Document management: how to cut time, errors and lost documents
Digital archiving, fast search, approval workflows and integration with your management software: the benefits of a document management system.
Contracts in a network folder, scanned delivery notes on someone's desktop, invoices in another application, certificates sent by email. When you need a document, the search begins. A document management system brings order and turns documents into usable information.
The most common problems
- Time wasted looking for documents and the right versions.
- Different copies of the same file in different places.
- Paper that takes up space and deteriorates.
- Approvals that stall on someone's desk.
- Difficulty proving who did what and when.
What a document management system does
It gathers into a single archive the documents coming from scanners, email, management software and other applications. Each document is classified with information that makes it searchable (customer, supplier, job, date, type) and made available to those with permission to view it. Searching becomes instant and every change is tracked.
Integration with your management software
The value grows when document management is integrated with the ERP: from an order record you can open the signed delivery note, from a supplier invoice you can trace back to the original document, from a job you can consult drawings and contracts. No more parallel folders, just a single point of access.
Workflows and approvals
Many documents have to pass through several people: an invoice to approve, a contract to review, a purchase request to authorise. The document management system can guide these steps, notify whoever needs to act and record every decision, reducing delays and reminders.
Where to start
It makes sense to start with a process involving many documents and many steps, such as accounts payable or contract management, and then extend the archive to other areas.
IMAGE Pro is Labinf Sistemi's document management solution: archiving, search, approval workflows and integration with management software such as LIGEST and iDempiere.Want to bring order to your company's documents? Contact us.
