Simplifying Document Management

In addition to the head office in Noida, Moser Baer has two manufacturing plants. Thousands of documents are generated and archived at these three locations. There is a full-fledged ERP system, Ramco Marshall, which also generates a lot of information. We have gone in for ViewWise, a Document Management System (DMS) which is integrated with our ERP system. This makes it easy to correlate information from the ERP system with that of the DMS.

Just good business sense

Going in for a DMS was more or less a proactive approach to digitise and bring in transparency in the document management system. The aim was to enable some process flows without paper, and thereby simplify management. The system was implemented to centralise document management. For instance, if there were any auditing processes underway, it would be possible to present any relevant document at the click of a button as everything is visible through a single window. Earlier, when any document was required, we had to search for it in different departments. Today, after the implementation, that document is available immediately.

A tough choice

We evaluated three vendors. Their products were assessed based on some parameters which we had set. The number of documents a given DMS could support was an important priority. The ability of the new system to integrate seamlessly with the ERP system was another one. The evaluation went on in August and September 2004, though we did not go in for any pilots during the evaluation process. Finally, we decided on ViewWise from Syntax Soft-Tech as we felt that the product had the ability to support our documentation needs and integrate with our ERP system.

Only relevant documents digitised

Even before beginning the DMS implementation, we decided to digitise only relevant documents. The initial challenge was to identify the documents that were needed. They had to be categorised as per the document size. As there were different sizes, varied methodologies had to be adopted to get these documents into the DMS. We also wanted to index all the documents that were entered into the system to avoid any confusion while retrieving them later.

50 percent of the time was spent on the drawing board doing all this. Initial discussions and inputs were taken from all functional and departmental heads. The entire process took two months and involved about 30 people. Since DMS was a new concept in our organisation, all the departments had to be trained by using demo kits. Also, because some of the scanned documents were too large, they needed to be compressed before entering into the DMS. The exercise was successful, and the DMS went live in March 2005. We have integrated the purchase to pay, order to delivery, and revenue recognition processes into the DMS. We have also included documents related to legal processes—agreements, contracts, treasury management and resume management. All the information generated from the ERP system can be archived simultaneously in the DMS.

Mission accomplished

Although early, I can point out some of the quantifiable benefits that have accrued to us from the system. Firstly, it has helped us digitally archive and retrieve documents through a single window. People don’t have to run about tracking documents. Document management has become efficient, and the system is transparent.

Transactions through the ERP system have been streamlined, and supporting documents for a transaction are readily available. One can store documents in the DMS, and associate some fields with them for indexing. Later, documents can be retrieved from within the ERP screens based on these indexes through the Image Enable Application of ViewWise. Since access to documents requires no more than pressing a button, the average bill payment cycle has been reduced by 20 percent. Swifter response time to vendor queries is another payoff. Earlier, it used to take two days to respond, but ViewWise has trimmed the response time to a few keystrokes. A query is resolved in a single stage, rather than in hours or days involving different people. The accounts payable team can now use a single application to create and view vendor payment screens and related documents. Employees are more gainfully employed. It is possible to maintain strict authority and security on business-critical documents. Sharing and collaborating on documents such as non-conformance reports, and storing vendor quotations online to retrieve them instantly are possible. We plan to archive and enter most of the processes from the ERP system into the DMS, and are working towards this end.

abhinav@expresscomputeronline.com