Simple Solutions to Improve Document Management & Control

Transcription

1 Simple Solutions to Improve Document Management & Control

2 In today s business market, organization is crucial to achieving success. In fact, this key element to success nearly outweighs the influence of supply and demand, marketing, or overhead. This is because most errors (and their negative effects) can be traced back to lack of organization: loss of product, customer dissatisfaction, wasted time and resources, inconsistency or poor quality, and more. So, how do you improve organization within a company? Where do you start? And how can you ensure that changes are made in an effective and fairly seamless manner? The answer can be found in document management and control. What is Document Management and Control Put quite simply, documents are the recorded information and/or objects used to create and distribute within a company. Document management and control is defined as the systems and software used to track those documents in the form of electronic images. Why Document Management and Control are Crucial to Business Success While paper forms have been used since the beginning of business, they have become less effective over time, especially as companies grow and expand. Paper documents can be lost and misplaced, and they leave too much room for human error. And, when now policies are changed or when old ones are updated, completely new forms must be made. This can be a huge waste of both resources and manpower. But these aren t the only challenges that exist because of old, outdated document control processes.

3 Other Challenges Created by Ineffective/Outdated Document Control: 1. Personnel and/or administration may accidentally use outdated or incorrect forms or documents. 2. Companies are likely to experience difficulties when trying to meet rigorous internal and external compliance requirements. 3. Administration may be unable to track changes made to important documents. 4. Administrative staff or outside sources may experience confusion because of document inconsistency. 5. Unauthorized changes may be made to documents. This can make it nearly impossible to catch mistakes before resulting consequences occur. 6. Administrative staff must spend extra time distributing documents to proper personnel, seeking approval for changes, improving, and managing documents. 7. Internal audits that could improve performance and reduce wasted time or resources are rigorous. Shortcuts may be taken to speed up the process, or internal audits may not be done at all. 8. In contrast, documents that are controlled by document management systems are easy to track, simple to modify, and when unauthorized changes or errors are made on a form or when altering a form, the document can be rolled back to see what might have been in place before. This reduces errors and the amount of time spent searching for, correcting, or improving such documents. In contrast, documents that are controlled by document management systems are easy to track, simple to modify, and when unauthorized changes or errors are made on a form or when altering a form, the document can be rolled back to see what might have been in place before. This reduces errors and the amount of time spent searching for, correcting, or improving such documents.

4 Other Benefits to Using Document Control and Management Software: 1. Templates make document creation easier and less time consuming. 2. Workflow Management Software reduces the costs of document control and management by automating the creation, distribution, and approval tasks through the use of the document workflow process. 3. Eliminates the use of incorrect documents by providing the latest version of a document in a central repository. 4. Provides a record of how all documents were created and how each version differs from previous versions. 5. Unauthorized changes to essential documents are eliminated through the use of secure control access. 6. Change request processes are automated, giving administrative staff more time to focus on higher priority tasks. 7. Documents are easier to locate, edit, track, and print through keyword filtering and sorting. 8. Internal audits are easier to perform, thanks to the paper trail created through the automatic tracking and monitoring of any and all documents. 9. Costly mistakes are less frequent due to the improved audit process. 10. Check-in/check-out and locking systems coordinate simultaneous editing to ensure that changes of each user aren t overwritten by someone else. 11. Errors and/or premature releasing of documents can be easily fixed with roll-backs to previous versions of a document.

5 12. Batch change and replacement utilities allow for updates on multiple documents at once, reducing time spent managing or editing documents. Getting Started with Document Control and Management Each company is unique, as are its processes and procedures. Therefore, it is essential that the document control and management system be tailored to fit the company. To ensure this happens, there are a few steps that a company must take prior to launching a document control and management system. Analyzing Company Needs: A thorough understanding of the company s vision and which tools and technology can help achieve this vision is the first step to implementing the best document control and management system. 1 It is essential that a holistic approach one in which you consider how each document, piece of information, and automation does or could affect others should be used. You ll also need to take a look at what technology solutions will provide the strongest results for both shortand long-term needs. Consider the following: 1. Capturing and Imaging: Which documents drive your business decisions? Can the technology accommodate the types of input necessary? Can it quickly, consistently, and clearly capture images of the types of documents you use? Does your company need off-site or online back-up of files to ensure that, in a crisis, critical data will not be lost? 2. Indexing: How are files indexed in your company currently? Can this process be improved? How? What files or documents will each department in your company need? How will each department search for those needed files and documents? 3. Management and Security: Which individuals will be authorized to access which files? How will the software ensure that only needed information is accessed by each department? Should there be user authentication, and is it available? Does the software ensure that certain documents are unalterable? What 1 Seven Rules for Selecting the Right Content Management System by Dom Nicastro via CMS Wire

6 precautions can be taken to prevent security breeches? What should happen in the event that one does occur? 4. Workflow: Which department in your company has the final say in new or altered processes and decisions? Does the software provide you with the ability to create a hierarchy system, including individual and departmental authorizations? 5. System Integration: Can the document management and control software be integrated into existing software to further improve current processes? Are there any potential software incompatibilities? Can you use your current interface, or will a new one need to be introduced? Are integration services available? 6. Records Management: Can documents be automatically converted to an unalterable format prior to archiving? Should there be notifications or alerts prior to archiving, and are they available? If data is to be destroyed, should it be done confidentially? 7. Support: How much assistance and support your company may need while integrating your new document management and control system? Is there a fee for each call for support, or are only certain support calls available to your company once the new system is in place? Bottom line, you need document management and control software that will put your company on the path to success. Our goal here at CEBOS is to help ensure that happens. To learn more about how the CEBOS solution can improve how you do business, call (810) or info@cebos.com.