Chaos or logical conclusion?
Sam said:
Wes,
I would bring up the point that you are describing chaos, however, it may appear that I am bemoaning the need for continual/continuous improvement.
As we know, "there is nothing constant except change". And that is what keeps us (quality folk) employed.
Brings to mind the phrase,"Oh, what a tangled web we (braid), when at first we try to (upgrade)".
Yep, Sam. Often Document Management borders on Chaos. Some organizations (like Jonell's) are relatively small and located in a single geographic location. In such an instance, electronic document management is a "convenience."
In many, many instances, however, Document Managers are dealing with multiple sites and teams of collaborators (including customers and suppliers in many cases) scattered across half the globe. The concept of continuous improvement dictates that new documents and revisions to existing documents is the norm, not the exception.
If we are, as ISO9k2k suggests, "process oriented," then we create a process to handle document management (creation, collaboration, revision, approval, publication, storage, protection, retrieval, disposal) which is as efficient as possible.
In the early 60's, when I entered the workforce, document management was as important as it is today. The difference is the amazing compression of the timetable for creation, approval, and distribution of documents. What took weeks then is expected to be accomplished in hours today.
A CAD document (a technical drawing of a complicated device, for example) can be created, approved, and published to the point of being manufactured in less time than it took for the draftsman in 1960 to take a pencil or pen & ink drawing over to the blueprint machine at the end of the long drafting room and wait for the deep blue to develop while he got high from the fumes.
Given this incredible (to me) time compression, any single person who places himself in the position of sole gatekeeper is a major obstruction to continuous improvement. We need the process where the final approval of a new or modified document is the trigger to release it for publication and distribution. In addition, an audit trail is necessary for sampling for errors and for evaluation of further ways to improve and streamline the process.

The biggest impediment to an efficient process of document management is an ineffective or crippled software system. Practicioners should really examine the ROI of converting to a better process versus the losses due to inefficiencies of the current process.
Almost any good electronic document system will import and manage documents from an existing legacy system.
The primary/major cost is not the purchase or license price of the software - it is the cost of failure (if an obsolete or error-ridden document is used) and the cost of inefficiency and dissent for employees forced to work with error-prone tools. Remember the dictum of ISO9k2k Section 6 Resource Management - to provide tools and work environment "to achieve conformity to product requirements."