Miki Blue Eyes Weblog

by ShaZ Ni [pretty busy T_T]

Introduction To Document Management

Document management in the age of vast and relative cheap computer storage space has made organizing files more difficult than ever before.     Selecting a document management system is a daunting task and should be carefully considered.   The amount of time spent managing documents outside of a document management system should be investigated to determine if there is a compelling reason to use a system.

Types Of Document Management

There are many types of document management systems which Wikipedia describes in the following ways:

Integrated Document Management (IDM) is a term used to describe the technologies, tools, and methods used to capture, manage, store, preserve, deliver and dispose of ‘documents’ across an enterprise. In this context ‘Documents’ can be used to describe a myriad of information assets including images, office documents, graphics and drawings as well as the new electronic objects such as Web pages, email, instant messages and video.

Product Data Management PDM Software is a tool to track and control data related to a particular product. The data tracked usually involves the technical specifications of the product, specifications for manufacture and development, and the types of materials that will be required to produce the good. The use of product data management allows a company to track the various costs associated with the creation and launch of a product. Product data management is part of product life cycle management, and is primarily used by engineers.

Revision control (also known as version control, source control or (source) code management (SCM)) is the management of changes to documents, programs, and other information stored as computer files. It is most commonly used in software development, where a team of people may be changing the same files. Changes are usually identified by a number or letter code, termed the “revision number”, “revision level”, or simply “revision”. For example, an initial set of files is “revision 1″. When the first change is made, the resulting set is “revision 2″, and so on. Each revision is associated with a timestamp and the person making the change. Revisions can be compared, restored, and with some types of files, merged.

Why use document management software?

There are many compelling reasons to use document management software versus storing files on your local hard drive and/or network.

Central Storage

One of the primary reasons is the central storage of your data versus having data stored on all the users local system and the network.    Storing files on a local system creates silos of data which cannot be easily accessed by other users in the company.

Duplicate Documents

Duplication of documents is a real problem in organizations where files are copied, modified and then stored locally.   These local versions of the document can make it difficult to find the actual document users are looking for.

Going Green

Storing documents in a central repository which is backed up is a great way to go green.  Hard copies of documents can be scanned and stored in a document management system with meta tag information which can be searched on.   Invoices and purchase orders can be scanned and saved in a document management system which can later be searched and retrieved without going to a filing cabinet.

Searching For Files

Document management systems have the ability to search for files by file names, meta information, user information and last transaction dates of the files.   Comments on files can be searched including file content.

Version Control

Documents which are stored on your network can be changed and manipulated by users without any change history, logging, etc under standard network file systems.   Document management systems require documents to be checked out prior to modification and check in to save those changes into the repository.   Through version control processes organizations can view entire history of documents which includes being able to roll back to any previous version.

Notifications

Email notifications can be associated with files in the document management system which will be sent when files get changed, check out, renamed, etc.

Workflow

Document management workflow is very useful when documents need to be signed off on by a number of other users.   This functionality creates a document trail of users who approved or did not approve this document.

Security

Document management has security built in which allows full access, modify access and read only access options on files and folders.   Files can be individually identified with specific access control settings which will allow specific users to access files in folders, but specific files in the folders may not be accessible.

mie docs

MIE Docs is a revolutionary file management system designed for a single user up to an organization of 100’s of users. File management systems are designed to solve the problems associated with storing, managing, finding and tracking files used throughout an organization. Organizations with hundreds of thousands of files lose files every day when files are stored on multiple computers, hard drives and backups. MIE Docs File Management lowers the costs of handling and storing your documents and saves staff time by providing both instant access to your documents and business process automation. MIE Docs centralizes the storage of files into an easy to use virtual drive.

To download a free copy of MIE Docs click on the link below.

http://www.mie-solutions.com/mie/index.php/MIE-Docs/

MIE Solutions is the leading provider of production control software for the entire manufacturing sector. Incorporating MRP, ERP, Scheduling, Shop floor data capture, Barcoding, Job Costing, Quoting and Estimating. MIE Trak (formerly known as FabriTrak) is the market leading software for sheet metal fabricators,  machine shops, precision engineers and manufacturers. It can be adapted to incorporate any manufacturing processes if required and offers a complete solution. Our services also include training, full product support and on-site implementation.

http://www.mie-solutions.com

The mission of MIE Solutions is to apply advanced technology to improve manufacturing productivity and quality in the field of fabrication. At MIE Solutions, we do not compromise product quality or service. We strive to satisfy our customer’s every reasonable requirement with speed, courtesy and honesty. Our pricing reflects the cost of providing high quality products and excellent service but remains fair. Our goal is to be known throughout the world for the development and production of innovative products. We endeavor to be regarded as the leading supplier of high technology in the sheet metal fabrication. We want our customers to be proud to own MIE products.

www.oxlearn.com An example of how knowing your market segments will help you to avoid th price commodity trap.

Related posts:

1. Document Management – What is it and Why Do you Need It?
2. An Introduction to Supply Chain Management