As businesses explore technology-based ways to operate more efficiently and productively, they find themselves considering the advantages of document management solutions. Document management technology allows companies to move manual, paper processes to organized, digital environments – reducing time and money spent on the old methods of file organization. Within document management lies specification management – a solution that enables businesses to streamline the creation, collaboration, review, approval, and distribution of specifications.
Specification management software allows you to automate the parts of your process that are manual and prone to human error – mitigating the risk and expense involved with those operations. Here we dive into how specification management software solves many procedural pain points for businesses and streamlines data management.
Solving Operational Pain with Specification Management Software
Businesses with product packaging specifications, the need to streamline product management, or must-manage product development workflow can solve several issues with specification management. These organizations span the construction, food service, manufacturing, and retail industries – among others. Here’s how they can better stay organized:
Tracking and managing data and documents. Specification management software enables an organization to move documents more easily and efficiently through a project’s individual phases. For example, if a construction company has documentation with specifications about tasks that need to be done or specific products, the software will tightly control the movement and access to that information. The software removes the need for manual transfer of specification documents and secures their movement throughout a workflow. Businesses can track and manage data with the software’s automation – knowing that signing, reviewing, and approving are all occurring without the labor associated with manual processes.
Managing suppliers. Specification management can improve supplier management by simplifying procurement processes. Businesses have detailed views of supplier network performance with the software to locate areas for improvement – thereby improving their supply chains. You can also give suppliers access to real-time specifications so they aren’t using outdated or duplicated specs. Supplier documentation such as contracts, codes, certificates, NDAs, and audits are all automated with specification management – giving you better visibility into your relationship with your supplier.
Using Specification Management to Simplify Business Processes
A central software for managing your specs and critical documents enables you to ensure processes adhere to specific standards. For example, you can use it to create templates for your specs to ensure data is consistent across your business. Automation will connect revisions on documents or data to their parent specifications – removing the need for manual transference of those revisions. Your organization, auditing, file sharing, and security are more efficient with specification management software.
Additional improvements include:
Compliance
With specification management, you’ll get complete control over who can access what documents to safeguard data. Auditing will be easier to perform when the time comes because your documents will be archived with tags, more easily retrievable, and visible in workflows that simplify the auditing process. You can create reports quickly with the software as well because of the visibility and access specification management gives you into your supply chains.
File Share
Moving files among employees with specification management saves massive time by reducing the paper transferal needs. You can leave behind the spreadsheets to manage specification data, including packaging specs, formulas, or raw material information. You also no longer need to worry about losing data, time, or missing deadlines because files were misplaced or data was uncontrolled and tampered with.
Security
Only your designated personnel can access the content you label within the software. Reviewing, signing off on, and approving processes are conducted by users to whom access is specifically given by your configured structure. You’ll be able to see who did what and when to every document at every stage of its lifecycle with the software.
Organization
Specification management gives you a way to structure data or documents that would otherwise move through manual, inefficient processes. You’re able to set standards for using your data – ensuring rules on digital forms prescribe what the document can contain. These rules guarantee that no extraneous or misplaced data enters the workflow.
The right specification management system will help you create, maintain, and publish your specs and business documents. Employees and executives alike can leverage the software to gain complete control over who can access data, specs, and related documents in order to track all activities associated with that data. Available on-premise or through a cloud-based technology, specification management can transform your document processes into ones that provide tangible return on investment.