One to three hours a week for each person who signs, and a day or two added to every contract, credit application and supplier onboarding. It is the oldest dead layer in most samples, and the one the business is most surprised to find still there.
Last reviewed 30 September 2026
Deep in the strata, dead, dated to the last serious attempt to remove it. A document is emailed, printed, signed in ink, scanned on the multifunction printer, and emailed back, then filed twice. It survives because every signer has a printer and nobody owns the alternative.
An e-signature tool, bought and used for one contract type, and a document-management system with a folder structure nobody follows. Underneath both, a policy that says a wet signature is required, written before the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act was checked.
A process fix: confirm which documents genuinely need a wet signature (few do) and write it down. Then plain automation: generate the document from the system that holds the data, route it for electronic signature, and file the signed copy where it belongs. No AI needed.
Counted from a month of scans on the multifunction printer's own log, against the signers' observed time. Where the two disagree, the lower figure wins. How EMBR measures. This layer is one part of workaround debt; The Transect measures all of them together.
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