In a typical engineering and construction project, all documents go through a document controller. They share it with the respective engineers, project managers, and construction people. It would not be too much to say that the success of a project depends on the document controller’s efficiency and productivity. This also means that most document controllers are overworked because their role is so critical in a project.
Accessibility
“46% of employees say it’s time-consuming and challenging to find the documents they need.”
Accessibility to the right document at the right time is essential if you want to speed up the efficiency of the document controller. But manual handling of documents and email communication results in less productivity. It also increases the project’s time and budget. Modern technology like cloud-enabled common data environment can address at least one part of the challenge. A schedule-driven engineering document management system can also set up a digital document-sharing environment. This will be a boon for document controllers and users alike.
Version Control
“83% of today’s workforce wastes time every day due to document versioning issues.”
For effective document exchanges between stakeholders, it is vital to keep the project documents up to date. This means that a good Document Management System should manage revisions and recent changes in the documents. It should also ensure that users get access only to the latest versions of drawings. This avoids the chance of using an older or obsolete version. (using outdated versions is a big issue with serious real-world consequences).
Workflow Management
An intelligent workflow-based document management software can help document controllers do their work in a shorter time. For proper monitoring, the system would define the planned dates of critical stages in the workflow (milestone). The checklist functionality in EDMS software can help in managing documents in an organized manner.
Automated Transmittal
A large capital project involves many vendors as well as many documents and drawings. So document flow between stakeholders is a complex process. Every document needs to be shared with all relevant details (of transmittals) to the concerned people. But this is easier said than done because a document controller manages thousands of documents across many stakeholders. Imagine, in this scenario, an EDMS system that can automatically generate transmittals. Imagine how such a system would improve the document controller’s productivity. This will help in maintaining a fool-proof audit trail system. The automated transmittal feature of modern EDMS systems has far-reaching benefits. It reduces the stress from which many document controllers suffer, making them happier and more productive employees. This is a key point that directly impacts the success of the project.
Consider that most document controllers have to be perfectionists by nature. They pay attention to details when others don’t, and how tedious that can be in the short term and how debilitating in the long term. Whereas with the support of a smart EDMS system, a document controller can check and make sure everything is correct. The system gets documents to flow faster and smoother with a fraction of manual effort. A document controller’s life is greatly simplified with an intelligent EDMS system that collects and delivers data. This lifts most of the thankless manual labor off his back, leaving him free to focus on the team’s core work. Now the smooth flow of information between stakeholders is ensured. This shows real benefits to the organization because with the assurance of productive and reliable document controllers shoring up their operations. The company improves control of deliverables and can take on more projects without having to hire more people.