Advantages of a Document Control System for Data-Driven Organizations
Advantages of a Document Control System for Data-Driven Organizations
We hear so much about “big data” and unstructured data these days, and we automatically associate things like emails, texts, tweets, and audio clips to the unstructured data category. And as we are being reminded by the purveyors of the big data mining tools, it’s all about making sense of this huge mess of uncoordinated, anomalous data.
Though much of this relates to sales and marketing data, often the information associated with workflows is more structured, meaning we can easily get quantifiable measures of activity and performance. Engineering document control software can take this data and deliver a myriad of visual representations. These pictures help managers and administrators oversee and identify points of improvement in their daily business operations.
In this blog we will discuss the following to gain an understanding of the advantages of an engineering document control system for data-driven organizations.
Unstructured structured data
Before we get to true data mining of all the other “big” data, we should be looking to mine and benefit from all the “unstructured” information within the files we currently use in our everyday processes and workflows This is known as unstructured structured data because the information is found in nice, handy files and more often than not in standard formats and organization. The data also epitomizes the utilization and necessity of these data repositories (i.e., the files that represent documents, drawings, spreadsheets, flowcharts, etc.)For example, we may associate a specific document to a workflow every time we execute the workflow. But it is not the document (file) itself that may be important but the data within the document ---the metadata. So what is really important is not that the document is identified and assigned to the process, it is the data in the document. Yet, we often leave it to the user to manually search and find the data they need within the document rather than provide it based on heuristic analysis of what is needed and what has been utilized before. This is operational “big data” in the sense that knowing what individuals need before they look for it significantly increases efficiency, and more importantly, accuracy.
What Is an Engineering Document Control System and Why You Need It
1:40 min
Enhance organizational structure of digital files, improve collaboration, increase document-centric workflow efficiency, advance security, and meet compliance requirements.
Data-driven organizations
As data becomes easier to acquire, distribute, and analyze, we see more organizations with formal decision-making processes based purely on data metrics and statistics. For example, if customers purchase more of item X in the afternoon than in the morning this suggests a rearrangement of the product and replenishment cycles. But in our rush to find the tiniest bit of insight from our data we see organizations overlooking some of the best data mining opportunities available to them; that is, focusing on the information they currently have and use in their daily operational workflows. Finding and analyzing the data within our existing files, documents, specifications, and manuals can provide great insights and improvement opportunities. The data is easily gained through full-text searches, through heuristic searches, and workflow reviews. Knowing which documents, and more importantly which specific data in those documents, are most used, are the most useful, and are most revised lets organizations improve and optimize routine, but important, processes.
Advantages of an Engineering Document Control System
2:34 min
An engineering document control system improves document security and organizational discipline, maintains control of document versioning protocols, and is essential for managing and analyzing document-centric workflows.
Business process improvement using engineering document control software
Although we are doing a better job of monitoring, managing, and reporting on key workflows within the organization, essentially by using standard metrics, we also have the opportunity to improve these business processes by examining and proactively providing needed data within those processes. Making sure steps get accomplished on-time and generating appropriate notifications throughout the workflow certainly improves our performance, accuracy, and amount of rework, but identifying critical information and structured data required during the steps and inserting them in the process – before the user even knows he/she needs it – automatically improves the speed and accuracy of the workflow for engineering document control.
The next time you provide that 100+ page specification document to a user who needs it, look at it as a data mining opportunity, where if appropriately identified can lead to an analysis that not only enhances workflow but reduces employee frustration and search times, not to speak of eliminating unnecessary printing.
Additional EDMS Features
Our EDMS solutions
ImageSite and EngineBox are eQuorum’s robust workflow and document management solutions, created to help workers manage their essential workflows while maintaining complete control over their engineering files and documents. Not only do they provide a secure collaboration site for workers, but they also help organizations manage document distribution with third parties like vendors, contractors, and customers. Both systems are offered at a competitive price, enabling organizations to get a quick return on their investment by providing the features and functionality needed to help organizations improve efficiency, productivity, and collaboration. Companies can choose from concurrent user subscriptions or named user subscriptions, ensuring organizations have subscription options that make sense for their business.
ImageSite®
Our single source engineering workflow and document management system. Built in HTML5 so there is no software to deploy to client computers or mobile apps to download. Offered as an On-premise or Private Cloud system.
EngineBox™
EngineBox is a cloud based workflow and document management version of ImageSite that resides outside the corporate network.
Our EDMS solutions
ImageSite and EngineBox are eQuorum’s robust workflow and document management solutions, created to help workers manage their essential workflows while maintaining complete control over their engineering files and documents. Not only do they provide a secure collaboration site for workers, but they also help organizations manage document distribution with third parties like vendors, contractors, and customers. Both systems are offered at a competitive price, enabling organizations to get a quick return on their investment by providing the features and functionality needed to help organizations improve efficiency, productivity, and collaboration. Companies can choose from concurrent user subscriptions or named user subscriptions, ensuring organizations have subscription options that make sense for their business.
EngineBox™
EngineBox is a cloud based workflow and document management version of ImageSite that resides outside the corporate network.
The eQuorum Customer Promise
In 2005, eQuorum developed the first all browser-based EDMS. The system, although for on-premise use, was still created to remove client software and JAVA from user computers and allow users to have a single viewer based on the simple navigation functionality of browsers. Today, eQuorum provides that same application in a private Cloud or a SaaS Cloud option. We can do this because we are, and have always been, browser-based, understanding the enhanced speed, security, and usability of this technology.
With the abundance of document management systems on the market today, there’s no doubt that choosing the right Cloud document management software can be a difficult decision. eQuorum is here to provide a comprehensive, powerful, and most importantly – affordable Cloud document management solution. We believe in providing real value to our customers by eliminating unnecessary costs, providing industry-leading functionality, and equipping your team with the right tools using cutting edge technology to bring your products to market faster.
eQuorum®
We specialize in engineering workflow and document management. Our comprehensive, yet easy-to-use software provides the solution to manage data from design to manufacturing and production, to sales, support and administration.