Document management in companies
Digital document management reduces the workload in companies and helps to save costs. The Menger Group explains how a DMS works.
Document management systems facilitate workflow and reduce costs
Even in small and medium-sized companies, there are countless documents that need to be stored securely and to which employees should have quick access at all times. A modern document management creates an environment in your company in which documents can be digitally filed, archived, viewed and processed. The Menger Group explains how document management optimizes work processes in the company.
What exactly is a document management system?
In a document management system (DMS), documents are centrally recorded, archived, distributed, processed, searched for and finally deleted. In the past, all documents that accrue in a company had to be stored in space-consuming paper form in large filing cabinets or a separate archive. Searching for and locating specific documents required a great deal of effort. Today, digitization makes it possible to run these and other processes completely digitally. Your employees find information faster and can access the knowledge they need directly. At the same time, it ensures that important information on customers and business partners, invoices, contracts, asset documentation documents and more will never be lost again.
With the introduction of digital document management in your company, you will quickly notice several benefits. Central is the efficiency gain that results from the easy and fast availability of all information for your employees: Everyone can, within the scope of their authorizations, create documents, upload them to the DMS, search for them there, find them, edit them and share them with others. An efficient document management system adapted to your requirements optimizes workflows in the company, saves time and permanently reduces costs. The fully digital processes made possible by paperless document management also allow you to trace the origin of documents and any changes made to them at any time.
Typical applications for document management systems
Innovative document management can do more than simply replace the existing paper archive with a digital version – although this is of course one of its most important functions. Among other things, digital document management is used in companies to perform the following tasks:
- Recording of incoming documents (e.g. orders, invoices, etc.)
- Indexing and archiving of all documents
- Automation of recurring workflows
- Management of personnel files
- DSGVO-compliant management of customer data
- Logging of plant or project documentation
The advantages of digital document management
By using a modern document management system, all employees are instantly able to access the information relevant to their work. Time wasted searching through physical file archives can thus be avoided. Instead, everyone can concentrate on their actual work. The optimized workflow also ensures that work steps are never again forgotten, invoices that are due are not paid, or contract conclusions are delayed. The entire company thus works more efficiently and saves costs. In concrete terms, digital document management offers you the following advantages:
- Quicker access to documents and knowledge
- Better traceability of changes to documents
- Efficient team collaboration
- Higher quality of work
- Reliable compliance with all legal requirements
- Time and cost savings through automation
How to establish a DMS in your company
To successfully implement digital document management in your company, it is crucial that you choose a document management system that fits your individual requirements. To do this, you need to be clear about, among other things, what tasks the DMS will perform and who will work with it. Then the DMS must be integrated as seamlessly as possible into the existing systems and the employees must be trained in how to use it, because only then is its effective use possible.
Find the right DMS!
The right document management should make the work processes in your company easier and save time. To do this, it must first be clear where exactly there is a need for improvement. Do you only want to archive administrative and accounting documents in digital and searchable form? Or should your employees be able to access all documents across departments to enable fast and direct knowledge transfer? And should this only be possible on-site in the company or also on the road? The DMS must fit the requirements in your company in order to work. This also includes that it is compatible with the systems and file formats used in the company.
Involve your employees!
To ensure that everything functions smoothly later on, the employees who will one day work with the DMS should be given a voice. After all, they themselves often know best what optimization needs exist in the individual departments when it comes to handling documents and knowledge management, and they can provide valuable advice. As soon as it has been decided which DMS is to be used in the company, your employees must also be trained in its use. Only when they are familiar with the functions of digital document management and are able to use them will they create real added value for your company.
Integrate the DMS into your workflows!
For your new document management system to work optimally, it must be efficiently integrated into your company’s processes. This means, for example, that all employees create, upload and store documents in the DMS according to the same schema. If recurring work steps are also automated, your employees will save additional time and can concentrate on their actual work.
Practical example: Working with the DMS in the technical editing department
Ms. Müller is part of the “Technical Editing” team at her company and is asked to create a text for a user manual. The text is needed for the operating instructions of a new component without which a large machine would not function properly. Ms. Müller finds all the important documents for the component, such as graphics from the CAD program, the dimensions and specifications for the design of the manual, with just a few clicks in the DMS. As soon as the text is written, she uploads it to the DMS herself and indexes it so that it can be found quickly by her colleagues.
Mr. Meier from quality assurance automatically receives the information that a new text is ready, which he has to check for correctness. He knows exactly where this text is stored and can immediately start his work and check the text against the specifications. Since he is satisfied with Ms. Müller’s work, he releases the text. Ms. Schulze from the Graphics & Design department immediately learns that a new text has been approved for the user manual. She can incorporate this into the final document and start coordinating the printing process.
In this case, the digital document management system thus ensures that all employees are immediately informed about new tasks that have arisen, that the required documents are available at all times and that no time is lost through unnecessary searching for important information. In addition, documents do not have to be printed out at any time, which saves additional printing costs.
The trend: cloud-based document management
Today, numerous companies already rely on the use of a DMS to make work processes faster and more efficient. New innovations are constantly emerging that adapt document management even better to the needs of different users.
One of the current trends that will certainly shape document management even more in the future is archiving documents in the cloud. This enables your field staff to access all important information while on the road and, for example, to have all relevant figures and data immediately at hand when visiting a customer. If possible, the DMS is also optimized for mobile working so that access is also easy with mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets.
Modern document management is the key to successfully leading your company into the future. Because by using the possibilities of digitalization, you put the goals of Industry 4.0, such as the paperless office and the networking of your employees, into practice, create more efficient workflows and increase productivity. The Menger Group is at your side at all times and supports you with a professional implementation of a DMS that is precisely tailored to the requirements of your company. Contact us!