March 21 2022

How Engineering Data and Document Management Systems Play a Significant Role in the Industry

I want to start this post with a question, “What is a business?”

Now, most people will think it’s about investing money, selling a product or service, and making money. But, have you ever noticed that there is a specific problem being solved in every job? Because this is exactly what business is about. No one will need your services if you are not solving a specific set of problems in their life.

But, what sets a business apart from the other competitors in the market is how efficiently and quickly they can find a solution for their customer’s problems.

Once you find a way to manage your Company’s data and documents, you have made your job easier and more efficient. With Adept, an Electronic Document Management System, you can find solutions to 8 data management challenges!

I am Sunny Dhunna, and in this post, I will share everything you need to know about the importance of Engineering Data and Document Management Systems in the industry and how they can solve eight major business challenges.

Problem #1: Searching for Documents Lowers Productivity

According to research, 54% of office professionals spend time looking for important documents in cluttered file storage systems. It is one of the most common problems faced by the office workforce that 57% of the people consider one of the top three problems to be solved in their workplace.

Workers spend around 1.8 hours per day which makes a total of 9.3 hours a week in gathering information and going through different documents. This might not seem like a lot, but when you combine all these hours on a yearly basis, it is a major loss for productivity.

Solution: Quick and Easy Access to Documents

With Adept, you can have adequate workflow management. Here is how:

It allows you to browse for your desired document based on any piece of information you remember about the document.
It helps you locate your files without having to keep track of complicated file names.
It also helps you keep tabs on any attribute or property data from software such as Office 365, AutoCAD, SOLIDWORKS, and Autodesk Inventor. This will ensure that there are no identical data entries.
It allows you to track files in different views, such as Tree-like, etc. This view will base on any data field combinations on your Adept library card.
It ensures speedy design reuse by letting you copy, find, or edit files that already exist.

Problem #2: Compromised security of Company’s Documents

Next comes the security of your documents. It is the top priority of any organization as these documents may contain legal information about the Company. Paper documents are a lot less secure than digital documents and have a high chance of getting hacked too.

Even digital documents can face privacy issues if employees are sharing data on a USB drive or disk. It can get lost, stolen, or even changed. It is important to have an automatic security system for your Company’s documents.

Solution: Guaranteed Privacy or User’s Data and Documents

With Adept, your documents are not only secure, but you will also have full control over them from all locations. Here is how:

It offers a smart vaulting that does not change your native folder structure and credentials of the file.
It provides secure access to the latest version of any document from the vault without destroying the previous version.
It gives complete maintenance rights to document control specialists, project managers, or CAD managers.

Problem #3: Complications Due to Several Versions of a Document

Information management becomes a tedious task when it is done manually. With one mistake, the user has to spend hours fixing the prior versions that can change the entire meaning of the document.

Since the documents keep changing throughout the life of a company, it is important to have proper version control of the documents. Otherwise, the different copies of the document in each server and in the document room can make it difficult to find the latest version.

Solution: Proper and Detailed Version Control

Adept provides proper version control of the document. With this software, you get:

Access to the latest version of the document no matter where you are.
Previous versions of your documents because Adept keeps historical metadata of your work and provides all the older copies of the documents.
Snapshot or complete history of the previous version of your documents.
An audit trail for your document that shows the entire lifecycle of the file.

Problem #4: No Electronic Audit Trail

As I said above, having the complete history of your documents and other files is very important. There are many document management systems like SharePoint, etc., but the problem with the versioning is that it has to be quite elaborate. It is also an important feature to prove Document Validation.

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), keeping a periodic review of the documents using a timeline is important for the security of the Company. Having these records will not only provide accountability to the regulatory authorities but also to the employees of your Company.

Solution: Automatic History of a Document’s Lifecycle

You get a complete history of every step ever taken on your document with Adept. Here is how:

It automatically generates the history of all changes made on a document throughout its lifecycle.
Your Company’s certification is protected as there is a valid record of all the changes made on your legal documents. It saves you from legal trouble.
It provides full control of checking who made what changes and where on any document from any part of the world.
It helps provide the required document history for ISO-9000, QS-9000, FDA 21 CFR Part 11, and Sarbanes-Oxley.
It allows an X-ray vision into your Company’s workflow so you can pinpoint what process needs to be improved for better profits.

Problem #5: Mismanagement of CAD Files

Proper management of your CAD files and their complex relationship, change processes, redlining, and versioning is nothing less than a huge challenge. Losing the previous data of these files after rewriting them is a huge loss. 94% of the companies have experienced severe data loss that could not recover.

It is even more complicated when you are working with Auto CAD xrefs and image and overlay file relationships throughout their different versions. These CAD files are heavy and pretty difficult to forward to other employees. If you save the latest version of a file to send it to the other employee, it creates a ripple effect and changes the other layers of the CAD files as well.

Solution: Automatic CAD and Complex File Relationship Management

Sending, receiving, and editing CAD files will no longer be a challenge, thanks to Adept. Here is how:

It provides the best Document Control Process Canada with the integration of Auto-CAD-based softwares, SOLIDWORKS, Autodesk Inventor, and MicroStation.
It tracks the layers of Auto-CAD files after all the changes throughout its lifecycle.
While the files are being redone, renamed, copied, or moved, Adept ensures that the history and relationship of the file with others remain the same.
It displays the information in a tree-like format that showcases “where used” and “composed of” data.

Problem #6: Difficulty in Sharing Updated Documents and Data

Sharing documents and data is a huge hassle, especially when you are using Windows Explorer. We all know how much time it takes to manually send files across the internet. Therefore, 80% of the employees look for quick and efficient file sharing options in cloud-based softwares.

Collaborating on large CAD or assembly files can be painstakingly slow. This wastes most of the work time in the office and directly affects productivity. Moreover, if you use email for collaboration, you know it is total chaos.

Solution: Quick Collaboration Across Departments around the Globe

With Adept, you can collaborate with everyone across the department with ease. Let’s check out how:

It quickly replicates data vaults to ensure that users all around the globe can access documents within a few seconds.
It allows everyone to work on the same version of the document while the progress can be monitored in one place.
It also helps reduce the manual labor and mistakes that can affect the end results of a task.
In short, Adept allows the users to display their creative sides rather than worrying about compiling and saving copies of documents.

Problem #7: No File Access to Non-CAD Users

It is a known truth that non-CAD users cannot access or view CAD files. CAD is expensive software, and companies pay thousands of dollars to buy this softwares for designing projects. The current CAD software market has reached $18540 million and is only expected to grow in the coming years.

The only solution left for the companies is to spend more money on purchasing the license to this software and training their employees. This way, they will be able to access and view CAD files without converting them and damaging their quality.

Solution: Built-in Visualization Technology for Non-CAD Users

You no longer have to spend extra money on CAD software because Adept allows non-CAD users to view these files as well. Here is why you need Adept:

It has a built-in system to view, mark, and compare CAD files for non-CAD users.
With the Oracle AutoVue visualization tool, people from all over the department can access the engineering data and designs.
It also allows viewing MS office files, raster graphics, and other 2D and 3D files without any interruption.
You can eliminate the errors that are caused by the conversion of files due to this feature.
It gives access to all the users to creatively approach the same file without spending extra money.

Problem #8: Time-taking Transmittals

Transmittals can take most of your time at work. Creating the correct report by gathering the updated version of the documents, making sure all the images are included, and the file is easily deliverable can waste precious time that you would rather spend using your creativity.

Even if you do happen to do the task manually, chances are you might miss a few key components that will make the transfer of no use. And once your email is sent, how do you manage the changes in the documents? Mind you that these errors do not only waste time but can also cost the Company a huge sum of money.

Solution: Quick Transmittals and Elimination of Costly Errors

With Adept, you can experience quick transmittals without making manual mistakes. Here is how:

It cuts down the creation time of transmittals in half.
Apart from that, you get a quick access address book, built-in spreadsheet, and automatic conversion of files into PDF whenever necessary.
It also helps you track the editing, routing, and other general changes during the process.
Whether you use FTP, intranet, or simply an email to make a transmittal, you can always manage a relationship between the spreadsheet and the content you have sent.

I have seen major companies in Vancouver Canada, Toronto Canada, Seattle WA USA, and Calgary Canada using Adept as their only Data and Document management system due to its high efficiency and privacy of the data.

To sum it all up, if you can automate these eight challenges in your business using Adept, imagine the creativity that can flow within your workspace!