Commentary: November 2005

By David B. Sharp III, Synergis Software

Competition in every industry is fiercer than ever. Manufacturers,especially small and mid-size ones, are looking toward technologies tosharpen their competitive edge, and many are adding—and many moreshould add—document management to the list. It will have the greatestimpact on their productivity and bottom line.

The risks and liabilities of not having a document management system inplace today are simply unacceptable for most manufacturers. Further,you can implement and configure many document management solutions indays or weeks rather than months or years; justifying your investment.

Document management solutions can help alleviate the increasingregulatory and compliance pressures inherent in the manufacturingindustry. An electronic document management system is a necessity forcompanies that wish to achieve a quality certification or must meetcompliance requirements due to the nature of their work. Many of ourcustomers implement our system specifically to achieve and maintainISO, QS-9000, or OSHA compliance. These companies seek an easy-to-usesolution that secures all their data, gives the appropriate users easyaccess to the latest revision, eliminates errors, ensures documents areapproved prior to release, and provides a complete audit trail of everydocument throughout its lifecycle.

But if it’s time to upgrade or research a document management system,where do you start your evaluations? What basics do you need to know?

First, keep it simple. Complexity does not necessarily mean morepowerful. Select a solution that is easy to implement, learn, use, andmaintain.
Second, do not underbuy. Be sure the solution you select meets all ofyour needs today and offers capabilities you can grow into in themonths and years to come. A solution that is flexible and has an openarchitecture will let you integrate with other enterprise systems likeMRP/ERP.

Third, be sure your design and engineering department’s needs areaddressed. Design and engineering typically have the most complexrequirements. Their use of 2D and 3D MCAD systems like AutoCAD,Autodesk Inventor, and SolidWorks adds a layer of complexity, as doengineering changes.

Fourth, thoroughly understand the company that will be responsible forimplementing and supporting your document management solution—be it areseller, systems integrator, or the software vendor. This is vitallyimportant because, as the market explodes, further growth in the numberof providers of document management solutions will be significant. Inthe next few years, the world of document management will become morecompetitive. You can expect to see dynamic growth in three major areas:product offerings, strategic alliances and consolidation, and a greatlyaccelerated rate of adoption.

This means acquisitions by large companies looking to increase marketshare; mergers of companies similar in size; and more teaming andstrategic alliances between players—who previously viewed each other ascompetitors—could play a role. With a mission-critical application likedocument management, you can avoid crippling finger pointing if you canqualify a solution from a software developer who also takesresponsibility for your implementation, training, and support.

Finally, contact other customers. Speak with as many references aspossible. Understand their experience with the solution you areconsidering and the company that supplies and supports it. Find out howtheir actual productivity gains compared with their expectations. Realvalue is always measured by customer experience—not a supplier’s claims.

In the final analysis, selecting and implementing a document managementsolution is similar to your other investments. It takes a common senseapproach, due diligence, and paying special attention to the lessobvious pitfalls.

David B. Sharp III is CEO and President of Synergis Software, whichdevelops the Synergis Adept data and document management system. Sendyour thoughts about this commentary via e-mail by clicking here.