Manufacturers are drowning in paperwork. Technology is the lifeboat.

A modern manufacturing environment is highly regulated, with product liability laws that require manufactuers to retain some documentation for 30 years!

That’s a long period of time to keep a mountain of paper, which brings about a wide variety of challenges, such as the storage and security of all those documents.

But the data contained in all of that paper is essential to the success of the organisation. Vital documentation that ensures products are suitable for the marketplace. Failure to adhere to good manufacturing practices (GMP), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or local legislation can render a manufacturer’s products unfit for sale, with potentially devastating outcomes for the business. 

Much of manufacturers’ documentation also adds significant value to customers and suppliers, as well as improve internal operations throughout the organisation. There’s no question that keeping the documents is important—but it raises the question “is there a better way?” Studies have shown that removing paper from processes can increase efficiency by up to 300% (AIIM Feb 7 2012).

So how can manufacturers use technology to effectively capture, share and distribute data and documentation across complex supply chains? In response, many manufacturers are now supplementing their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Material Requirements Planning (MRP) systems with Document Management Systems (DMS), which is perhaps the best method of taking advantage of technology in order to streamline processes and increase efficiency.

A DMS is powerful a tool that’s capable of extracting, manipulating, storing and routing data and documents when, where and how they are needed. Consider for a moment the amount of documentation generated by a manufacturing organisation and how effortless and beneficial it would be to have most of this managed automatically. Over and above reducing the regulatory demands on operations, its greatest advantage is that it typically reduces compliance exceptions by as much as 85% (Aberdeen Group, October 2013). 

If you’re considering using a DMS, start by focusing on what regulatory information you must capture and generate. By automatically extracting data from freeform paper and electronic documents, manufacturers can turn their content into data that can be searched and processed. Information that is generated from other systems or individual machines can also be extracted and translated into an appropriate format and stored.

A DMS can also enhance ERP and MRP capabilities when it comes to meeting regulatory obligations, storing and retrieving information, and transforming or reformatting data. Companies can now supply data files with information, specifically formatted to the recipient’s needs and distributed with HTML links to their document repositories. The value of DMS increases significantly as the business matures and document and information infrastructures are extended and integrated.

Couple this automation with best working practices and the need to drive greater back office efficiency, and there are many benefits to be enjoyed.