The benefits of moving to digital construction documents are huge:
- Makes going green easier
- Keeps projects organized and on track
- Saves time and money
- Increases productivity
- Creates a singles source of truth
- Adds transparency and accountability
- Increases security with documents in the cloud
Digitizing your document management and adopting a document management system can go a long way in improving project delivery.
According to McKinsey, an American tunnel project involving nearly 600 vendors utilized a single platform solution for bidding, tendering, and contract management. The results? Over 20 hours of staff time saved per week, time spent generating reports was cut by 75%, and document transmittals sped up by 90%.
So, how do you get started?
First things first, you need to digitize your documents:
4 Steps to Implement a Great Document Management System
1. Clarify the Importance of Making the Transition
It’s no secret that many in the construction industry are tech and digital adverse. So, if you’re considering implementing a new piece of kit for your team, you need to get buy-in from the get-go.
Here, communication is vital. Ensure that everyone involved in the technology knows about the change and its benefits as early as possible. Providing staff with an introduction to the new system and explaining why you are implementing it is an excellent way to kick off the process.
Answer all questions and ensure that those directly involved in the day-to-day operation and management of the new system are involved in the implementation team.
2. Train Your Team
Despite most document management systems being relatively easy to use, you cannot overlook the importance of a training session for your team.
Be sure to schedule training sessions to teach your end-users how the system operates and ensure they know how to get the most out of it. Your solution provider should offer training that covers a variety of scenarios and everyday occurrences. These sessions often occur over a few days, so your team has the know-how to use the new system effortlessly.
This should all happen before the system goes live to avoid potential user errors.
3. Scan-In Paper Documents, Make Them Digital
When implementing a new DMS, start as you mean to go on—that means getting rid of paper. One of the first things you should do upon implementation is to move away from physical documents. Instead, scan these documents and upload them digitally to your new system.
Although this may be time-consuming, it will ensure you have all the necessary information and documentation to ensure a successful digital transition.
4. Customize Your Document Management System
A good document management system should be fully configurable and adapt to your organization, aligning closely with your operations.
Once your new solution is in place, customize it to fit your organization and staff. Here, automation can ensure documents are saved in the right folders, have the correct attributes, and adhere to industry best practices.
Once fully configured, your new solution will be fully tailored to your organization's needs.
Why You Need to Manage Your Construction Documents
All construction documents—bidding documents, construction drawings and specifications, floor plans, build permits, and construction contracts—are prepared differently.
One of the biggest hurdles to managing your construction documents is stakeholders who use different tools and processes. In fact, over 26% of construction firms say “none” of the software applications they use even integrate, according to JBKnowledge, the information technology services company.
This means project information is in various formats and often stored in multiple places, making information management a mammoth task.
To ensure your project stays on track, asset owners need a way to manage this complex process. When your organization adds construction document management, you can standardize how you collect, upload, manage, store, track, and share all information associated with a project.
Usually housed within a single, secure, central location, a document management solution allows you to share and collaborate on information with your wider project team. Document management can refer to both physical and digital document management.
For many of us, the days of organizing information in filing cabinets in office basements or rebooting a 20+-year-old computer to get information off a floppy disk are thankfully gone. More and more construction organizations and projects now utilize the cloud to manage their documents.
With construction moving to more digital ways of working—using document management and collaborative solutions—you may no longer have to grapple with countless sheets of paper. Instead, all of your project docs are held in one secure location.
The Asite Document Management Software helps you keep your construction documents in check—manage all your project information on one centralized platform. Find out how you and your team can benefit here.
