ML technique used to extract specific information based on predefined structures.
• Natural Language Processing (NLP): NLP allows systems to understand the context and semantics of the text, facilitating the extraction of relevant data from unstructured documents.
• Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) Platforms: These platforms integrate multiple AI technologies to automate and optimize document data extraction processes, continuously improving accuracy.
  

The shift to automated document data extraction: this is why your company really needs it

As businesses scale, managing hundreds or thousands of documents monthly becomes overwhelming. Manual data extraction is no longer sustainable. 

Automated document data extraction offers a scalable, efficient, and error-free alternative, freeing up resources and enhancing operational efficiency. So, let’s talk now about benefits:

• Time efficiency: Automating document processing eliminates manual handling, allowing teams to focus on strategic tasks.
• Accuracy: Advanced AI models ensure high accuracy rates, minimizing errors in data extraction.
• Cost reduction: Reducing the need for manual review lowers operational costs.
• Enhanced decision-making: Structured, accurate data fuels better business insights and decision-making.
• Scalability: Automated systems can handle large volumes of documents, making them ideal for growing businesses.
  

Silt’s Complex Document Processor: the ultimate solution

Do you know that in the past month we have launched a new amazing product? Yep, the Silt’s Complex Document Processor (CDP). This powerful tool is designed (by us) to analyze, extract, and validate data from complex documents such as invoices, receipts, and bills of lading. 

By automating document processing, CDP simplifies workflows, ensures accuracy, and guarantees compliance.

Key features of our new product:

✅​ Process any document: Whether it’s PDFs, images, or complex formats, Silt’s CDP handles a wide variety of documents with ease.

✅​ Enhanced data extraction: Leveraging cutting-edge AI and machine learning, CDP transforms unstructured data into actionable insights.

✅​ 99% accuracy: By training custom AI models tailored to your business needs, Silt ensures an impressive 99% field extraction accuracy.

✅​ Reduce manual review costs: Automating the extraction process significantly reduces the need for manual review, saving costs and improving response times.

✅​ Secure access: All processed documents and extracted data are securely stored in Silt’s centralized dashboard, providing complete visibility and control.

Have you ever wanted to automate documents you thought were impossible to process? Silt can (yes, we can). Book a personalized demo with your documents and witness how Silt’s Complex Document Processor can revolutionize your workflows.