I have worked on a Document Management System project for Tarapur, Maharashtra (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited) (NPCIL), Tarapur, Maharashtra Phase IPHWR-540 extension, and I have come across the issues that occur without a digital documentation system. In today’s environment, a Nuclear Power Plant needs to have essential criteria like safety, reliability and cost competitiveness. To improve the plant’s economy and satisfy the requirements mentioned above, the owners need an Electronic Document Management System to comply with the plant’s safety standards.
Shortcomings without an Electronic Document Management System
The older power plants built in 1960-1990 have various shortcomings in terms of proper documentation on their construction, operations, commissioning, and maintenance. The paper-centric documentation does not facilitate the display of the actual status of the plant even after being in process for years. We do not know how the owners and the operators have operated, maintained, or modified the power plants over the years because either the documentation has been dispersed, the main design principles are not available or lost, or the documentation has been paper-oriented.
However, these shortcomings can now be eliminated by transforming paper-centric documentation into data-centric documentation. The documents then can be generated from the information stored in the databases. The data stored in them would not be lost until they are permanently deleted from the software.
What is an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS)?
An Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) is software that provides the capability to the Nuclear Power Plant or other organizations to record, store, retrieve, process and distribute information effortlessly. Besides, it minimizes the use of paper-based documentation vulnerable to quick damage. It also helps in the overall improvement of the power plant’s safety and performance. EDMS is the most cost-effective long-term solution to managing documents most efficiently.
Important of Electronic Document Management System In The Nuclear Industry
Increased Profit and Productivity
Implementing an EDMS in the Nuclear Industry will cut down the involved legwork in the industry. Your team will spend less time finding essential documents. This reduction of the time in locating the records will help your team actually to use it to work on their intended purpose. In addition, you will see an increase in the profit margin. It is estimated that some businesses could eliminate document management costs up to 40%, that is $5 per document. You can take it a step ahead by reinvesting the saved amount into your business. It assists you in increasing innovation and improving customer support and service. In addition, you have more growth and profit in your organization or business in a short time. If you wish to entirely eliminate document-related issues, contacting an Information management specialist can be helpful.
Efficient Plant Operation
Nuclear power plant operations require continuous change, reference, and creation of new documents throughout its life. The nuclear plant needs pre-scheduled cycles to refuel the plant. Therefore, there is increased pressure to manage maintenance activities during its refueling cycle. To maintain a nuclear power plant, the operator needs a continuous reference to its vendor manuals, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), configuration documents, maintenance procedures and retrieving other previous works. The operators need to review all the approved and pending changes to maintain the power plant properly. It is where the use of EDMS comes in. The EDMS technology works with the maintenance system to assemble all the essential documents together for each maintenance work. Automated maintenance of a power plant can provide manual labor and improve the maintenance work that is put to use. You can hire a Document Control Supervisor for an efficient power plant operation.
Permission Granting and Gating
Documents that flow in and out in the nuclear industry are not meant to circulate through every industry member. By implementing an EDMS in the Nuclear Industry, you can set permissions for individual files. It means it depends on which employee would be given the authority to change the provided document and who gets the right only to view it while you may choose some employee not able to access it at all. It ensures that your team will focus only on the files accessible to them or files that matter to them. In addition, it minimizes the risk of damaging or losing a document.
Versioning
A nuclear industry undergoes various changes within a specific period. With the implementation of an EDMS, you can record the changes made on the documents or the files. In addition, it is equally important to keep each version of the document separately in the plant’s life cycle.
Versioning through EDMS stands as proof that specific changes were made at a time by an individual stakeholder. It displays who made the changes in the document. It can help reduce misunderstandings between the people involved with the same file or document.
Facilitates Collaboration and Communication
An Electronic Document Management System facilitates your team to communicate and make collaborative changes to the documents. It allows the members to edit the document, make comments and message each other. In addition, it will enable you to deny access to specific collaborators based on the given permissions. Finally, it facilitates your team members to focus on the required information.
Conclusion
In the nuclear industry, your documents and files will keep accumulating over the years and employ a large number of employees. As an Information management specialist, I would suggest you introduce EDMS to your industry since you will have various documents over the years. And as the importance of the implementation of EDMS has already been mentioned above, you can make effective use of an EDMS in your nuclear industry to help secure your sensitive files, track the changes and collaborate and communicate effortlessly.
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