Advice on Developing a Management System Procedure

M

MACox

#1
I am fairly new to the Cove and appreciate all the good information I have found here so far.

I am in the process of developing a QMS for a small government contractor. I am considering a computerized procedure development/ management/ tracking system. I was wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom or precautions to consider as I develop the requirements document to define what I need the system to do. The system will need to be internet based, since our employees are scattered at eight locations in two states and do not share intranet capabilities.

:thanx:
Mike
 
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Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#2
Re: Advice on Selecting a Procedure Management System

I am fairly new to the Cove and appreciate all the good information I have found here so far.

I am in the process of developing a QMS for a small government contractor. I am considering a computerized procedure development/ management/ tracking system. I was wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom or precautions to consider as I develop the requirements document to define what I need the system to do. The system will need to be internet based, since our employees are scattered at eight locations in two states and do not share intranet capabilities.

:thanx:
Mike
So . . . how close to "real time" does the tracking system have to be? What will you be tracking? Is it classified? Trade secrets? When you say "small," what does that mean, exactly? 300 people with need for access? 3,000? How many will be authors or approvers and how many will be just "readers?"

Words of caution:
  1. Have a budget for money and time table for implementation going in. For the same size system with similar capabilities, the price range and time table range for implementation can be mind-boggling. It's better to avoid drooling over systems beyond your budget.
  2. Most (not all) systems are priced by the number of authors of documents. Be sure to pick a system that is readily scalable if the requirements change.
  3. I've copied an old post below which is still valid when it comes to talking about electronic document management systems (the generic term includes project management and tracking) and typical features even though it does not address YOUR situation directly.
  4. Consider hiring a co-advisor to help you make the specific decisions for your project - the concept of a public forum is that we give "general advice," but try not to take bread out of professional consultants' mouths by getting too specific.
Here is a copy of a post I wrote several years ago - most of it is pertinent today.

here's a copy of something I wrote on the ASQ Forum on 9-3-2004:
Quote:
I know lots about "electronic document management" (EDM) software.

I need a lot more information about the scope of your operation to make a meaningful suggestion.

Make sure you know and understand the difference between "document sharing" and "document management."

Here's a brief summary to start you off:

Document Management Software

Background:
An organization wants to improve efficiency of document management by “grafting” a program over current legacy files and all newly-created files which will provide the following minimum benefits:

a) Ease of Search & Retrieval (on different fields/characteristics)

b) Ensure only the most recent revision is available on standard Search menu

c) Automate the procedure of notifying pertinent parties a document is ready for redlining

d) Maintain an audit trail for the status of documents (released or waiting for checking/approval [and by whom])

e) Allow “full preview” of documents without opening native programs – i.e. AutoCAD documents can be viewed without latest revision of AutoCAD being resident on user’s computer.

f) Permit “group printing” of documents, regardless of native file format.

g) Maintain up to 30 security levels on any document, determining whether user has authority to create, modify, redline, view, print, copy, etc.

How do they work?
The primary feature of Document Control Software is a relational database which manipulates very small files called “metatags”, which relate to certain attributes of documents. Basic attributes are file name, revision level, author, topic, key words, type of file format, etc. which are used for field headings in the database.

By querying the database, a user retrieves a “menu” of documents which meet the search criteria. Self-contained viewing software permits a user to view and print documents, regardless of the native file format. The views can be scrolled, zoomed, and cropped (i.e. user can print an enlarged detail of a document.)

Users who have redline authority can markup documents without invoking the native file program (the redlines are saved as “overlays” in separate files without changing the original document.)

Users who have checking/approval/redline authority can be automatically notified via email when a document is ready for their review. The program will track when and whether the review is completed and maintain an audit trail for “real time” status reports on any or all documents in the review process.

By keying on the attribute “Revision level”, the program can ensure only the most recent, authorized revision is available to most users, reserving authority to view “superseded” documents to special categories of users.

An important consideration in grafting legacy documents into the new system is choosing fields pertinent to the organization. Many documents, like autocad and word documents have features which provide automatic tags (create date, author, department, etc.) [click on "properties" under File in a Word document to get an idea of already available fields.]

The problem is most users write documents which still show "valued customer" as the author because they have never explored the Properties feature.

An expense to consider is going back into each legacy document and adding the meta tags which allow for sorting and retrieval.

I hope this helps - there are many consultants like me who would come in and give your organization background on choosing the best brand for your organization. Caution is "Are they truly independent or do they have bias toward one brand?"-Wes Bucey, Quality Manager

I didn't add in that post that most software programs have web versions, too. In point of fact, the documents "could" be located either on one server or scattered among hundreds or even thousands of hard drives or servers as long as they were connected or accessible via password over a network, a virtual private network, or the internet.

Somewhere else, I wrote
Quote:
Why not take the entire QMS system paperless? Is your company a public company? Will you ultimately want to include Sarbannes in your thinking?

It appears the toughest part is that you want to go back and include all your legacy data (FAI) as well.

Google "electronic document management" to see some other thoughts on this topic. I hesitate to recommend ANY product by brand name, because the competitive nature of the business is that one company can be hopelessly obsolete in a month or two and another can have a great breakthrough in the same period. Regulatory laws change quickly - a user's current and projected situation in that regard are important factors. Current quantity of documents and projected number of authors and changes are a major factor. Collaboration with suppliers and customers is another big factor.

-Wes Bucey, Quality Manager
 

Jim Wynne

Staff member
Admin
#3
Re: Advice on Selecting a Procedure Management System

Consider hiring a co-advisor to help you make the specific decisions for your project - the concept of a public forum is that we give "general advice," but try not to take bread out of professional consultants' mouths by getting too specific.
Taking "bread out of professional consultants' mouths" certainly isn't a consideration for me when deciding how much specificity a response should contain. There are times when it's prudent to get outside help, and "we" will usually so advise when it seems appropriate, but if people can avoid spending money on consultants by getting information elsewhere, why shouldn't they, and why shouldn't "we" help in that regard?
 
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