Ending The Paper Chase

We may not yet live in a paperless world but document management systems can bring order to the office by providing better revision control, a higher level of security and a clear audit trail.

Rover 400 bodies on the robotic finish weld line. The motor manufacturer is implementing a document management system across its major sites.

For organizations drowning in paperwork and computer-generated digital data, electronic document management systems (EDMS) represent a lifejacket. In large organizations, the problem is more than just one of storage and retrieval; for efficient operations, tracking documents on and off the site is also vital. Yet tracking these documents through the tortuous paths that lie between various departments or remote locations can be a daunting task. EDMS have resolved many of these problems.

A comprehensive electronic document management system is capable of handling every conceivable source of data using sophisticated software that can be networked to every department within an organization, on and off the site.

Electronic library

Documents created with the aid of a computer or word processor - from a simple e-mail note to a complex drawing - can be downloaded into EDMS. Hard copy documents such as microfilms, paper material or handwritten notes, are converted to digital form by image processing and scanning techniques.

However, the key to the whole operation is traceability. Digital documents may still go astray within the complexities of a computer database, but an advanced EDMS will manage and cross-refer documents so that records can be found and viewed within second. If the history of a particular project is required, all the documents relating to it, including the obsolete ones, can be recalled.

EDMS not only store captured data in a structured form to make it readily available for the people who need to gain access to it. but are also capable of applying an exact level of revision control and security over the issue of documents, and ensuring that the right people receive the right document at the right time.

Such control ensures that only authorized persons are allowed to make changes to a document or approve a change. A useful feature is the mark-up, or 'redlining'. facility which allows the user to select and highlight an area or passage of a document that he or she believes should be revised. Using parties. When approval has been this facility, the person makes the adjustment and sends notification to the interested granthe system.ted from all sources, the change is made permanent and the revised document reissued by

There has to be some form of control mechanism to ensure that everyone concerned is in possession of the latest document. When a department issues a new or amended document it is normal for it to send out notification to all recipients that a new document has been released.

With EDMS. this is handled via electronic mail and received instantly by all those concerned. As a result, the problem of distribution through the reprographics cycle becomes eliminated in favor of the 'electronic in-tray' and the whole concept of hard copy documentation may virtually disappear.

Desktop publishing

In addition to storing, retrieving and distributing interdepartmental documents of alt types, the facilities of EDMS extend to desktop publishing for customer documentation and service manuals. They also support parts catalogues, maintenance manuals and servicing job sheets. This allows on-site engineering staff to gain access to. and to have immediate recall of. the information relating to the job in hand. 24 hours a day. Facilities can also be provided for tracking the revision history of documents and related information.

On the administration side. EDMS can be a valuable tool for storing and distributing incoming mail and fax transmissions. as well as handling commercial documents such as invoices, purchase orders, goods inwards and dispatch notes.

Preparation for an EDMS involves careful assessment of the company's working needs and procedures to ensure that it fully reflects the requirements of the organization. Implementing a system provides a catalyst to revise working methods, jettison out-dated procedures and adopt new ones to support changed priorities.

When the EDMS has been installed, most companies do not capture and index the whole backlog of documents and drawings that are already in existence. but tend to convert on an 'as and when needed' basis. Even so, when tens of thousands of documents are being incorporated. the exercise has to be very carefully thought out and well planned. As a result, it may take a considerable amount of time. However, when a crucial point has been reached, the exercise becomes a routine activity on a day-to-day basis and return on investment begins to accelerate.

The Cimage Universal Viewer allows users to view simultaneously a scanned letter, word processed document, photograph and drawing.

Documentation can be made accessible to anybody within the company through local area networks (LANS) or even inter-site, wide area networks (WANS). One aerospace company uses the EDMS as an efficient and cost-effective means of co-ordinating records and transferring data across the Channel.

The company operates from two major sites located in England and France, each holding its own documentation. Authorized personnel are able to access any drawing or document on a personal computer, as well as using the inter-site communications link. This allows regular exchange of information directly from person to person and eliminates the need to travel between sites.

Several North Sea platforms also use EDMS on a daily basis to provide an interface to all the information required for safe and efficient operation.

The system manages all the drawings required on the rigs and integrates them to engineering data including tag registers, linelists and cable schedules. It manages emergency, safety and operations manuals and provides engineering change control, revision management and release control. It maintains links between tag data and related documents and feeds master data to the planned maintenance system. The offshore and onshore facilities are updated via a satellite link.

Subcontractors also use the system to access the most recent revision of engineering information. They are alerted to changes already underway when they evaluate new proposals, thus avoiding inefficiency.

Rover Group

Perhaps one of the most interesting applications of EDMS to date is the installation throughout the various sites of the Rover Group one of whose latest products is the much-publicized MGF sports car. Under an umbrella program known as Repro 2000, Rover is in the process of implementing a Cimage electronic document management system linking its six major sites located around the country.

The main objective of Repro 2000 is to allow users in the various Rover factories to access by viewing or printing out any of the Group's thousands of released engineering drawings which can be accessed in a matter of seconds from any PC-based workstation.

Reduced cycle time

Not only does this enhance the efficiency of its concurrent engineering policy but also removes the necessity of keeping full sets of drawings and microfilms on each site and of manually maintaining distribution lists. The initiative will also shorten the cycle time for modifications while improving the quality and reliability of the information.

Phase one of Repro 2000, which took place at the end of 1992, was a pilot EDMS implemented at Rover Body & Pressings (RBP) to explore the potential and practicality of a product change request (PCR) system, as well as other applications for the Rover Group. It was upgraded to phase two in mid-1994. following which Rover took out more licenses for Cimage EDMS software.

Even at that early stage, EDMS impressed RBP's Finance Director, who immediately saw how the system could manage commercial documentation as well as engineering data. An order was placed for a system to manage purchase orders, invoices, delivery notes, job costing and other accounting documents. A similar system has also been installed at Longbridge to handle documentation in the pensions department.

In the early part of 1995, RBP implemented phase three of its document management strategy. This took the software licenses for each module to 50 concurrent users and extended the system to the rest of the RBP plant. Some 500 of Rover's associate suppliers can now gain access to the system. Phase three also reinforced the link with the Repro 2000 system and allows any user to call up any released part drawing for any Rover car.

Reprinted from the March 1996 issue of Premises & Facility Management, Editor: Richard Byatt, Published by: IML Group, Tel: +44 (0)1732 359 990.