The new issue of the free Newsletter "The Document Control Tribune" is out!

The new issue of the free Newsletter "The Document Control Tribune" is now published!

Do not hesitate to share it with you friends and colleagues!

Link to the Newsletter

Document Control requires competencies…. And a lot of patience!

I bet you have had this feeling before: just feeling either angry or depressed when you receive documents to manage and when they always come with the same problems or errors.

We thought that handling this situation with humour could help a lot of Document Controllers facing these problems and we launched the “Keep Calm and Reject the Transmittal” campaign. We have created a fun poster that you can keep on your desk and share with your friends.

Don’t hesitate to download it, print it, share it and have a look to it each time you feel the need :-)
http://www.consepsys-im.com/KeepCalm_DC.html

Tablets and Businesses

Tablets are now widely used for personal purposes, an increasing number of companies have been adopting them for business purposes. And one must admit that, especially for business travellers, the use of tablets in a professional environment completely makes sense.

Not only they allow to communicate easily (emails, Skype, etc), but they also allow to always have access to business contacts, calendars and, more importantly, to the company’s documents (with applications such as DropBox, Goodreader, QuickOffice, etc.).

You can also easily edit documents, save them, review them and synchronise them.

Tablets also allow remote conferencing and presentation sharing (Webex, GoToMeeting). Note that you will need to have a good bandwidth to run a smooth video conference.

And that’s not it: Obviously, with the huge catalogue of available applications (many of them are business oriented), possibilities are exponential, and there is no doubt that, in the near future, the use of these tablets will spread even more within companies, with integration with EDMS (Electronic Document Management Systems).

Why not try digital signature?

Digital signature on documents is one of the areas where technology has made a significant difference and improvement to Document Controllers’ daily tasks.

Indeed, in companies which have implemented digital signatures, Document Controllers no longer have to print documents out, to walk around offices to gather the signatures, and then to scan the signed documents in.

With digital signature, we manage only electronic copies all the way through, up to their signature point. This is really a huge gain in terms of time and manhours. Probably more than 10 minutes per document are no longer wasted.

In addition, the digital signature is available from anywhere, and one of the benefits really is that people can actually sign even if they are not in the office. We no longer have to wait for a manager to return from a business trip to physically sign a document.

One area where this has also significantly improved our lives  is signature of  transmittal sheets. Physically signing every transmittal sheet and acknowledgement of receipt can literally represent a significant part of our daily tasks. Electronic signature has significantly improved this process.

As every change in any work process, the implementation of digital signatures requires proper discussions, agreements (notably on the contractual / legal side), but it is undoubtedly a great improvement in terms of processes and workload.

An article from Consepsys Information Management 

The Document Control Tribune

The first issue of the Document Control Tribune is now available! This is a free newsletter, so do not hesitate to subscribe here: http://www.consepsys-im.com/newsletter.html

In this issue:

Why Implement Document Control?
These questions come more often than you may think: "Why do I need Document Control? Why implement it? Can't our employees/engineers do their own filing?"

Why not try electronic signature?
Digital signature on documents is one of the areas where technology has made a significant difference and improvement to Document Controllers’ daily tasks.

Mapping workflows and processes
Most times, a good graphical procedure is more efficient than plain text.

Final Documentation and Safety
Final Documentation is one of the phases whereby Document Control and Safety overlap and collide.

Download the Document Control Tribune here: http://www.consepsys-im.com/newsletter.html



An article from Consepsys Information Management

Final documentation and safety

Final Documentation is one of the phases whereby Document Control and Safety overlap and collide.

Document Controllers must always bear in mind that the documentation packages that they prepare will be delivered to production/processing plants, factories, constructed sites/buildings, control rooms etc, and that technical professionals will rely on these documents in they day-to-day activities.

The quality, the accuracy and the integrity of the delivered documentation must be flawless in order to avoid accidents.

The difficulty often lies in the fact that Final Documentation packages must be prepared in a haste, under pressure, often with additional and temporary team members, and that this phase may, in certain cases, involve literally thousands and even tens of thousands of documents.

It is challenging for anyone to deliver a flawless package in such conditions. However, the lifes of many people may depend on the quality of this work.

Practical examples of issues that Document Controllers must bear in mind when they compile final documentation may include:

- What if I overlook the fact that a page is missing in an Oil and Gas equipment isolation procedure? The maintenance/operations person in charge of isolating the equipment from incoming flammable/explosive fluids may miss a few procedural steps and wind up injured or killed;

- What if forget to include operating manuals for the maintenance of a building's lift/elevator before final documentation hand-over is signed off? The client may have to pay significant amounts of money, after close-out of the contract, to obtain this documentation at last. Maintenance of the lift/elevator may meanwhile be delayed and cause accidents.

- What if I inadvertently insert a superseded version of a technical document in the final documentation package? A whole ulterior plant/factory/site modification project may start on incorrect information and may wind up wasting significant sums of money before anyone realises the mistake. It may also put people's life at risk, for example, if excavation works are launched in an area which is not supposed to include a buried high-pressure gas pipeline.

An article from Consepsys Information Management

Engineering Control, Control of Documentation and Safety

The history of industrial accidents is filled with examples of failure of Engineering Control.

Some of us may be aware of the Flixborough accident of 1974, which claimed the lives of 28 people and which seriously injured 36 people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flixborough_disaster

Some of us may be also be aware of the 1988 accident on the Piper Alpha platform which claimed the lives of 167 people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Alpha

The first incident occured due (in part) to a failure in Engineering Control. The second incident happened due (in part) to a failure of the site 'Permit to Work' system.

Although they were not directly linked with Document Control, in both cases, accidents were partly caused by the failure in managing important documents.

This shows that, in general, the mismanagement of documentation can have serious consequences. In this respect, Document Control requires a strong quality and safety mindset.

An article from Consepsys Information Management

Pourquoi implémenter le document control / la gestion documentaire?

This article is a French translation of this one. Click on the link if you would like to read it in English.

Cet article est la version française de celui-ci. Cliquer sur le lien si vous souhaitez le lire en anglais.



Cette question peut sembler curieuse à ceux qui savent ce qu'une gestion documentaire efficace peut faire.

Mais ces questions reviennent plus souvent qu'on pourrait le penser: "A quoi sert le document control / la gestion documentaire? Pourquoi l'implémenter? Mes employés / mes ingénieurs ne peuvent-ils pas faire leur propre classement?"

Avant tout, le document control est bien plus que du simple classement de documents. Et c'est là qu'est sa valeur ajoutée: implémenter le document control / la gestion documentaire permet de soutenir toutes les activités d'une société, et ajoute de la valeur dans les domaines suivants:

•     Récupération de documents:
C'est peut-être le premier avantage qui vient immédiatement à l'esprit. Beaucoup de sociétés, travaillant sans gestion documentaire professionnalisée ont du mal à retrouver leurs documents. Imaginez si chaque employé passe 15 minutes par jour à chercher un document ou une information (et en disant 15 minutes, je suis plutôt optimiste... essayez de calculer combien de temps vous-même passez à chercher un document ou une information... vous allez être surpris!). Maintenant multipliez ces 15 minutes par le nombre d'employés, le nombre de jours travaillés par an et le tarif horaire moyen de vos employés... La somme est vite colossale. C'est le coût de ne pas implémenter le document control!

Le document control / la gestion documentaire vont vous aider à retrouver la bonne information dans un laps de temps raisonnable. En d'autres termes: plus de temps perdu à chercher un document ou une information.

•     Contrôle:
Parce que dans "document control", il y a le mot... "control" (en français: contrôle). Obtenir le contrôle de ses document (inclus les modifications, mises à jour, annulation de documents, etc.) signifie que vous serez toujours certains que l'information en votre possession est la plus à jour. Avec le document control / la gestion documentaire, vous serez certains que toutes les versions d'un document sont stockées, mais que le document que vous possédez est le plus récent.

•    Sécurité de l'information:
Le document control joue également un rôle important dans le domaine de la sécurité de l'information. En définissant les règles pour accéder aux documents (qui peut accéder à un document, qui peut le lire, qui peut le modifier, etc) et en implémentant ces règles soit sur le réseau d'entreprise, soit dans un logiciel de gestion documentaire et/ou de document control. Ainsi, le document control évitera les changements non-controllés ou non-autorisée sur des documents, ainsi que l'accès non-autorisé à des documents.
Par ailleurs, en définissant les règles d'accès aux documents, vous vous assurerez que toute personne ayant besoin d'avoir accès à un document, y a effectivement accès.

•    Traçabilité:
Qui a envoyé ce document à qui, quand, et avec quel contenu technique ou commercial? Il ne s'agit pas de "Big Brother vous observe, il s'agit simplement d'assurer la traçabilité. En quoi avez-vous besoin de traçabilité? Parce que cela assure que vous ne perdrez jamais la traçe de ce qui est arrivé à vos documents / sur votre projet / dans votre département. Le flot d'information et les interactions quotidiennes sont si nombreuses que vous ne pouvez pas vous souvenir de tout ce qui s'est passé.  Le document control et la traçabilité sont là pour vous aider à garder la mémoire.

•    Protection des intérêts de votre société: 
En cas d'incident sur une installation par exemple, il est crucial et critique d'être capable de retrouver la documentation à jour applicable à cette installation... de de la retrouver rapidement. Sans un document control efficace implémenté dans votre société, vous aurez beaucoup de difficultés à le faire.

•     Auditabilité:
Sans professionnel du document control, vous ne serez peut être pas capable de fournir en temps voulus les informations nécessaires aux auditeurs (internes ou externes).

•     Cohérence:
Au sein de la même société (ou au sein du même projet, du même département, etc.) le document control ou la gestion documentaire implique de travailler avec les mêmes standards, normaliser la documentation, se conformer aux règles de l'industrie ou de la législation du pays.

•     État du projet:
Avoir un professionnel du document control au quotidien vous permettra de connaître, à tout moment, le statut et l'état des livrables de votre projet.

En conclusion, implémenter le document control et investir dans des professionnels du document control expérimentés est le moyen de protéger les intérêts de votre société, tout en assurant l'accessibilité, le contrôle et la sécurité de vos documents et de votre information.

Economisez le temps et l'énergie de vos employés. Protégez vos intérêts. Faites confiance à des professionnels.


  Un article proposé par Consepsys Information Management

Why implement document control?

This question may seem peculiar for those who know what a good document control can do.

But these questions come more often than you might think: "Why do I need document control? Why implement it? Can't our employees/engineers do their own filing?"

First of all, document control is so much more than just filing documents. And this is where its value resides:  implementing document control will support all the company's activities, and will add value at least in the following areas:

•     Retrieval of documents:
This is maybe the benefit that everybody will see immediately. A lot of companies working without professional document control are struggling with document retrieval. Imagine if every employee searches for a document or for information during 15 minutes per day (and by saying 15 minutes, I am actually quite optimistic... try to calculate how much time you devote every day to searching for documents or information, by yourself... you will be surprised).
Document control will definitely help you retrieve the correct information in a reasonable period of time. In other words, no time wasted searching for a document, or information.

•     Control:
Because in document control, there is the word... "control". Getting control of documents (including document modifications, updates, withdrawal, etc.)  means that you will be certain that the information at hand is the most up-to-date one. With document control, you will be certain that all revisions of a document are stored, but that the document at hand is the current one.

•    Information Security:
Document control also helps in the information security area. By helping defining the rules for accessing documents (who can access a document, who can read it, modify it, etc) and by implementing these rules either on the network drives, or within a document control / document management software. Therefore, document control will avoid uncontrolled changes on documents, as well as unallowed access to documents.
On the other hand, by defining the rules for accessing documents, it will also ensure that any person who needs to have access to a document, will actually have access to it.

•    Traceability:
Who sent this document to whom, when, and with what technical or commercial content ? This is not "Big Brother's watching you", this is simply the way to ensure traceability. Why do you need traceability? Because it ensures that you will never lose track of what happened on documents / on your project / in your department. The flow of information and interactions is so important on a daily basis, that you can not remember everything that has happened. Document control and traceability are here to help you keep the record.

•    Company protection: 
In case of an incident on an installation for example, it is crucial and critical to be able to retrieve the last updated applicable documentation relative to this installation... and to retrieve it quickly. Without a proper document control implemented in your Company, you will have a lot of difficulties to do it.

•     Auditability:
Without professional document control, you might not be able to provide the necessary information to auditors (internal or external) in due time.

•     Consistency:
Within the same company (or within the same project, the same department, etc), document control means working by the same standards, standardising documentation, and complying with industry regulations and legal requirements

•     Project status:
Day-to-day professional document control will enable you to know, at any point in time, the status of projects deliverables.

In conclusion, implementing document control and investing in skilled professional document controllers is the way to protect your company, as well as ensuring accessibility, retrievability, control and security for your documents and your information.

Save your employees' time and energy. Protect your interests. Entrust your documentation to professionals.


 An article from Consepsys Information Management

Qu'est-ce que le document control?

This article is a French translation of this one. Click on the link if you would like to read it in English.

Cet article est la version française de celui-ci. Cliquer sur le lien si vous souhaitez le lire en anglais.


Commençons avec les bases. Qu'est ce que le document control?

De façon très simple, on pourrait le définir comme organiser les documents, les données et l'information de façon cohérente, standardisée et contrôlée.

On pourrait aussi dire que le document control est l'ensemble des mesures prises pour réguler la préparation, la revue, l'approbation, l'émission, la distribution, l'accès, le stockage, la sécurité, la transformation, la modification, l'annulation ou la destruction des documents... donc à peu près tout ce qui concerne les documents!

Le document control est aussi l'une des exigences du standard ISO 9001 ("Systèmes de management de la qualité -Exigences"). Ce standard précise notamment que:

« Une procédure documentée doit être établie pour :
a) approuver les documents quant à leur adéquation avant diffusion;
b) revoir, mettre à jour si nécessaire et approuver de nouveau les documents;
c) assurer que les modifications et le statut de la version en vigueur des documents sont identifiés;
d) assurer la disponibilité sur les lieux d’utilisation des versions pertinentes des documents applicables;
e) assurer que les documents restent lisibles et facilement identifiables;
f) assurer que les documents d'origine exterieure sont identifiés et que leur diffusion est maîtrisée;
g) empêcher toute utilisation  non intentionnelle de documents périmés, et de les identifier de manière adéquate s’ils sont conservés dans un but quelquonque. »
Source: Extrait du standard ISO 9001:2000. La dernière version complète de ce standard peut être commandée ici: iso.org

Le document control est un élément-clé pour toute entreprise. Il assure efficacité, performance, fiabilité, traçabilité, qualité et sécurité.


Un article de Consepsys Information Management.