where 2 begin? Info Mgmt Blueprint for internal Communication & knowledge xchange

C

Choon

#1
Hi all,

I am totally new to this industry. I have just recently been put in charge of developing an information management blueprint, which I understand encompasses document control within the organisation.

I welcome any suggestion that can get me started. The organisation prefers a paperless system.

Cheers
Choon :confused:
 
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Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#2
Choon said:
Hi all,

I am totally new to this industry. I have just recently been put in charge of developing an information management blueprint, which I understand encompasses document control within the organisation.

I welcome any suggestion that can get me started. The organisation prefers a paperless system.

Cheers
Choon :confused:
Wow! Depending upon the size of your organization, this can be a daunting task! Welcome to the Cove, Choon!:bigwave:

Information Management adds a lot of stuff over and above simple document management and control.

In my opinion, it implies the ability to gather and compile multiple pieces of information (documents) into reports for review and analysis by persons ranging from management to staff to customers and suppliers and regulatory bodies.

How to begin: (makes no difference if paper-based or electronic)
Within your organization, create a chart or matrix of the kinds of documents and records you normally generate (designs, blueprints, sales proposals, customer correspondence, supplier inspections and approvals, production records, inspection records, shipping records, etc.)

Determine if any of these need to be grouped and the information contained within them either
  • needs to be referred to on a regular basis to make business decisions
    or
  • needs to be condensed into reports on a regular basis for transmittal to people in (employees) or out (customers, regulators, suppliers) of the organization.
This kind of information will help you add to the list of features you want to include in any Electronic Document Management System you purchase (or design yourself.)

Here's a brief idea of miniumum features you'll want to have:
Note that all of the best electronic document management software have versions which can be web-based (virtual private network for security) for ease of using with multiple locations or for sharing with customers and suppliers.
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:
  • Ease of Search & Retrieval (on different fields/characteristics)
  • Ensure only the most recent revision is available on standard Search menu
  • Automate the procedure of notifying pertinent parties a document is ready for redlining (or review)
  • Maintain an audit trail for the status of documents (released or waiting for checking/approval [and by whom])
  • 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.
  • Permit “group printing” of documents, regardless of native file format.
  • 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: do they have a bias toward one brand or another?

After you've had a chance to look at the needs of your organization and to review some software, be sure to come back to the Cove with questions or anything you've learned that you want to share.
 
Last edited:
C

Choon

#3
still at a lost!

Hi Wes,

Thanks for the informative response. It should of gave me some clue but I am totally new to the "industry."

Are you saying that the first thing I should do is to define the information requirement as well as available information in the organisation?

The organisation I am in if of smallish size (less than 30 personnel) but it does mostly R & D works. The company has been in existence for less than 6 years.

Should I start by coming up with an information flow (need analysis and documentation management responsibility) chart within the organisation.

Based on that I should start writing for a Standard Operation Procedure in the management of the information and documents in the organisation that entails Procedure; and Policy aspect of information management in the organisation?

Basically, I should divide my information management requirement into;

1. Information needs (what we intend to have)
2. Information and documentations management (what we already have)

Am I thinking in the right direction?

As for the actual management process of these two categories of information the nitty-gritty of organising the process would include coming up with a classification standard(organise the information); assigning subject/department/application code to the type of documents (allow for control as well as ease of search by assigning code to each personnel) and coming up with a standard set of procedural templates i.e. ensure only updated information are make available in an intranet situation, knowing when documents are being revised, etc.

Is this it? Please comment.

Thanks
Choon :rolleyes:
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#4
Choon said:
Hi Wes,

Thanks for the informative response. It should of gave me some clue but I am totally new to the "industry."

Are you saying that the first thing I should do is to define the information requirement as well as available information in the organisation?

The organisation I am in if of smallish size (less than 30 personnel) but it does mostly R & D works. The company has been in existence for less than 6 years.

Should I start by coming up with an information flow (need analysis and documentation management responsibility) chart within the organisation.

Based on that I should start writing for a Standard Operation Procedure in the management of the information and documents in the organisation that entails Procedure; and Policy aspect of information management in the organisation?

Basically, I should divide my information management requirement into;

1. Information needs (what we intend to have)
2. Information and documentations management (what we already have)

Am I thinking in the right direction?

As for the actual management process of these two categories of information the nitty-gritty of organising the process would include coming up with a classification standard(organise the information); assigning subject/department/application code to the type of documents (allow for control as well as ease of search by assigning code to each personnel) and coming up with a standard set of procedural templates i.e. ensure only updated information are make available in an intranet situation, knowing when documents are being revised, etc.

Is this it? Please comment.

Thanks
Choon rolleyes-a1.gif
There are two main considerations (schemes) in dealing with information, regardless if your organization is 30 or 3,000:
  1. creating, approving, and issuing documents and any subsequent modifications of those documents.
  2. retrieving, reviewing, and consolidating [information contained in documents] for use as basis for creating or modifying other documents or for condensing into management information reports.
Most organizations have some sort of system to cover scheme number 1 (creating, approving, issuing),
but few have a system for scheme number 2
(retrieving the information contained in the documents and condensing it into reports or summaries on a regular basis.) This retrieval and manipulation of the information for a purpose other than the original purpose of the document is true "information management" as opposed to "document management."

Some people term it "data mining" instead of "information management."

For example, if Document 1 is a blueprint for a television receiver, its primary purpose is (number 1) to serve as a guide for manufacture of a television receiver. Assume Documents 2 through 20 are also blueprints for different models of television receivers. In number 1, a team building tv sets from Document 3 might never see Document 7 because it is built in a different country.

With information management (number 2), someone might review all 20 documents to determine if there might be ways to use common components or tooling to make the manufacture of ALL TV sets more efficient. Then a 21st document might be created listing common components which might be purchased at a better price per unit if all purchases were consolidated into a single buy. Alternately, some Documents might be modified to incorporate a common component into all TV sets (tuners? circuit boards?)

Am I making the distinction between information management and document management easy to picture?
 
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